{"id":36509,"date":"2023-03-25T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-25T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2023\/03\/25\/estonian-firms-takeover-by-emirati-group-tests-joint-eu-defense-rules\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T12:28:42","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T12:28:42","slug":"estonian-firms-takeover-by-emirati-group-tests-joint-eu-defense-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/battlefield-tech\/2023\/03\/25\/estonian-firms-takeover-by-emirati-group-tests-joint-eu-defense-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"Estonian firm\u2019s takeover by Emirati group tests joint EU defense rules"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">MILAN and WASHINGTON \u2014 Milrem Robotics, the European Union\u2019s poster child for military robot development, is testing the bloc\u2019s rules for keeping defense technology cooperation strictly a European affair, after the Emirati conglomerate Edge Group acquired a majority stake in the Estonian company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Announced on the eve of last month\u2019s IDEX defense exhibition in the United Arab Emirates\u2019 capital Abu Dhabi, the takeover is meant to bolster Edge\u2019s technological prowess in an \u201cincreasingly diverse and fiercely competitive marketplace\u201d while underwriting Milrem\u2019s international growth as part of the new ownership, the companies announced Feb. 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cA presence in Estonia also provides EDGE with strategic access to Northern Europe, increasing valuable opportunities for us across the continent and further afield, and strengthens our position as a serious global player in this sector,\u201d Mansour AlMulla, the CEO of Edge, said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Left unmentioned in the takeover announcement was Milrem\u2019s role in the EU\u2019s ecosystem for military robotics and other capabilities, nurtured through subsidies from Brussels and an understanding that knowledge gained collectively among member governments and their defense companies should remain principally in European hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Milrem spokesman Gert Hankewitz told Defense News the company erected \u201cclear legal boundaries\u201d to restrict the sharing of sensitive EU and NATO intellectual property with Edge, vowing that such information would stay \u201cexplicitly\u201d with Milrem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe acquisition of Milrem\u2019s shares was negotiated and concluded considering the specific requirements of current and upcoming EU [and] NATO programs where we already participate or plan to in the future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The spirit of EU access rules for cooperative defense programs is restrictive by design, barring even close, democratic allies such as the U.S. from participating in technology-heavy programs, where haggling over the flow of intellectual property is expected to become a sticking point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An Edge spokesperson declined to comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The future of iMUGS<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Milrem gained a foothold in the EU-wide field of defense robotics <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/global\/europe\/2020\/12\/16\/european-union-awards-grant-to-forge-unmanned-ground-vehicle-standard\/\">through the iMUGS project<\/a>, short for integrated Modular Unmanned Ground System, where the Estonian company leads a consortium of 13 entities hailing from seven European countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The European Commission awarded an iMUGS contract in 2020 worth close to $40 million to define a standard architecture for military unmanned ground vehicles, with Milrem\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/global\/europe\/2022\/08\/10\/spanish-army-buys-milrem-ground-robot-for-testing\/\" target=\"_blank\">THeMIS<\/a> unmanned ground vehicle as the reference platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The program started under the aegis of the European Defence Industrial Development Program, or EDIDP, which funded a collection of defense projects in the 2019-2020 budget cycle to the tune of \u20ac500 million (U.S. $538 million). The push aimed to support \u201cthe competitiveness and innovation capacity of the Union\u2019s defense industry,\u201d according to the European Commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The regulation governing EDIDP projects, including iMUGS, states that companies are barred from participating if they are \u201csubject to control by a third country or a third-country entity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But there is a loophole: Non-EU influence is permissible when the project\u2019s host government gives certain \u201cguarantees\u201d to Brussels that the foreign ownership won\u2019t undermine the bloc\u2019s wider security interests, and that project-related information stays in the EU sphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Estonian government, for its part, already signaled it would take up the case with Brussels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When contacted by Defense News this month, the Estonian Defence Ministry noted that Milrem\u2019s change of ownership had not been officially approved, as the transaction was still being concluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Estonian Ministry of Defence will assure that the participation of Estonian companies in EU defense industry programs follow EU rules,\u201d a ministry spokesperson told Defense News. \u201cIf Milrem\u2019s change of ownership is approved and such an assessment is deemed necessary, it will be done in accordance with the relevant EU legislation and in cooperation with the European Commission.