History
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 acceptance of OCCAR's founding principles, rules, regulations and procedures. Belgium and Spain joined the organisation in respectively 2003 and 2005.
EU or NATO members Turkey, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Finland and Sweden participate in one or more OCCAR programmes without being a formal member.
Read more about this topic: Organisation For Joint Armament Cooperation
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