German is new EU defence agency chief

BRUSSELS, May 24 (Reuters) Germany's deputy national armaments director, Alexander Weis, was appointed today to head the European Defence Agency, which promotes military integration and industrial cooperation in the European Union.

Weis, 47, will take over in October from Britain's Nick Witney who has led the agency since its creation in July 2004.

Carlo Magrassi of Italy, the EDA's current armaments director, will be deputy chief executive for strategy and Adam Sowa, Poland's deputy national armaments director, becomes deputy chief executive for operations.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said in a statement Witney had ''made a real difference to European defence cooperation'', notably through a code of conduct to open the EU defence equipment market to competition.

But the European industry remains largely fragmented along national lines, despite frequent warnings that member states get less ''bang for the buck'' than the United States due to the inefficiency of the EU defence market.

REUTERS RC HT1600