Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-11-16-Speech-3-499-000"
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"en.20111116.25.3-499-000"2
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".
Mr President, it is good that, in the context of this resolution on the upcoming Fourth CCW Review Conference, our Parliament is debating the subject of a worldwide renunciation of cluster munitions. In this regard, the text of the resolution should be seen as an additional parliamentary contribution to the continuation of our humanitarian efforts in the area of conventional disarmament and arms control.
In my view, the resolution reflects two key European demands directed at the High Representative and the Member States for their participation in the Fourth Review Conference: adherence to the core element of the renunciation that has been achieved in the context of the Convention on Cluster Munitions and adherence to the worldwide renunciation of cluster munitions.
Allow me first of all to weigh up the main military argument for the use of cluster munitions against the political-humanitarian argument for a worldwide ban. Purely from the point of view of military operations, cluster munitions are one of the most effective conventional weapons, as a wide area can be affected with the deployment of very few resources. Cluster munitions are deployed against military targets such as roads, runways or relevant infrastructure in general. That is the purely military point of view, which has to take second place to the political-humanitarian assessment of this type of weapon. From this point of view, the worldwide renunciation of cluster munitions must be strengthened, as aimed at in the Convention.
The crucial problem with cluster munitions is the fact that, from a humanitarian point of view, their use is often associated with an unacceptably high rate of unexploded submunitions. These unexploded submunitions sometimes constitute 15% of the munitions deployed. The Libyan people are currently facing this problem of a high rate of unexploded submunitions, because, as Baroness Ashton reported back in April, Gaddafi forces also used cluster munitions.
The high rate of unexploded submunitions in the target area is a clear threat to the civilian population in post-conflict situations, as undetonated munitions clearly no longer serve the purpose of fighting opponents. The humanitarian threat posed by a high rate of unexploded submunitions can also be an enormous burden on the efforts for speedy reconstruction and rapid economic recovery. In my view, this can only mean that the Convention on Cluster Munitions must be adhered to as the international standard for the worldwide renunciation of cluster munitions and that the EU and its Member States must duly work to ensure that this happens. In this context, it is also good that the EU is stepping up its efforts to support third countries in the destruction of stockpiles of fragmentation weapons, thereby alleviating the negative humanitarian effects of the use of fragmentation weapons."@en1
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