Defence
About Defence
The Letter of Intent Framework Agreement Treaty
The Letter of Intent (LoI) Framework Agreement Treaty was established to create the necessary "Measures to Facilitate the Restructuring of the European Defence Industry" and was signed on 27 July 2000 by the Defence Ministers of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the UK.
Specifically, the Framework Agreement aimed to create "the political and legal framework necessary to facilitate industrial restructuring in order to promote a more competitive and robust European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB) in the global defence market."
In order to meet this aspiration the Framework Agreement established a strategic level Executive Committee. Each nation takes it in turn to Chair the Executive Committee on an annual basis and the United Kingdom provides the current Chairmanship to 30 June 2011, when France takes over. The Executive Committee meets two or three times a year to review progress on current activities and agree new priorities and activities. It is also responsible for providing regular reports to Ministers and State Secretaries.
The Framework Agreement is an inter-governmental Treaty and is not a European Union institution. It does not have an office, secretariat or budget and relies on the Parties to agree and deliver the work programmes. It was one of the first examples of closer European co-operation in the armaments field.
The political, industrial and military landscape has changed significantly since the LoI Framework Agreement was signed. Since then: the European Defence Agency (EDA) was established in 2004; the European Commission has taken an ever closer interest in defence industrial and market issues; and the defence industrial base has become increasingly globalised.
In the context of these strategic level changes, the six biggest defence industrial nations of Europe have agreed overwhelmingly to adapt the LoI Framework Agreement so that the Nations' can better meet the challenges of the new strategic framework they now co-operate under and to rethink their role as an effective group, which is able to:
- monitor and influence the European Commission in the development and drafting of new European market regulations
- share information with the EDA on ongoing LoI activities and provide advice and guidance on key industrial, market, R&T, Test and Evaluation capabilities, and military requirements and to actively contribute to future EDA developments that support the strengthening of military capabilities;
- continue to develop and establish a more effective and informal dialogue with LoI Defence industries; and
- establish contact with other EU Member States and where relevant, with other third parties such as the United States (US) with the aim of promoting greater transparency and mutual understanding of EDTIB and Trans-Atlantic defence industrial and market issues.
Six specialist sub-committees were established under the Framework Agreement to facilitate the restructuring of the defence industrial base. These can be found under "Related pages" on the right.
Point of contact
Assistant Head
International Relations Group
Defence Equipment and Support
MOD Abbey wood
Bristol
BS34 8JH
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)117 913 0271
Email International Relations Group
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