FARNBOROUGH - Defense ministers from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the U.K. penned a new chapter in Europe's defense and security policy here Thursday, signing the so-called "Framework Agreement" setting out specific areas of defense industrial reform.

Among provisions of the document are streamlined export controls, better coordination of military research and development and improved intelligence sharing.

"This agreement - which builds upon the initiative in the Letter of Intent signed by the Defense Ministers of our six nations in July 1998 - established concrete measures to facilitate the restructuring and operation of the European defense industry," stated Geoffrey Hoon, the U.K. defense secretary.

The six nations have agreed to facilitate the transfer of defense supplies among themselves, as well as to work on broader areas of supply security to "ensure national security interests are not prejudiced" in times of crises.

In addition, the parties aim to simplify the export licensing process for military goods. Hoon emphasized that national export regulations would not be diluted, and exports outside the six countries still will be regulated under the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports.

The agreement also covers sharing intelligence. The six will concentrate on ways to "stream-line procedures" on exchanging classified information, said Hoon.

Research and development activities will be closely coordinated to limit redundant efforts and boost the "advanced knowledge base." Moreover, the agreement delineates principles for disclosing, transferring, using and owning technical information to promote new-product development.

Finally, the six parties will work on "improving harmonization of military requirements" to encourage the growth of a "European Defense Equipment Market."

France's minister of defense, Alain Richard, said the move to improve coordination would help the restructuring process in the European defense and aerospace industry and encourage alliances.

Hoon noted that while additional mergers and acquisitions were a possibility, it was up to European companies to decide, not politicians.

By Lauren Burns, Aerospace Daily