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Spotlighting a blind spot<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Milrem takeover by state-owned Edge, billed as the largest foreign investment in Estonia\u2019s defense industry, spotlights what EU officials fear is a blind spot in the bloc\u2019s exposure to foreign interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Leaders in Brussels have repeatedly urged all member states to adopt screening laws, especially with an eye toward Russian and Chinese business ties in the EU. So far, roughly two-thirds of the bloc\u2019s 27 member nations have registered with the European Commission the existence of a national policy covering the screening of foreign direct investments, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/global\/europe\/2022\/10\/31\/eu-officials-flag-vulnerabilities-to-foreign-control-in-defense-sector\/\">Defense News reported last fall<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Depending on the foreign investor, external control of key companies could directly challenge the vision of Europe\u2019s strategic autonomy, Pieter Taal, head of the European Defence Agency\u2019s industry strategy and EU policies unit, told reporters at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Milrem spokesman pointed to an existing organization within the Estonian government \u2014 the interagency Strategic Goods Commission \u2014 as playing a role in approving certain exports, including those to \u201cnon-allied partners\u201d like the UAE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The commission\u2019s website indicates it focuses on enforcing export controls, as opposed to considering strategic ownership questions typically associated with foreign direct investment, or FDI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Estonian parliament, meanwhile, has prepared legislation for the government to scrutinize foreign direct investment, according to a Feb. 10 online fact sheet by the law firm Sorainen, which has offices in all three Baltic countries and Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe primary objective of the new FDI regime is to screen both direct and indirect investments made by non-EU investors in strategically important and sensitive areas in Estonia,\u201d Lauri Liivat, an attorney at the firm, told Defense News. \u201cThis means acquiring 10% or more of the shares or control in the companies falling under the regulation or relevant assets of such companies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While Estonian parliamentarians in January adopted the Foreign Investment Reliability Assessment Act, as the law is called, it won\u2019t take effect until September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Milrem, for its part, said it expects to keep its prominent role as a military robotics developer in the EU, even under Emirati ownership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The responsible officer for iMUGS on the Estonian government side, Martin J\u00f5esaar, backed that assessment, telling Defense News: \u201cMilrem Robotics will continue to lead the EDIDP19 iMUGS project after the acquisition by Edge takes effect. Furthermore, they have no problem taking part in other EDF project in the future as long as they have methods in place to keep these projects clearly separate from the outside-of-EU owner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The acronym EDF is a reference to the European Defence Fund, a multibillion-euro pot that has since replaced the EDIDP scheme \u2014 with the same language on exceptions for third-country ownership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s unclear if fellow European companies working with Milrem care about the implications of the Emirati takeover. Of those asked, only Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, which holds a minority stake in Milrem, responded. A spokesman told Defense News that the German armored vehicles specialist was informed of the new stakeholder mix, but he wouldn\u2019t comment further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A spokesman at the European Defence Agency in Brussels said it has no position on the matter, stemming from a policy of not commenting on individual countries and companies. A European Commission spokesperson did not return a request for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Next up for a funding decision under EDF rules is a follow-on project to iMUGS, simply known as a second version, that would expand autonomy features to larger military vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to J\u00f5esaar, the nations involved in the project showed strong support for the next stage. More information is expected by the summer, but for now there will likely be more European states coming onboard, he said, and different financing alternatives will be considered to fund the program\u2019s second stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In addition, the European Defence Agency in early February announced an Italian-led project focused on a common architecture for combat unmanned ground systems. Milrem\u2019s THeMIS and Type-X platforms are part of the study lineup along with vehicles from Italy\u2019s Iveco, Finland\u2019s Patria and Germany\u2019s Rheinmetall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Milrem Robotics vows to shield its prominent role in EU joint defense-technology development from the new EDGE Group majority 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