Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-11-16-Speech-2-015"
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"en.20041116.7.2-015"2
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".
Mr President, I would like once again to thank both Mr Nicolaï and Mr Patten, not only for being here today, but also for having spoken so clearly and frankly, and I hope that will set the tone for our subsequent dialogue.
We in this Parliament frequently condemn violations of human rights in different parts of the world and we frequently adopt resolutions to that effect. We have condemned murders, torture, abuse and wars, and we constantly condemn the extreme poverty in the world suffered by thousands of peoples and millions of people. Meanwhile, our governments are still authorising arms exports, which not only makes these people’s situation even worse, but also leads the buyers to spend huge sums of money for military purposes, when the social and development priorities of their countries require that it be spent elsewhere.
In 2000 in New York, 189 countries signed the Millennium Declaration committing themselves, between 2015 and 2050, to putting an end to poverty, guaranteeing universal access to essential medicines and equal opportunities for men and women, as well as ensuring universal literacy and primary schooling, amongst many other things. In order to achieve these objectives, the governments must dedicate at least USD 60 000 million per year to the application of that Millennium Agenda. Nevertheless, despite the fact that it is extremely difficult to find money for these purposes, world military spending between 2002 and 2003 increased by USD 64 000 million, and between 2003 and 2004 a further USD 50 000 million had to be added.
The countries of the European Union, which export a third of the world’s conventional arms, have a considerable responsibility here. In 2002, which the report we are discussing refers to, the European Union sold arms and military equipment worth EUR 21 000 million to countries such as Saudi Arabia, Morocco, India, Pakistan, Angola, Turkey, Iran, Algeria, Colombia, Israel and also Iraq, as well as many other countries, which, according to a strict interpretation of the European Union’s Code of Conduct, should not be buying European arms. Where is the problem? It has already been mentioned; the problem lies in the fact that, on the one hand, that code is still too vague and, on the other, that it is not yet a legally-binding instrument and criminal penalties cannot, therefore, be applied in the event of its violation.
The European Parliament has always been the most pioneering of the European institutions in terms of demanding that European arms exports be governed by a strict code of conduct and at the same time that these exports be consistent with the European Union’s constant messages in favour of preventing armed conflict and promoting peace and development. So, after ten years of working professionally on this issue, I must congratulate the Dutch Presidency in particular on the efforts it is making, not only on the review of the code of conduct, but also in terms of making this text much braver, more consistent and, ultimately, more effective. But it is not yet sufficient and we must therefore remember – as the report points out – that we must insist on the need to revise the text of the code, to make it stricter, to demand that it become a legally-binding instrument – although we do not yet have consensus, we must work to achieve it – to demand that governments increase transparency and improve the information they provide on authorisations and refusals of licences, to call for the code also to be applied to the export of material which can be used for torture or executions, to demand that the European Union create instruments to improve the registers of arms intermediaries, whether they operate from the European Union or whether they are registered strictly within it, and that the legislation controlling exports be harmonised upwards. Finally, amongst many other things, the report calls for the European Union to co-lead at international level the adoption of an international arms treaty.
Finally, since this debate is taking place at a time when certain European governments are suggesting that we need to lift the arms embargo on China, we should take this opportunity to once again reiterate that it would be a mistake to do this. There are at least three reasons for this: the clearly unsatisfactory human rights situation in that country, which has been condemned many times by several NGOs; the fact that, since China is the world’s top importer of conventional arms, broadening the military market even further would undoubtedly speed up the arms race in the region and, finally, the numerous risks of aggravating certain unresolved conflicts such as that between China and Taiwan or the pressure being put on Tibet – which has yet to be clarified.
For all these reasons, I would appeal to the Council not just to listen, but to take into account and respect this Parliament’s proposals and recommendations, with a view to eliminating once and for all the blatant contradiction of, on the one hand, complaining about poverty, wars and violations of human rights, while on the other, fanning the flames of violence in many places through our arms and our silence, something which is incomprehensible to millions of victims."@en1
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