Projet de loi relatif à l'adhésion de la Belgique à la Convention entre le Gouvernement de la République française, le Gouvernement de la République fédérale d'Allemagne, le Gouvernement de la République italienne et le Gouvernement du Royaume-Uni de Grande-Bretagne et d'Irlande du Nord portant création de l'organisation conjointe de coopération en matière d'armement (OCCAR), et aux Annexes I, II, III et IV, faites à Farnborough le 9 septembre 1998.
General information ¶
- Submitted by
-
The Senate
- Submission date
- Jan. 8, 2003
- Official page
- Visit
- Status
- Adopted
- Requirement
- Simple
- Subjects
- military equipment international agreement armed forces
Voting ¶
- Voted to adopt
- Groen CD&V Vooruit Ecolo LE PS | SP Open Vld N-VA MR FN VB
Party dissidents ¶
- Vincent Decroly (Ecolo) voted to reject.
Contact form ¶
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Discussion ¶
Feb. 27, 2003 | Plenary session (Chamber of representatives)
Full source
Stef Goris Open Vld ⚙
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Minister, Colleagues, the present bill is about the accession of our country to the Treaty establishing a Joint Organization for Cooperation in Defence Materials (OCCAR), which was signed at Farnborough in 1998 by Britain, France, Italy and Germany, let alone the main Member States of the European Union with regard to defence materials both in relation to their production and processing.
This topic has been dealing with us for several years. Finally breaks the day when Belgium will also join this Treaty. This is extremely important for our country. I would like to explain this.
Accession to OCCAR is a good thing for Belgium, not only for defence but also for the defence budget and for our own defence industry as far as we can talk about as such. On the one hand, costs are saved in terms of market prospecting, development, testing, the so-called R&D, Research and Development, because OCCAR is responsible for this. On the other hand, in my opinion of fundamental importance, the military equipment purchased is standardized with the European allies. It is time for our country to take this path. This choice has resulted in the large-scale purchase, the cost price is significantly lower so that Belgium will also be able to buy cheaper in the future. In addition, high-quality producing and competitive companies within OCCAR, to which Belgium will belong, can receive significant orders with positive consequences for our own industry. In the case of non-membership, the chance would be much smaller.
In recent months and years, there have been difficult negotiations regarding the A-400M project, the famous transport aircraft for the military. The dismantling of Trigatproject showed that European cooperation is not yet working as it should. In 2000, Britain no longer showed interest in the anti-tank weapon Trigat. This resulted in our country not being able to place an order and the entire file fell into the water. We had expected to join OCCAR with this project.
Now the A-400M project is announced and Belgium can finally join. There have been complications. Both Germany and Italy were interrupted and placed a number of orders. The dossier continues. Belgium continues to participate in this and sees in this an opportunity to join OCCAR.
It seems to me useful to consider the possibility of making binding agreements through stricter timetables on whether or not to enter into a project submitted by OCCAR. In the event of non-compliance with previous commitments, the possibility of a financial sanction within OCCAR should be provided, which currently does not exist.
It seems to me also useful that Belgium, as a small member state of the European Union, in the future is more and more oriented to Europe, including in its defence and defence purchases. We must choose the path of international cooperation rather than wanting to invent the hot water itself and produce things that have long existed. After all, such an attitude makes the purchases very expensive and one-time on the market. Another consequence of having our own road and separate equipment is that in combined operations with our allies abroad we cannot rely on these allies in terms of maintenance and logistics.
I repeat that it is a good thing that we join OCCAR and have the same equipment as our neighbors. It is extremely useful in operations such as in Kosovo to rely on the support of our neighbors to maintain the equipment efficiently and expertly. I advocate that we continue this path. There are organizations in Europe other than OCCAR that guarantee a high-quality and transparent procurement process. Belgium must apply in order to be a member of such organisations.
Soon we will be facing a major helicopter purchase. This special purchase will take place next year. NAHEMA is a transatlantic procurement organization for everything related to helicopters.
I think that the best thing for that purchase of helicopters is to check whether we can apply for membership of that organization and then, in consultation with the neighboring countries, in consultation with the allies, purchase an aircraft that fits in a European concept, which fits in a joint of forces on the ground, rather than that we would once again make the mistake of signing ourselves for an aircraft that no one of our neighbors has and with which we would later again come into trouble. There would undoubtedly arise a number of difficulties in the procurement procedure — as we have unfortunately experienced in the past few months. If we want to prevent them, we must strive for maximum cooperation, especially for large purchases. I will, by the way, prepare a note for the government, also for the next legislature, in which I will put all the elements in line. Of course I will do so in general terms, but I will explicitly advocate for the maximum engagement of our country, the small Belgium in the large Europe, by joining such European procurement agencies.