Cooperation in European defence procurement : OCCAR and the security regime

The aim of this research is to analyse the regime in defence procurement together with the dynamics and the shape of coordination achieved among European states. Defence procurement regards the acquisition and management of military programmes by governments or ad hoc agencies. Weapons procurement has historically been a domain of national states. Its apparent linkage with security affairs has hampered or rendered difficult cooperation among states. Nevertheless, pressured by internal and external factors, European countries are partly reconsidering their procurement policies. The last decade of the 20th century has been characterized by significant turning points that have increased states’ willingness to coordinate their actions. In the first part of the research the nature of the regime is discussed: coordination in weapons procurement among European states reflects a security regime. Then, a depiction of the difficulties and challenges that a security regime presents is provided, deriving mainly from the available literature on this realm. Having defined the nature of the regime, the research highlights the basis for cooperation by considering the theoretical approaches that seem more likely to explain it: power based theories. In the second part of the research the findings emphasized in the theoretical part are employed to analyse the regime on defence procurement. Evidence of the features composing the regime and explanations of the difficulties of formalizing it and rendering it binding for all European states is made available. It is emphasized that while there exists a willingness to coordinate actions among states, tangible results have been achieved outside of the EU context and between the most powerful European states, mainly through OCCAR(Organization Conjointe de Cooperation en Matière d’Armement). OCCAR, an International Organization for the joint management of European military programmes does not constitute the regime itself, but contributes to its existence in a significant way. The degree and the shape of coordination reached within this organization amid ‘distributional’ issues provides informed insights for future cooperative efforts.