OCCAR's history
The Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière d'Armement / OCCAR) was initially established by an Administrative Arrangement signed by the Defence Ministers of France, Germany, Italy and the UK on 12th November 1996. The aim of OCCAR is to increase the armaments cooperation of the Member States in order to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
In 1998, the Defence Ministers of the four founding Member States signed the treaty-like "OCCAR Convention", which was subsequently ratified by the national Parliaments and came into force on 28th January 2001. The Convention gives OCCAR its legal status, allowing it to award contracts and to employ its own staff. Belgium and Spain joined OCCAR respectively in 2003 and 2005.
Historical Overview
| Dec 1993 | French-German Declaration |
| Dec 1995 | French-German Principles of Baden-Baden |
| Feb 1996 | French-German precursor team. Italy and UK join precursor team |
| Nov 1996 | France, Germany, Italy & UK sign OCCAR Administrative Arrangement (pre-Legal Status) |
| Jul 1997 | Early staffing of Central Office |
| Sep 1998 | Signature of the OCCAR Convention, followed by ratification |
| Jan 2001 | OCCAR Legal Status |
| Feb 2001 | Integration of the BOXER (with the Netherlands as Participating State), COBRA, FSAF, HOT/MILAN, ROLAND and TIGER Programmes |
| Jun 2003 | Closure of the HOT/MILAN Programme |
| May 2003 | Accession of Belgium & Integration of the A400M Programme (with Spain and Türkiye as Participating States; Luxemburg being represented by Belgium) |
| Jan 2005 | Accession of Spain |
| Nov 2005 | Integration of the FREMM Programme |
| Dec 2007 | Closure of the ROLAND Programme |
| Dec 2008 | Integration of the ESSOR Programme (with Finland, Poland and Sweden as Participating States) |
| May 2011 | Integration of the MUSIS Federating Activities Programme |
| Jul 2012 | Signature of the EDA - OCCAR Administrative Arrangement |
| Mar 2015 | Integration of the MMCM Programme |
| May 2015 | Integration of the LSS and PPA Programmes |
| Aug 2016 | Lithuania joins the BOXER Programme |
| Aug 2016 | Integration of the European MALE RPAS Programme |
| Sep 2016 | MMF Programme Division established |
| May 2020 | Establishment of NVC Programme Division |
| JAN 2021 | Integration of MAST-F Programme |
| APR 2021 | Establishment of U212 NFS Programme Division |
|
JuL 2022 |
Joint Ministerial Declaration signed by Member States |
| DeC 2022 | Handover of MMF Programme to NSPA |
| Apr 2023 | Integration of CAMM-ER into FSAF-PAMMS Programme |
| SEPt 2023 | FREMM PD converted to Horizon PD after full integration in OCCAR of Horizon MLU Programme |