Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-09-25-Speech-4-102"
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"en.20030925.8.4-102"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, the Group of the Party of European Socialists supports Mr von Wogau's report, and I should particularly like to thank the rapporteur for his very good analysis of the successes and deficiencies in the control of arms exports in the European Union.
In the Convention and the draft constitution we have said that Europe needs to shoulder more responsibility in the world. Our clear intention is to not only be a large market but also a political unit, which takes on responsibilities beyond the borders of the European Union, and the issue of arms exports has a central role to play here. We hear of some cases of completely irresponsible behaviour: of arms being exported to crisis regions causing conflicts to escalate, instead of arms exports being reduced or stopped, which would help to take the heat out of these conflicts. The arms trade is one of the reasons why it is often in the poorest regions of the world that there is armed conflict and, as we see, it is very often child soldiers who are deployed there.
The arms trade, as we all know, is, like the drugs trade and trafficking in human beings, a multi-billion-pound business. The profits are huge, and that is why this shady market is so attractive to operators. The Code of Conduct has proved its worth – there has been some improvement – but the report also notes that exports are still being sent to crisis regions in contravention of the Code. We have not yet achieved our aim; we do not yet have this issue fully under control.
I also agree with the rapporteur that if we want a common arms policy – meaning that individual countries do not do their own research or manufacture their own arms but that we do this together at European level – we not only need a common armaments market internally, but also a common arms export policy. Just as we have a common trade policy for normal goods, so we also need a common policy for arms exports, and I agree with what we say in paragraph 3: the data available is insufficient. The type of arms that are supplied, the total value of exports, the number of licences refused, more precise information on the country of destination and the end-user – we need all of these data, otherwise we cannot exercise control of the market and spot when something is wrong.
Brokers in the arms trade are quite unique agents. We are familiar with the various scandals. As I have already said, there is a lot of money to be made. That is why I very much welcome our call for a register of arms brokers and also for an authorisation system of some kind. We urgently need a common position here, and this Parliament calls on the Council to bring about an agreement amongst the Member States. I also wish to mention that the EU cannot shoulder this burden alone. We need our neighbours, but we also need Russia and the United States of America. We would be pleased if the French initiative were successful. It is in the interests of the credibility of the EU's external policy for us to stick to our principles in this sector too, and I very much welcome Mr von Wogau's report."@en1
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