Council presentation

The Defence Economy Council is an independent structure aimed to spread a clear-sighted message in matters of defence and security. Relaunched by the new Minister of defence in October 2007, the Council sets a dialogue between leaders with acknowledged expertise in different fields: on the one hand, defence professionals, on the other hand, personalities from business, economics, international affairs, higher education, public administration and the media, and third , representatives of the Parliament and the politics.

In the perspective of the French presidency of the European Union during the second half of 2008, the Council currently focuses its analyses and proposals on a "european hard core in the field of defence and security", within five working groups dealing with the following topics.

• What reasonable financial means for European security and what the conditions of efficiency of defence spending coordinated between some european countries.
• Interactions and correlations between european security policy and energy, natural resources, water and environment policy.
• The efforts of defence researches in Europe and their fields of application.
• How to develop the European industrial basis of defence and maintain a durable European defence industrial base.
• The political and institutional European framework for a "reinforced cooperation in defence" project.

The messages or suggestions addressed to French and European leaders result from ideas and debates of around fifty French personalities associated to the Council, and around fifty European partners, all of them being given high responsibilities in the field of economics, university, public administration and politics.

The works of the Council will this year lead to several events:

• The publication in late March 2008 of a Memorandum to the Minister of defence and the government for the French presidency of the EU.
• The organisation of bilateral European meetings, and missions of the Council across Europe, in order to associate to our work the vision of some potential European partners.
• The organization of a European seminary in June 2008, with the Minister of defence, setting a debate on the suggestions that have been put forward in the Memorandum.
• The award of the "Defence Economy Prize" rewarding a dissertation for PhD or master degree.

Led by its President Philippe Esper, the Council is constituted of :

• The five high-ranking members of the Ministry of Defence : the Chief of Defence Staff, the General Delegate for Armament, the Secretary General for Administration, the Director for Strategic Affairs and the Chief of General Forces Control.
• Outside figures : Bernard Bigot, High Commissioner for Atomic Energy, Professor Christian de Boissieu, Chairman of the Economic Analysis Council, Michel Scheller, Counsellor of Ineo-Suez Ceo, and Yves-Thibault de Silguy, Chairman of Vinci.
• Representatives of the Parliament: Jean-Michel Boucheron, deputy of Ille et Vilaine, François Cornut-Gentille, deputy of Haute Marne and Yves Fréville, senator of Ille et Vilaine