Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-01-17-Speech-3-142"
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"en.20070117.8.3-142"2
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"Ladies and gentlemen, the arms industry is one of the most advanced sectors of the economy. Companies in the western countries today rule the global arms market due to their technological advantage. Thus we have a great responsibility, one with which we clearly cannot cope. Armed conflicts have not decreased, but have just become more expensive.
The amount of money spent on arms makes investment in education and health impossible. This vicious circle fuels conflict zones for decades. The money spent on death could have been used to educate and feed those killed until the end of their natural lives.
Arms that have already been produced eventually reach their logical target – conflict zones – even when they have meanwhile been gathered up by an ESDP mission, as happened in Bosnia. Along the way, the arms generate profits for criminals and illegal regimes.
As the head of the Moldova delegation, I know that the Trans-Dnistrian separatists obtain their financing from illegal arms deals. Territory in Cobasna controlled by the ex-KGB elite contains the largest ammunition stockpiles in Europe.
In terms of the number of victims, small arms today are true weapons of mass destruction. The Kalashnikov machine gun, for instance, has achieved an iconic status among extremists. Yet extremists have also already repeatedly succeeded in acquiring more developed weapons systems. Sooner or later our irresponsibility will turn against us.
Thus I support the transformation of the European Union arms export procedural guidelines into a legally binding document. I know that the Council is able to make the guidelines into a common position. I regret that Mr Gloser will not hear these words.
I also hope that the United Kingdom and France will put an end to the use of export credits to support arms exports, and that the bribery that accompanies this business will be punished, and not only on paper.
The world needs an international arms trade agreement, and Europe needs greater transparency in arms trading, as mentioned by the rapporteur, whom I both congratulate and thank for his work."@en1
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