Report Title: The State of Europe’s Defence Industrial Base
Rapporteur: Jean-Marie BOCKEL (France)
Year: 2017
Whereas the members of the Alliance reaffirmed in Warsaw their commitment to devote 2% of their respective GDP on defence, while dedicating at least 20% of those budgets to investment, care should be taken to ensure that the state of the defence market is such that these objectives can be achieved. It is also essential to identify bottlenecks while proposing ways that would enable the Allies to form an industrial base for defence that is commensurate with their common ambitions. European countries must be capable of constituting the European pillar of NATO by creating a European defence identity that is neither redundant nor competing with NATO’s posture. This is indispensable against a background where budget resources are becoming scarce, while threats are multiplying and the burdensharing debate remains high on the transatlantic agenda.