The new European defence equipment market will be launched on 1 July, with the participation of all but three of the 25 EU Member States.
The market will operate on the basis of the , approved by Ministers on 15 May, which is intended to extend the benefits of greater competition to smaller companies who may not be able to bid for contracts directly but could act as sub-contractors. This set of principles has been developed in close consultation with industry.
Only Hungary and Spain exercised their option by the 19 May deadline not to join the Code of Conduct regime initially, although both have indicated the possibility of doing so later. Denmark, which has a general opt-out on European Security and Defence Policy, is not part of the EDA.
“We are delighted that the overwhelming majority of Member States have confirmed that they will be subscribing to the Code of Conduct regime from the start,” EDA Chief Executive Nick Witney said.
“This regime will create new opportunities for companies across Europe, strengthen our defence technological and industrial base and offer better value for money to the armed forces and to taxpayers,” he added.
The Code of Conduct commits subscribing Member States to maximising fair and equal opportunities for all suppliers based in other subscribing Member States by publicising procurement opportunities through a new Electronic Bulletin Board, which will be operated by the Agency, and setting transparent and objective criteria for selecting bidders and awarding contracts.
The Agency’s reporting and monitoring system will help to ensure mutual transparency and mutual accountability among subscribing Member States, so that they can be confident that the regime is working as intended. Data will be collected for contracts awarded under the Code. For cases where Member States decide not to apply it, explanation would have to be provided.
The 22 subscribing Member States are: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, and United Kingdom.