Written question asked by Lord Astor of Hever (Conservative), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Baroness Taylor of Bolton (Labour) on Thursday, 22 January 2009.

Armed Forces: Aircraft

Question: To ask Her Majesty's Government to what extent they retain control over United Kingdom participation in the programme for the A400M aircraft; and to what extent they have assigned such responsibility to the Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation (OCCAR).

Answer: Partner nations have agreed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and contract for the A400M programme. The MoU describes the governance mechanisms for the programme and how decision making is facilitated between nations. The Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation (OCCAR) was established by France, Germany, Italy and the UK with the primary aim of providing improved management of co-operative defence equipment programmes. OCCAR management processes and procedures have been developed in conjunction with the founder nations, and follow international best practice. The A400M partner nations jointly agreed the high level objectives for the programme and the boundaries within which the OCCAR executive administration (EA) will operate. The working parameters are set out in the mandate which assigns the responsibility for managing the programme to OCCAR. Under this mandate, the director of OCCAR-EA is directly accountable to the A400M programme board, on which the nations are represented by their national armaments directors, for the delivery of this programme.

Secondary information