At the Guadeloupe summit in 1979, European leaders met to discuss security matters with their North American allies. On the sidelines, they agreed it was senseless to produce competing fighter jets, ships and tanks. Specialisation and co-operation was the way forward.
Thirty years on, the goal of a comprehensive and collaborative approach to defence procurement remains unfulfilled. According to the European Defence Agency, in 2007 member states spent just €6.8bn ($9.7bn) on joint programmes against total investment of €41bn. And while the European aerospace industry has largely consolidated into EADS, the continent retains some dozen shipyards and armoured vehicle producers. The US, which accounts for roughly half of global defence spending, has two of each.
