Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-06-20-Speech-3-190"
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"en.20070620.21.3-190"2
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"Mr President, it is truly shameful that, despite the perils brought to humanity by the numerous irresponsible arms transfers carried out for so many years, we still do not have a legally binding UN treaty on international arms trade. However, even if we had, I doubt if we would have had the means, or that those who matter would have had the will, to closely monitor and implement it properly, but we should concern ourselves with this once we have a UN Treaty in place.
Today, the most unscrupulous and murderous worldwide may easily possess arms. With enough money and the right connections, anything may be purchased, from a hand gun to a jet fighter plane. It is probably only a matter of time before even nuclear weapons may be purchased on the open market.
Why, you may ask, should there be such a despicable state of affairs in our 21st century society? The answer is quite simple: there will always be deranged individuals in this world who want to inflict their pathologically criminal plans on others and, similarly, there will always be evil traders who supply the means for death and destruction to anybody, as long as they are able to make a handsome profit. I must be mentioned here that the arms industry’s highly lucrative enterprises continuously produce more advanced killing machines in greater numbers and at an ever-increasing pace.
I know that we cannot change the world overnight and the forces of evil will always have their share of determining the fate of our fellow human beings. However, one must at least try to make a start to change things to some extent. In this way, I support this motion for a resolution which calls for the establishment of common international standards for the import, export and transfer of conventional weapons. After all, it is better than nothing, and let us hope that one day human beings will have enough common sense to realise that there is no need to produce weapons at all.
In conclusion, I find it noteworthy to mention that, of the 17 leading arms exporters, more than half are EU Member States. Let this statistic be food for thought for all of us."@en1
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