The latest report on the European aerospace industry calls for a common policy promoting co-operation. But will anyone listen?
Last week the European Union's (EU) Advisory Group on Aerospace presented its first report - the Strategic Aerospace Review for the 21st Century (STAR 21) - and set out its views on how an industrial sector that it views as fundamental to the continent's future economic success should be developed.
The report's five key recommendations called for a global market with a level playing field and fair competition; a co-ordinated strategy for research and the investment of the necessary resources; for the EU to become the policy-maker and regulator in civil aviation; a coherent defence and security infrastructure; and a consolidated European space policy.
That the EU is keen to ensure the sustainment of the European aerospace industry is no surprise. Brussels' figures for 2000 show that the sector directly employed 429,000 people and achieved a consolidated turnover of €72.3 billion ($72.3 billion). It exported around half its output and contributed a positive trade balance of around €1.9 billion. And in a happy coincidence for the EU, the aerospace supply chain spreads throughout the EU's 15 member nations. In short, as the STAR 21 report sets out, "aerospace [is] a leading contributor to wealth and employment all across the EU".
The five key policy points set out in STAR 21 should not surprise anyone remotely connected with the European aerospace industry - they have been articulated on more than one occasion in recent years, but Europe, and its principal government organisations, are bureaucratic behemoths that are slow to respond. A criticism within the STAR 21 report is that, while Europe's aerospace industry has consolidated over the past five or so years, the policy framework that governs its activities is fragmented.
This obviously needs changing, but the reason for the fragmentation is all too clear. Each EU member has different rules - despite the good intentions that led to the formation of the European Community - and not one of the 15 nations is overly keen on losing "sovereignty" over a "crown jewel" industry.
Europe's six leading aerospace nations - France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the UK - have already signed up to an agreement covering research and development and other aerospace and defence co-operation. If this were taken a step further, to a common policy framework governing the industry in those six countries, it would soon become obvious to the nine remaining nations that signing up to common rules was crucial to sustaining their aerospace capabilities.
One barricade that could be placed in the way of European aerospace industry progress could well be a failure to ensure its future viability by choking the research and development process. STAR 21 describes the "huge challenge involved in mobilising the estimated €100 billion from private and public sources" to funding a concerted R&D programme over the next 20 years. Again the fractured nature of the European policy framework and each nation's sensitivity to possibly losing what is seen as a critical capability are hindering progress.
Once the battle to create a cohesive single aerospace environment in Europe is won, the next task will be to level the playing field with the USA. The Europeans look enviously at the US internal market. In 2000 the US Department of Defense and other government agencies placed orders worth $60.3 billion with US manufacturers, compared with $15.9 billion spent by the 15 EU governments with European contractors. But convincing Washington DC that Europe should be given a slice of that spending pie will not be easy, particularly with the heightened mood to "buy American" after the 11 September attacks.
What Europe must do is instead ensure that its industry is in a position to provide its own internal market with the right equipment on time and to specification. This will mean an end to the interminable delays to European co-operative programmes caused when one country or another stalls the approval and/or funding process. There will be no point in decrying an EU member for buying, for instance, a US missile in 2010, if the equivalent European product is still two years from service because of a stream of government-instigated delays.
STAR 21 provides a strong foundation for the EU to continue as a player in the global aerospace industry. But it needs to act and act fast. There have been plenty of reports giving similar warnings and recommendations; it would be a sad day for Europe if STAR 21 joins them on the shelf simply gathering dust.
Source: Flight International
