What does the interpretative communication imply for member states offset policies?
According to the interpretative communication, indirect non-military offsets are in general not covered by Article 296, since the latter article protects only security interests and must be interpreted in a restrictive way. This means that civil offsets must respect community rules even if they are related to a defence procurement contract that is exempted on the basis of Article 296. Moreover, the interpretative communication recalls that member states must make sure that possible offset arrangements do not adversely affect competition on markets for non-military products.
