USA og EU: mer beskyttelse enn forsvar?

US and EU:

more protection than defence?

Grim economic reality is

biting the defence sector.

We’re in a shrinking area.

And that is just a fact of life.

You can see it

in the militaries getting smaller.

You can see it

in the ministries getting smaller.

And in the defence industry

getting smaller.

This is a fundamental fact.

Even in the US,

when you look at the sequestration,

our recent government shutdown,

budgets are driving

the capabilities that we can afford.

So you have to think differently.

This thinking differently

will have to overcome

some heavily ingrained practices.

These include barriers

between the EU

and US defence companies.

We partner with several

large European companies

that sell products in other countries.

They’re always enthusiastic,

but the last minute they say:

I have to check with my government.

Every country’s number one

defence customer is its home market.

Without a home flag on your product,

it’s virtually impossible

to take it anywhere else.

The export market demands that.

One development, which could

help bring them closer together?

is the new Transatlantic Trade

and Investment Partnership or TTIP.

The Transatlantic

Trade Investment Partnership

is one that, even though

the WTO excludes defence,

that’s a national prerogative,

as does TTIP,

if TTIP will create

a favourable environment,

an umbrella under which

even defence will be able

to foster a better relationship.

We’ve got to still find a way

to continue to reduce some barriers.

They’re not invisible,

they’re definitely there.

And we can work harder to do that.

But what about the US’s

famous pivot to Asia?

How does this play

into the transatlantic relationship?

Well, there’s a lot to be said

about a pivoting from Europe.

I’m a basketball fan.

So, when someone says pivot,

I always look to make sure to see

if they actually have an anchor.

And for defence industry,

and certainly also for the US,

Europe is our anchor.

The success and underpinnings

of smart defence

is predicated

on transatlantic relations

and Europe and the United States.

And there is evidence

that the relationship is stronger

than some may think,

either through desire or necessity.

For Boeing, to move

into the European environment,

it’s imperative

that you partner with companies.

We can’t go hardly

anywhere in Europe

without having

somebody else be the leader,

whether it’s a Thales or it’s a BAE

or it’s a small company

in Poland or in Italy.

Of the six partners

that we have here in Europe,

all have components,

pieces and participation

in every F-35 that flies today.

So, why do the barriers

remain such an obstacle?

When you have special technology,

whether it’s us

or Germany or Italy

or France or whoever,

you’ve got to put the right walls

around that special technology.

But I think most of us

still tend to protect too much.

But there are a lot of other things

that we could more easily

and transparently deal with

with friends and allies.