38 Amendments of Maria ARENA related to 2020/2003(INI)
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 16 a (new)
Citation 16 a (new)
- having regard to UN Resolution 2216 (2015) on arm embargo to Yemen and the OHCHR report A/HRC/39/43 on the Situation of human rights in Yemen, including violations and abuses since September 2014,
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 16 b (new)
Citation 16 b (new)
- having regard to UN Security Council resolution 2473 (2019)adopted on 10 June 2019 which renewed measures designed to implement the arms embargo against Libya and to the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) statement of 25 January 2020 on continued violations of arm embargo in Libya,
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 18 a (new)
Citation 18 a (new)
- having regard to the UN Sustainable Development Goal 16, aiming at the promotion of peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development 14a _________________ 14a https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg 16
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 22
Citation 22
— having regard to its resolutions on the humanitarian situation in Yemen of 25 February 201620 , 15 June 201721 and 30 November 201722 , on the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul of 25 October 2018; on Egypt of 24 October 2019, on the UAE, notably the situation of human rights defender Ahmed Mansoor of 4 October 2018, _________________ 20 OJ C 35, 31.1.2018, p. 142. 21 OJ C 331, 18.9.2018, p. 146. 22 OJ C 356, 4.10.2018, p. 104.
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 27 a (new)
Citation 27 a (new)
- having regard to the EU Foreign Affairs Council conclusions of 21 August 2013 on Egypt,
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas the latest SIPRI figures show that EU-28, is the second arm exporter to both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates; whereas according to the UN Group of Regional and International Eminent Experts, parties to the armed conflict of Yemen have perpetrated, and continue to perpetrate, violations and crimes under international law;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas a new arms race in the world is growing and the major military powers no longer rely on arms control and disarmament to reduce international tensions and improve the global security environment;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. whereas the EU FAC conclusions of 21 August 2013 stated that ‘Member States also agreed to suspend export licenses to Egypt of any equipment which might be used for internal repression and to reassess export licenses of equipment covered by Common Position 2008/944/CFSP and review their security assistance with Egypt’; whereas companies based in several EU Member States have continued to export arms, surveillance technology and other security equipment to Egypt, thus facilitating hacking and malware as well as other forms of attacks on human rights defenders and civil society activists both physically and online; whereas this activity has led to the repression of freedom of expression online;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. whereas in an increasingly unstable multipolar world, where nationalist, xenophobic and anti- democratic forces are on the rise, it is vital for the European Union to become an influential player on the world stage and to keep its leading role as a global “soft power” committed to the disarmament of conventional and nuclear weapons, investing in conflict prevention, crisis management and mediation before military options are considered;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A c (new)
Recital A c (new)
Ac. whereas there is an international arms embargo in place against the Iranian-backed Houthi forces and, according to the 21st EU Annual Report on Arms Exports, EU Member States have continued to authorise transfers of arms to Saudi Arabia and UAE since the escalation of the conflict in Yemen, in violation of Council Common Position 2008/944/CFSP of 8 December 2008 on arms export control;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A c (new)
Recital A c (new)
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A d (new)
Recital A d (new)
Ad. whereas military transparency measures such as reporting on arms export contributes to cross-border trust- building;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Calls for an EU-wide ban on the export, sale, update and maintenance of any form of security equipment to Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt which can be or is used for internal repression, including internet surveillance technology; expresses its concern at the ever- increasing use of certain cybersurveillance dual-use technologies against activists and journalists; welcomes, in this regard, the EU institutions’ ongoing efforts to update the dual-use export control regulation;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Welcomes the German government’s decision to extend for the third time after the killing of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, the arms embargo on Saudi Arabia, which will now last until December 31, 2020;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Reiterates its calls on the EU Member States to follow up on their 21 August 2013 conclusions on Egypt announcing the suspension of export licences for any equipment which might be used for internal repression in line with Common Position 2008/944/CFSP, and condemns the persistent non- compliance of EU Member States with these commitments; calls on them therefore to halt exports to Egypt of arms, surveillance technology and other security equipment that can facilitate attacks on human rights defenders and civil society activists, including on social media, as well as any other kind of internal repression; calls on the VP/HR to report on the current state of military and security cooperation by Member States with Egypt; calls for the EU to implement in full its export controls vis-à-vis Egypt with regard to goods that could be used for repression, torture or capital punishment;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Deplores the fact that Member States use very different information in order to generate data on the value of licences, which renders the annual report considerably less consistent and usable as a comparative data set and serves to diminish its transparency and accountability before citizens and parliaments; urges France, in particular, to refrain from submitting data on the value of licences at pre-contract stage and broad values for global licences, which undermines the comparability of the report;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Welcomes the renewed extension of the moratorium on arms exports towards Saudi Arabia by Germany until the end of 2020 as well as the decisions by several Member States to enforce full restrictions when it comes to arms exports towards Saudi Arabia; reiterates its call of 13 September 2017 regarding the urgent need to impose an arms embargo on Saudi Arabia;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Condemns the increasing arms race in the world and calls on the world major military powers, largest producers and exporters of weapons to foster dialogue, multilateralism and disarmament of conventional and nuclear weapons;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Calls on the Member States to follow the example of Germany, Finland and Denmark that after the killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi adopted restrictions on their arms exports to Saudi Arabia;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 b (new)
