Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-06-12-Speech-2-397-000"
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"en.20120612.19.2-397-000"2
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"Madam President, I commend Ms Jäätteenmäki on this resolution which is, on the whole, a helpful and positive assessment of a very important issue.
Of course, the Arms Trade Treaty is just that: a trade treaty, and not a disarmament treaty. Over the years, I have been much involved in the campaign to ban anti-personnel landmines. That was different in that it was about eliminating a certain very specific weapon, often used indiscriminately and with terrible consequences, mainly by terrorist and insurgent groups.
There were those that constantly sought to widen the scope of the resultant Ottawa Treaty into other fields, so it is important that we are clear about the limited purposes of this Arms Trade Treaty, which would not interfere in the right of a state to decide nationally on its arms export controls in compliance with internationally agreed criteria.
The UK has a special interest in these matters. It is, of course, Europe’s leading arms exporter. It was also, by the way, one of the co-authors of the UN General Assembly resolution of 6 December 2006 that called for an internationally agreed arms trade treaty to be drawn up. I am pleased the resolution has not misunderstood or diminished the important role that defence industries play in terms of national security and in our economies.
Clearly, in discussing these matters, we are entering into important and sensitive areas of national sovereignty and it is unfortunate, therefore, that the resolution, perhaps inevitably, bows in the direction of what I would term ‘EU federalist competence creep’. For example, I do not understand why a coherent and consistent EU approach is crucial for this Treaty to be adopted and effectively implemented at a global level, or indeed why there is any point in the involvement of an EU delegation separate from Member States in negotiations.
What is more important is that we put diplomatic effort into ensuring that countries such as China, Pakistan and Russia are signed up to the highest possible standards, rather than wasting valuable time harmonising European positions that are already very similar.
Attention is focused on abuse too often, and I saw this over the Ottawa Treaty negotiations. We in a democracy indulge in debilitating self-flagellation, while the real abusers just carry on."@en1
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