L'industrie d'armement, acteur et bénéficiaire de L'Europe de la défense ?

Abstract

Do European arms industries have benefited from the construction of a European common defense ? Are States still the driving force of European common defense and of a European arms industry ? The answers to those two questions must be qualified, because they have varied with time. Indeed, if European arms industries undoubtedly must follow the State's will - because the State defines the legal framework in which they evolve and because it represents their only customer -, European arms industry develops itself more and more independently, because of its integration in globalization. Therefore, contrary to what some may claim, the restructuration of the European arms industry is neither a prior condition nor a result of the steps undertaken towards a European common defense.