Introduction – The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union have focused minds on the EU’s role as a defense actor. In the context of defense procurement, this includes whether the EU should itself co-fund cooperative programmes with Member States, what can be commonly procured, and how. The U.S. faces the obvious dilemma of needing to be seen to encourage EU initiatives which, if successful, would reduce reliance on the U.S. within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) while also securing U.S. industry’s continued access to the European defense market(s). We explore the latest EU initiatives with a particular emphasis on implications for the U.S. For a useful introduction see Luke Butler, “Developments and Directions in EU Defense Procurement Regulation, and implications for the Defense Relationship between the EU and the UK.”
The article co-authored by Michael Bowsher KC, was published by Thomson Reuters.
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