Europeans retreat on defence spending

Tomas Valasek of the Centre for European Reform, a think tank in London, says opportunities exist for smarter defence spending. Most spending is not for military operations, he says, but for things like training, education and procurement. Four-fifths of European equipment budgets are spent on products from domestic manufacturers, which often don't offer the best value. "There's a shocking contrast between the way we fight together and the way we build our forces in splendid isolation from each other," he says. A European Union directive that goes into effect this year mandates a single European market for a large number of military purchases, which will make it more difficult for governments to promote "national champions" in the defense industry. Mr. Valasek says Slovenia and Croatia have been discussing a joint air force, and the Czech Republic and Slovakia have a program to combine their military-education systems.