49 Amendments of Tarja CRONBERG related to 2012/2303(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 a (new)
Citation 1 a (new)
- having regard to the conclusions of the Foreign Affairs Council of 19 November 2012 on the review of the Common Position,
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 2 a (new)
Citation 2 a (new)
- having regard to Action 11 (e) of the Action Plan of the EU Strategic Framework on Human Rights and Democracy, which commits the EEAS and the Member States to ensure that the review of the Council Common Position takes account of human rights and international humanitarian law,
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4
Citation 4
– having regard to the list of dual-use goods and technology in Annex I tothe annexes of Regulation (EU) No 1232/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 November 2011 amending Council Regulation (EC) No 428/2009 of 5 May 2009 setting up a Community regime for the control of exports, transfer, brokering and transit of dual-use items3 ,
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 – footnote 3
Citation 4 – footnote 3
3. OJ L 134, 29.5326, 8.12.200911, p. 1.26
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 10 a (new)
Citation 10 a (new)
- having regard to Regulation 1236/2005 on trade in goods which can be used for capital punishment or torture, and its review foreseen in 2013 under the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy,
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas arms exporttransfers can have inter alia a considerable impact not only on security, but also on human rights, democracy, good governance and development, and must therefore be at the very least embedded within a strict arms control system operating with maximum effectiveness;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas Common Position 2008/944/CFSP is a legally binding framework laying down eight criteria, and whereas, if they are not met, an export licence should be denied (criteria 1-4) or consideration should at least be given to doing so (criteria 5-8);
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the criteria are intended inter alia to prevent arms exports as a result of which conflicts would be aggravated (criteria 3 and 4) or human rights violated (criterion 2)and international humanitarian law violated (criterion 2) or to minimise the risk the transferred goods are diverted to third countries and ineligible end-users or a recipient country's development prospects would be adversely affected (criterion 8); whereas the Common Position is unrestricted in scope and, accordingly, the eight criteria apply also to exports within the EU and to arms transfers to countries closely associated with the EU;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the third countries Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Iceland, Canada, Croatia, Montenegro and Norway have officially aligned themselves with the Common Position's criteria and principles; whereas none of the countries of the European Neighbourhood nor Turkey have officially done so;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas there is no standardised verification and reporting system providing information as to whether, and to what extent, individual Member States' exports violate the eight criteria, and whereas there are no sanctions mechanisms, either, should a Member State engage in exports which are clearly not compatible with the eight criteria; whereas there is no possibility of having compliance with the eight criteria independently verified;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas little progress has been made on reach, despite the existence of the Users Guide, Member States apply and interpret the Common Position's eight criteria ing agreement between the Member States with regard to applying and interpreting the Common Position's eight criteria different way when authorizing or denying the same categories of military goods to the same destinations; whereas there is therefore the need to seek a homogenous and ambitious application of the criteria by all Member States;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L
Recital L
L. whereas the COARM annual reports have helped to make Member States' arms exports more transparent and the number of guidelines and clarifications in the User's Guide has multiplied; whereas, because of the Common Position, the volume of information on the issuing of arms export licences has increased;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M
Recital M
M. whereas by no means all EU Member States make a full submission to COARM; whereas, because of individual Member States' differing data collection and submission procedures, data sets are incomplete and vary, which considerably reduces transparency in this area, notably as regards the identification of the individual Member State responsible for a denial notification;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
Recital N
N. whereas measures on trafficking of small arms and light weapons have been adopted in recent years, with an updated List of Dual-Use Goods and Technologies under the Wassenaar Arrangement being adopted in February 2012, and such as the UN firearms protocol; whereas areas such as control of arms brokering, licensed production outside the EU and end-user control have been put on the agenda and, to some extent, incorporated into the Common Position itself, but many products, in particular in the field of dual- use goods, are still not covered by a legally binding arms exports control system;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N a (new)
Recital N a (new)
