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Restructuring of Arms Production in Western Europe

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ISBN 0-19-829147-7
1992
Oxford University Press

Profound changes are occurring in the structure of arms production in Western Europe. Concentration is increasing at a fast pace. Small producers are disappearing and even large ones are opting out of the market. The various national arms industries, long operating in protective environments, are rapidly internationalizing. Three factors combine to bring about this change: East-West détente, the creation of the Single European Market, and the constant pressure of increasingly complex technology.

In this book experts describe how the framework for producing arms in Western Europe is altered, and how various actors—firms, governments, and trade unions—are adapting to the new situation. The book presents detailed analyses of all the arms-producing countries in Western Europe. In addition to describing recent changes, the authors speculate on the implications of these for the balance of power in Western Europe, the relations between Western Europe and the United States, arms exports to the Third World, and problems of converting from military to civilian production. The appendices include the SIPRI list of the 50 largest arms-producing companies in Western Europe; data on mergers and acquisitions, procurement expenditure, and exports of major weapons; selections from treaties and other official documents relevant to current and future regulation of West European arms production; and a select bibliography.

Table of contents

Part I. Introduction

1. Restructuring of arms production in Western Europe: Introduction

Michael Brzoska and Peter Lock

 

Part II. The changing environment

2. The economics of the West European arms industry

Ian Anthony and Herbert Wulf

3. Institutional frameworks for integration of arms production in Western Europe

Harald Bauer

4. Political change and world arms export markets: Impact on the structure of West European arms industries

Frederic S. Pearson

5. Responses of the US arms industry

Judith Reppy

6. Science, technology and the peace dividend

Philip Gummett and William Walker

 

Part III. Country analyses

7. The British restructuring experience

Trevor Taylor

8. Reorientation of French companies

Claude Serfati

9. Consequences of the French arms exports crisis

Jacques Fontanel and Louis Pilandon

10. Daimler Benz: The final stage of concentration in German arms production?

Michael Brzoska and Peter Lock

11. Crisis and adaptation in northern Germany

Werner Voß

12. The slow restructuring of the Italian arms industry

Giulio Perani and Mario Pianta

13. Arms production and modernization in Spain

Jordi Molas-Gallart

14. The developing arms industries in Greece, Portugal and Turkey

Anthony Bartzokas

15. Sweden's search for military technology

Björn Hagelin

 

Part IV. Summary

16. Summary

Michael Brzoska and Peter Lock

 

Appendix A. The 50 largest arms-producing companies in Western Europe, 1989

Ian Anthony, Agnès Courades Allebeck, Gerd Hagemeyer-Gaverus, Paolo Miggiano and Herbert Wulf

Appendix B. International mergers, formation of new companies and take-overs in the arms production sector of Western Europe, 1989–90

Ian Anthony and Herbert Wulf

Appendix C. European NATO major weapon procurement expenditure, 1981–90

Appendix D. Exports of major weapons from Western Europe, 1981–90

Appendix E. Selections from treaties on the European Community

Appendix F. Selected documents of the Independent European Programme Group

Appendix G. Select bibliography

ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)/EDITORS

Dr Michael Brzoska is an Associate Senior Researcher at SIPRI.