Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-10-04-Speech-3-218"
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"en.20001004.9.3-218"2
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"Mr President, this Parliament has always argued in favour of improving EU laws on arms export and, partly as a result of these pleas, we now have a code of conduct which we are able to debate today for the first time. The PSE Group sees this as a good start but a code is no law. We continue to strive for legislation which is more binding and more up to date, in view of the developments within the arms market and in the arms industry. So, as far as we are concerned, we would emphasise the wording in Mr Titley’s report about also making the code legally binding.
Having said this, I would naturally like to congratulate the rapporteur, Mr Titley on his excellent report. He has scrutinised the code most comprehensively and has prepared a report for us which we can now readily discuss. One central point, of course, is that arms export policy should not develop in isolation. It must form an integral part of the common foreign and security policy. After all, it is an instrument of foreign policy which can and must contribute to the Union’s external policy which we would all like to bolster.
The European Union is currently developing a military arm within the second pillar. This requires more cooperation in the field of arms production and arms export. I hope that the bigger players in the arms export industry can see this as well. May the improved cooperation between six Member States, which came about recently, serve as a case in point. I would still like to underline that, within that framework, one of our objectives is to improve the so-called end-user regulation. We feel we should continue to work on this code and ensure that it can lead to a common arms export policy in due course.
The rapporteur is also right to highlight a number of persistent problems in the field of arms export. The proliferation of light weapons remains disconcerting, even close to home, in the Balkans, for example. In a sense, these arms have come to symbolise anarchy in many areas worldwide.
The EU would do well to grant this more priority. There is of course also a direct link with organised crime, which is actively involved in the arms trade. This can only be tackled through increased cooperation. I wholeheartedly back Mr Titley’s plea to grant the candidate states a more prominent role. I would also like to include the Balkans in this. Much of the so-called illegal arms trade is channelled through these regions.
As Mr Titley pointed out – rightly so – the code can be made more transparent by providing more and better information. I would like to underline this, also on behalf of my group. Unnecessary secrecy surrounding arms transactions must disappear. Here too we should continue to fight for more transparency. It is only by having hard facts that we can assess whether the EU Member States actually practise what they often preach, namely work on more security within and between countries."@en1
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