Na. Whereas an updated List of Dual-Use Goods and Technologies under the Wassenaar Arrangement has been adopted in February 2012, but the large majority of dual-use goods products, in particular in the field of surveillance technology, are still not covered by a legally binding exports control system;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O
Recital O
O. whereas many surveillance technologies and surveillance software products and many other goods used in a host of recipient countries for repressive measures against their populations are not included either in the Common Military List of the European Union or in the EU list of dual- use goodsannexes of EU Regulation 1232/2011;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital P
Recital P
P. whereas it has been argued that the events of the Arab Spring in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) could not be foreseen; whereas nonetheless the human rights situation in those countries and a poor record in democracy and good governance, which, in connection with issuing arms exports licences, should have been (and must be) taken into account, was (and is) known; whereas the events of the Arab Spring have revealed the weaknesses of the Common Position and, to some extent, a number of countries' disregard for it and the criteria it contains;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Q
Recital Q
Q. whereas in recent years thsome MENA countries have ranked, and still do, among the key buyers of European arms; whereas, in 2010, EU Member States exported arms to the MENA countries with a total value of EUR 8 324.3 m - in 2011 the total was still as much as EUR 7 975.2 m - on the ground of fostering political stability13 ; whereas between 2006 and 2010, in respect of Libya alone, EU Member States issued export licences with a total value of EUR 1 056 m, while, during the same period, 54 applications for arms exports to Libya were denied in the light of criteria 2, 7 and 5 (most frequently criterion 2)14 ;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital T
Recital T
T. whereas the process of actively involving committed Member States, NGOs, national parliaments and the European Parliament, too, in assessing, harmonising, carrying through and monitoring compliance with the Common Position is slow and is not being vigorously pursuedcould be further strengthened; whereas COARM regularly exchanges and consults a consortium of NGOs and Think Tanks;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Acknowledges that the EU is the only union of states to have a legally binding framework, unique in the world, through which arms export control is being improved, including in relation to crisis regions and countries with a questionable human rights record and in relations to countries which present a proven risk of diverting the transferred goods in an unauthorised way to other end-users, and welcomes the fact, in this connection, that European and non- European third countries have joined the arms exports control system on the basis of the Common Position; notes with concern, however, that the eight criteria are applied and interpreted with varying degrees of rigour in the EU Member States; calls therefore for a standard, uniformly strict interpretation and full implementation of the Common Position with all its obligations;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Takes note of the commitment of the EEAS and Member States under Action 11 (e) of the Action Plan of the EU Strategic Framework on Human Rights and Democracy, to ensure that the review of the Council Common Position takes account of human rights and international humanitarian law; requests the EEAS to report on steps taken to meet this commitment;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Considers that a standardised verification and reporting system should be established to provide informationin order to allow for public assessment as to whether, and to what extent, individual EU Member States' exports violate the eight criteriarisk assessments and decisions have been guided by the eight criteria of the Common Position in order to allow conclusions about the extent to which the criteria have been applied by national authorities;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Insists, in the light of the Common Position review process, that support should be voiced for powerful, clear and unambiguous wording in the Common Position in order to prevent the criteria from being interpreted and applied differently; insists in particular that Article 10 of the Common Position be acted on and that, accordingly, application of the criteria not be neutralised or stoppundermined because of political, economic or geostrategic interests; calls for more detailed guidance be provided in the User's Guide under Criterion 2, and Criterion 7, as well as an update of Annexes I to IV, including a reference to the EU human rights country strategies;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Calls for the inclusion into the Common Position of the post-embargo toolbox which shall integrate or initiate the following aspects: (a) regular assessments, involving also other relevant EU units and working groups than COARM and national governments and authorities with the aim of clarifying whether the EU should reimpose an embargo, continue to keep it under special measures, or further normalise controls, (b) operate a policy of presumption of denial to the ex-embargo state, (c) apply the equivalent of the existing denial notification/consultation mechanism with regard to all potential transfers to the formerly-embargoed state, (d) states report on individual transfers for inclusion in the Consolidated