European Defence Agency (EDA), based on a new task granted to this agency from the Lisbon Treaty, seeks to find Effective Procurement Methods which focuses on the development of innovative ways to consolidate the demand side of the European Defence Equipment Market. The main focus for the EDA in this initiative is the consolidation of demand for European defence equipment, and indeed the identification of current common demand.

On 7 of July, representatives of the EDA participating Member States met in a web conference to discuss a new EDA initiative on Effective Procurement Methods – Common Off-The-Shelf Procurement. Although further investments into development programmes are still of utmost importance for the maintenance of a high-end European Defence Technological and Industrial Base and a priority in the EDA’s work, the number of military purchases of off-the-shelf products is increasing. Moreover, off-the-shelf purchases is an area where the benefits of common ways of procurement are self-evident. Since demand is met from existing sources, the need for national variants is much lower than for other types of procurement.

The consolidation of demand for European defence equipment, and indeed the identification of current common demand is the main focus for the EDA in this initiative. Particularly, this applies to urgent operational requirements and logistical support of EU operations where Armed Forces often rely on third party contractors. Given the new legal framework after the Defence Procurement Directive which explicitly names the EDA as a central purchasing body for common defence procurement, the Agency could, in time, conduct contracting for a group of Member States and thus become a one-stop-shop for defence cooperation.

Member States will potentially get more savings as fewer variants result in more streamlined production for industry and higher economies of scales. Furthermore, collaborative procurement conducted in a transparent and competitive way increases cross-border competition which again is a key factor in market terms. At the conference, representatives of EDA concluded that a more frequent use of common procurement methods will lead to more nations employing the same equipment and thus increased interoperability.