ARMS PRODUCTION AND INTEGRATION OF SECURITY POLICY IN WESTERN-EUROPE

The article focuses on the fundamental restructuring of the Western European arms industry in the light of two sets of theories, neofunctionalism and intergovernmental institutionalism. The structure of the arms industry in Western Europe is changing rapidly as previously distinct national industries are merging and developing multiple patterns of cooperation. At the same time the costs of development and production of new weapons systems have skyrocketed, while defence budgets have decreased. This process forces European states to cooperate in development and procurement of new defence equipment. The article discusses these trends and the struggle between the EC Commission and the member states about political control of the arms industry. It concludes that, for several reasons, in the foreseeable future the member states will probably prefer to keep control of the arms industry in a loose, and strictly intergovernmental, organization. Thus the planned common market for defence equipment and the EC internal market will continue to be separated, and the influence of the Commission will be minimalized.