The European Union has taken a series of measures to deal with the "crisis" and the changes affecting the armament sector. These go beyond purely national contexts, even though traditionally Defence questions have been an exclusive field of competence for member States. The difficulties faced recently and at present seem to be explained by :

• a period of change and crisis, bringing a fall in defence budgets (two factors are linked: decreased budgets for military equipment and a fall in exports)
• increased international competition, especially from America.
• the anachronistic fragmentation of Defence markets in Europe.

Fully aware this situation, Europe is trying to find an adequate response to this emergency, through the Western European Union and PESC. It is only through competitiveness at the international level based on the construction of a Community identity in Defence and a European policy on armaments that it will reach its objective.

In reality, the final objective is to attain a competitive industrial and technological base thanks to economies of scale. It is at the level of rationalization of structures and methods that better cost-efficiency ratios can be achieved. (2)

"The Observer'" charged with preparing economic forecasts in the area of technological systems, for example, can create according to need "a system of coordinates" considered representative of the situation faced and then through a multidimensional calculation can seek those items that will act as referents in relation to others. At that point it is possible to identify the action of each of these coordinates on the others and the interactions embodied in the system. (3)

Hence, in their Action Strategies, the Decision-makers have available a computer tool for Economic Forecasting that transforms the computer from its role as an interpreter into one of a partner in human decision-making. It thus enlarges the knowledge of the Decision-makers as to the means at their disposal, their type, their relationships, and the quantity to be used and the time they take to act.(4)