Amnesty International: the European Union's arms exports

Personal note. I had to edit the title because it wouldn't fit in the title box. If the mods wish to change the title to something different feel free.

Amnesty International

Undermining Global Security: the European Union's arms exports

AI Index: ACT 30/003/2004

1. Introduction:


This report seeks to analyse the current polices and practices of the 15 EU Member States and the 10 new Member States with regard to their control of the transfer of military, security and police (MSP) technology, weaponry, personnel and training. The report demonstrates why Amnesty International is convinced that more effective EU mechanisms to control MSP exports are urgently required to help protect human rights and ensure respect for international humanitarian law.

The major European Union (EU) arms exporting countries - France, Germany, Italy, Sweden and the United Kingdom - accounted for one third of the worldwide arms transfer agreements signed between 1994 and 2001.(1) The EU's share of the market was smaller than the United States and Russia, but it increased on 1 May 2004 when ten new countries joined the EU. Some of these new Member States have significant arms production and exporting activities. For example, the enlarged EU will have over 400 companies in 23 countries producing small arms & light weapons (SALW) - only slightly less than the USA.(2) Such a dramatic enlargement of the EU presents both potential opportunities and dangers for European arms control.

The establishment in 1998 of the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports represented a significant advance in terms of regional arms export control. In the Preamble to the Code the 15 Member States declared themselves:(3)
DETERMINED to set high common standards which should be regarded as the minimum for the management of, and restraint in, conventional arms transfers by all EU Member States, and to strengthen the exchange of relevant information with a view to achieving greater transparency,
DETERMINED to prevent the export of equipment which might be used for internal repression or international aggression, or contribute to regional instability; .....

http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/document.do?id=AC26E2E16946CCC080256E94005DDA8D