WHAT FUTURE EUROPEAN DEFENCE AND TECHNOLOGICAL INDUSTRIAL BASIS (EDTIB) DO WE WANT/NEED?

The paper outlines Sweden's overall lukewarm reception of the new EU defence initiatives, marked by scepticism towards EU ambitions of consolidating the defence market, on the role of the European Commission in defence policy and a consistent emphasis on the importance of competition. [...] 2 BACKGROUND: AN OVERVIEW OF THE SWEDISH DEFENCE INDUSTRY AND ITS SETUP To comprehend the Swedish stance on the various new EU defence-industrial instruments, it is essential to delve into its history, as well as its political, economic, and cultural ties with the defence industries of the UK and the US. [...] In the late 1990s, the Swedish defence industry underwent a process of privatisation, leading to the abolition of state ownership and the introduction of foreign ownership in significant parts of the industry. [...] THE UKRAINE WAR AND THE IMPACT ON SWEDISH DEFENCE One of the reasons behind Sweden's market-liberal defence industrial approach, as elaborated above, has been the decline in the national defence budget after the end of the Cold War. [...] Furthermore, the CEO of the Swedish defence giant SAAB has recently emphasised, echoing the findings of an ARES study on the impact of the Ukraine war on the European defence market, that more than 70% of the orders should not go to the US industry.