Cooperative armament programmes in the Union face significant challenges, being mostly set up on an ad hoc basis and being plagued by complexity, delays and cost overruns. To remedy that situation and ensure the continuous commitment of Member States until the end of the life cycle of defence products, a more structured approach is required at Union level. To achieve such an approach, Member States’ efforts should be supported by making available a new legal framework, namely the SEAP, to underpin and strengthen their cooperation. To reach its objective of fostering the competitiveness of the EDTIB and, where relevant, of the Ukrainian DTIB, a SEAP should be able to conduct the common development, procurement, life cycle management or dynamic availability management of defence products. SEAPs should be able to carry out additional activities necessary for the achievement of their objectives, such as activities related to infrastructure directly related to defence products. Actions undertaken in the framework of a SEAP should be mutually reinforcing with those carried out under the CFSP, in particular in the context of the CDP. Such actions should also not contravene the security and defence interests of the Union and its Member States, including respect for the principle of good neighbourly relations.
Text as published in the Official Journal, reproduced verbatim (including any typographical quirks of the source). For the authentic version, see EUR-Lex.
