22 EU Member States to Take Part in New European Defence Equipment Market

European Defence Agency, BRUSSELS: The new European defence equipment market will be launched on 1 July, with the participation of all but three of the 25 EU Member States. 
 
The market will operate on the basis of the Code of Conduct on Defence Procurement, a voluntary, inter-governmental regime, approved by Defence Ministers last November to cover defence equipment purchases which are exempt from the normal cross-border competition rules of the EU single market. 
 
Helping to underpin this regime is the Code of Best Practice in the Supply Chain, approved by Ministers on 15 May, which is intended to extend the benefits of greater competition to smaller companies who may not be able to bid for contracts directly but could act as sub-contractors. This set of principles has been developed in close consultation with industry. 
 
Only Hungary and Spain exercised their option by the 19 May deadline not to join the Code of Conduct regime initially, although both have indicated the possibility of doing so later. Denmark, which has a general opt-out on European Security and Defence Policy, is not part of the EDA.