Europe wants to simplify its arms trade

If the guideline is approved, it can have serious consequences for the Flemish export of arms. ‘Import, export and transit of military materials in all European countries is subject to national legislation. As a result, the European market of defence is split up and consists of 27 different export regimes’, wrote Sara Depauw, researcher at the Flemish Institution for Peace, in a note The European package of defence: towards a liberalization and harmonization of the European market of defence.
The Commission wants to simplify this disintegrated system. Depauw: ‘ The Commission proposes to replace the present system of individual licenses – for each transaction, producers of arms need to request a license – by a system of general and global licenses’. According to Depauw the guideline – which is only meant for arms trade within the EU – was well received by the defence industry. Yet, three considerable arguments have been brought forward by NGO’s. They fear that member states will leave the control on re-export to the country of destination , have little confidence in the system of certification of companies and put questions on the transparency and possibilities for public and parliamentary control on arms trade.’
The proposal of the guideline is of high importance for Flanders. In 2007, 55 percent of the Flemish license applications was meant for European member states. These applications would fall under the European framework in the future. Depauw notices that the guideline contains a significant shift of responsability: ‘The government loses the sight on individual transactions and in most cases, they don’t know the addressee on the moment of transfer.’
According to the Commission, the turnover per year of the European defence industry comes to 55 billion euro – a third of the world production. (kc)