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There are important transatlantic issues here. However, the power of initiative is largely on the US side. It is essentially the United States that restricts the flow of technology across the Atlantic and limits European access to the US market in contrast to the fairly open market access that Americans enjoy in Europe. The United States spends an awful lot more on defence than Europe and is, therefore, addressing these issues from a position of strength. If Europeans don't like this imbalance on technology exchange and market access, then the most sensible thing they can do is invest in a stronger defence technological industrial base in Europe so that these issues are dealt with on rather more equal terms across the Atlantic. The way to do this is by overcoming fragmentation and fostering greater consolidation, thereby generating more effective output for the not inconsiderable sums of money that are spent on defence in Europe. But this is a longer-term project. Concerning US access to European markets, we at the Agency will not be changing anything. This is an issue where there are fundamentally different views among the 24 shareholders. I suspect, therefore, that my Steering Board will agree to disagree in this area.
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