Report, (e) Member States must reserve the right to undertake post-transfer inspections for end-use verification purposes, and (f) the end-use control on dual-use items to states under embargo should be extended to include these states;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Calls for the insertion of an additional Criterion into the EU Common Position on arms exports obliging Member States to assess the risk of bribery and corruption before approving an arms export licence to any country;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Regrets the fact that there is no possibility of having compliance with the eight criteria independently verified, that there are no mechanisms for sancCalls on the Member States and the HR/VP to seek for a homogenous and ambitionus for violapplication of the eight criteria by all Member State, and that there are no plans to that effect; s; calls on the Member Staktes the view that ways and means of carrying out independent verification and mechanisms for sanctions for violations of the Common Position should be provided forand the HR/VP to also promote much higher levels of transparency by publishing more timely complete sets of data on arms exports of all Member States;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Deplores the decision of the French government to export Mistral battleships to Russia despite its recent invasion of Georgia, violation of the six-point peace plan thereafter and the general Human Rights situation in Russia;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Welcomes adoption by the Council of the updated version of the Wassenaar Arrangement Munitions List, in which all the 2011 changes to the munitions list are taken into account; calls on the Council also to adopt the most recent changes made in 2011 to, inter alia, the List of Dual-Use Goodsby updating the annexes of EU Regulation 1232/2011 and agreed by an experts group in December 2012;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Recalls that under the Common Position, Member States are to use their best endeavours to encourage other States which export military technology or equipment to apply the criteria of the Common Position; regrets that none of the countries of the EU's Neighbourhood, nor Turkey, have officially aligned themselves with the Common Position's criteria and principles; calls on the EEAS and Member States to encourage these countries to align themselves with the Common Position;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Notes that methods for collecting data on arms exports, as well as practices for publishing data sets recorded, vary in the Member States, as a result of which the COARM annual report does not include important information and therefore is not up to date or reliable; calls accordingly for the introduction of a standardised collection and submission procedure, to be applied uniformly in all Member States, in order to submit and publish up-to-date and exhaustive information; calls for the identification in the Annual Report of Member States responsible for individual denial notifications;
Amendment 127 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Suggests in this connection that additional information be collected from Member States and published both at national level and in the COARM annual report, in particular a list of countries arms exporttransfers to which would violate one or more of the eight criteria, together with a comprehensive list of EU Member States which have exported arms to those countries during the data reporting period;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Underscores the important role of civil society, national parliaments and the European Parliament in both implementing and enforcing the Common Position's agreed standards at national and EU level and of establishing a transparent, accountable control system; calls therefore for a transparent and robust control mechanism which bolsters the role of parliaments and of civil society, including through the establishment of an independent group of experts to provide advice to COARM in the application and implementation of the eight export criteria, as well as in the drawing up of a list of third countries requiring special caution and vigilance in issuing licences as referred to under article 2.2 (b) of the Common Position; calls for an in-depth discussion of the COARM annual report in a joint session of the DROI and SEDE subcommittees of the European Parliament;
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Takes the view that government officials responsible for issuing national export licences and civil society organisations addressing the issue of arms export control should be more regularly consulted at COARM meetings, in cooperation with the Council Working Group on Human Rights (COHOM), since they can make an important contribution to implementing the Common Position and help improve the quality of the information exchanged;
Amendment 146 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 5
Subheading 5
Amendment 147 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Restates its full backing for the conclusion of a robust and legally binding international arms control agreementArms Trade Treaty (ATT), under United Nations auspices, on international trade and transfers in conventional arms; stresses therefore that that objective must be one of the priorities of EU external policy;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22a. Calls, therefore, for the March 2013 negotiations of a legally binding international arms trade treaty to mark a historic step forward, through greater transparency and accountability, by establishing the highest international standards and criteria for making assessments of decisions on the transfer, import and export of conventional arms;
