Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation


The Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation is a European intergovernmental organisation that facilitates and manages collaborative armament programmes through their lifecycle between the nations of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

History



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at:2005 shift:15,-6 text: Accession of Spain
at:2004 shift:15,-6 text: Re-organisation of Central Office
at:2003 shift:15,-6 text: Accession of Belgium
at:2001 shift:15,-6 text: OCCAR Legal Status
at:1998 shift:15,-6 text: Signature of the Convention
at:1997 shift:15,-6 text: Early staffing of Central Office
at:1996 shift:15,-6 text: Franco-German precursor team
at:1995 shift:15,-6 text: Principles of Baden-Baden
at:1993 shift:15,-6 text: Franco-German Declaration


OCCAR was established on 12 November 1996 by the Defence Ministers of France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom. Legal status was not achieved, however, until January 2001 when the parliaments of the four founding nations ratified the OCCAR Convention. Other European nations may join OCCAR, subject to their actual involvement in a substantive collaborative equipment programme involving at least one OCCAR partner and ratification of the OCCAR Convention. Belgium and Spain joined the organisation in respectively 2003 and 2005.
Other States can participate to OCCAR programmes without becoming a Member State. Currently the EU and/or NATO members Turkey, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Finland, Sweden, Lithuania and Poland participate in one or more OCCAR programmes without being a formal member.

Structure

The highest decision-making body within OCCAR as corporate organisation is the Board of Supervisors. Each OCCAR programmes is supervised by a Programme Board and a Programme Committee. The programmes are executed by the OCCAR Executive Administration in accordance with the decisions of the supervisory bodies. OCCAR-EA is headed by the OCCAR Director and consists of a Central Office and the Programme Divisions. OCCAR-EA employs over 300 staff members.

Current programmes

The 14 programmes currently managed by OCCAR are the following: