In its efforts to promote a systematic approach towards Pooling & Sharing, the European Defence Agency (EDA) proposed and ministers adopted a code of conduct. By signing the code, defence ministers agreed to systematically consider cooperation in their national defence planning.
The code comprises a series of actions to support cooperative efforts of EU Member States to develop defence capabilities. The actions herein are aimed at mainstreaming Pooling & Sharing in Member States’ planning and decision-making processes. They are to be implemented on a national and voluntary basis, in line with defence policies of Member States.
The main pillars of the code are:
- To systematically consider cooperation from the outset in national defence planning of Member States for the whole life-cycle of a capability, including cooperation in R&T.
- Investment. To endeavour to accord Pooling & Sharing projects a higher degree of protection from potential cuts. To take advantage of synergies with wider European policies, including regulatory frameworks, standards and certification.
- Coherence. EDA functions as a platform for information exchange to avoid gaps or duplication, to share expertise and best practises and to increase transparency.
- Assessment. EDA will submit to defence ministers an annual state of play of Pooling & Sharing on the status of current initiatives, new opportunities and an analysis of the capability situation in Europe.
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