Amendment 151 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Is of the opinion that an effective control agreementATT should cover a wide range of activities relating to the conventional-arms trade, encompassing import, export and transfer (including transit and transshipment and temporary import and export and re- export), manufacture under foreign license, stockpile management and all related services, including brokering, transport and finance;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Is of the opinion that an effective international arms control agreementATT should cover state-to-state transfers, state- to-private-end-user transfers and leases, as well as loans, gifts, aid or any other form of transfer;
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Paragraph 24 a (new)
24a. Believes that an effective ATT should also cover the widest spectrum of conventional weapons, including small arms and light weapons and munitions, intangible transfers, dual-use goods, the components and technologies associated with their use, manufacture or maintenance, whether for use in military or other security and law-enforcement purposes; believes that proper attention should be given to the marking and traceability of conventional weapons and ammunition in order to strengthen accountability and prevent diversion of arms transfers to illicit recipients;
Amendment 155 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 b (new)
Paragraph 24 b (new)
24b. Takes the view that States Parties should not transfer arms to countries where Human Rights are violated according to competent bodies of the United Nations, the European Union or the Council of Europe and there is a substantial risk that they would be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, including genocide, ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and war crimes;
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)
Paragraph 25 a (new)
25a. Calls for the ATT, therefore, to include strong and clear provisions for regular reporting by the States Parties on an annual basis on all arms transfer decisions, including information on types, amounts and recipients of equipment authorised for transfer, and on the implementation of the full scope and provisions of the treaty; calls for the ATT also to require State Parties to establish a system of detailed record-keeping, for at least 20 years, for all international trade and transactions processed through their national control systems;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 b (new)
Paragraph 25 b (new)
25b. Calls for the establishment of a dedicated ATT Implementation and Support Unit, the responsibilities of which would include compilation and analysis of States Parties' reports, and for the UN Secretary-General to publish an annual report with further proposals for the strengthening of the operational provisions of the treaty; calls for the ATT Implementation and Support Unit to be granted the right also to analyse data on arms transfers and to identify discrepancies and potential breaches of the treaty and report back to the assembly of State Parties;
Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)
Paragraph 27 a (new)
27a. Welcomes the ratification by Finland and Poland of the Ottawa Treaty on anti- personnel mines, and thus the full ratification by Member States of this important international instrument; calls on the Commission to put forward a proposal for banning investment in companies, which produce, trade in or have any other form of commercial dealing in relation to landmines;
Amendment 171 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 b (new)
Paragraph 27 b (new)
27b. Recalls the most severe humanitarian consequences and unacceptable harm to civilians caused by cluster munitions; calls on Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Latvia, Romania and Slovakia to ratify the Convention on Cluster Munitions as a matter of priority;
Amendment 172 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 c (new)
Paragraph 27 c (new)
27c. Urges the Commission and the Member States to support a global ban on the use of white phosphorus and depleted uranium ammunition, notably through the conclusion of a new protocol to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons banning the use of such weapons;
Amendment 173 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 d (new)
Paragraph 27 d (new)
27d. Welcomes the work of the ICRC on the use of incapacitation chemical agents in law enforcement and calls on the Commission to carry out a study into the issues raised by the use of these agents, including with regards international law;
Amendment 174 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 e (new)
Paragraph 27 e (new)
27e. Calls on the HR/VP, the Commission and the Member States to implement EU commitments regarding the combat illicit accumulation and trafficking of small and light weapons (SALW) and its ammunition; recalls that these commitments are to assist non-EU member states in stockpile management, marking and similar endeavours to control SALW and are complementary to EU arrangements that regulate transfer of military goods so as to avoid EU member states supply countries where arms are prone to misuse;
Amendment 175 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the High Representative / Vice-President of the Commission, the EU Special Representative on Human Rights, the Council, the Commission, the parliaments and governments of the Member States, and the Secretary-General of the United Nations.