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9b. Deeply regrets the continued blatant violations of the arms embargo in Libya, even after the commitments made in this regard by concerned countries during the International Conference on Libya in Berlin, held on 19 January 2020; Calls on all the Member States to halt all transfers of weapons, surveillance and intelligence equipment and material to all the parties involved in the Libyan conflict notably to Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt;
Amendment 127 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Stresses that the ambition to increase the competitiveness of the European defence sector must not undermine the application of the Common Position’s eight criteria as they take precedence over any economic social, commercial or industrial interests of Member States;
Amendment 128 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 b (new)
Paragraph 10 b (new)
10b. Emphasises that arms exports must not be carried out for economic reasons but for foreign and security policy objectives. Respect for human rights, good governance and the prohibition on supplying arms to conflict regions are essential in the case of granting export licences. Arms exports have to be assessed against the sustainable development of a country;
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Welcomes the EU activities aiming at supporting the universalisation of the Arms Trade Treaty(ATT), in particular the assistance to third countries in improving and implementing effective arms control systems in line with the Common Position; calls the major arms exporting countries, such as the USA, China and Russia, to sign and ratify the Treaty;
Amendment 185 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Notes that under the EPF, Member States and the European External Action Service (EEAS) will work on creating an EU-level system for arms transfers to third countries; asks for a detailed list of equipment transferred to third countries under the Facility to be published;
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17a. Calls on the Commission to keep Parliament properly informed about the use of EU funds for all research and development projects associated with the construction of drones; urges the VP/HR to ban the development, production and use of fully autonomous weapons, which enable strikes to be carried out without human intervention;
Amendment 216 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 – point a
Paragraph 19 – point a
a) to add the following additional categories in a revised reporting template in order to implement the recent September 2019 Council conclusions: the exact type of weapon and the quantity exported, denomination of the munitions, the lot size and the specific end-user, revoked licences, and the value and duration of contracts regarding post-delivery services such as training and maintenance; to align the EU definition of small arms with the broader UN definition so that, for example, pistols and sniper rifles are also included in this category;
Amendment 222 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 – point c
Paragraph 19 – point c
c) to clarify definitions such as licensed value and actual exports so as to facilitate the comparability of data between Member States; Licences for production in third countries should no longer be granted if this would allow the eight criteria of the Common Position or other EU arms export directives to be circumvented;
Amendment 225 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 – point c a (new)
Paragraph 19 – point c a (new)
c a) to extend the post-shipment controls to all arms exports, including large military equipment; Member States are to submit a regular post-shipment report;
Amendment 248 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 – point b
Paragraph 21 – point b
b) to follow the example of the UK in this regard by publishing risk assessments in the annual reports; and to publish all final arms export licences on the Internet; the validity of export licences should be limited to two years in order to be able to react to changing political situations;
Amendment 253 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 – point c
Paragraph 21 – point c
c) to undertake a joint assessment of country situations or potential export recipients in the light of the principles and criteria of the Common Position within the framework of the CFSP and in consultation with external stakeholders, including Parliament; to regularly update list of third countries complying with the criteria as led down in the Common Position;
Amendment 260 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Believes that the EU institutions should organise peer reviews with a view to encouraging authorities to share best practices on the collection and processing of data, fostering a better understanding of different national approaches, identifying differences as regards the interpretation of the eight criteria, and discussing ways to improve harmonisation and consistency;
Amendment 266 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Strongly believes that a more consistent implementation of the EU Common Position is essential for the EU credibility as a value-based global actor and that much higher level of convergence as regards the strict application of the criteria will strengthen human rights, international law and the CFSP, and bolster the EU’s strategic security interests and strategic autonomy;
Amendment 276 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Stresses that effective end-use controls are crucial for a responsible export policy and for lowering the risk of diversion in particular; calls on the Council, the Member States, the EEAS and the Commission to set up a large-scale training and capacity-building programme for national and EU officials on arms export controls; stresses the need to use EU funding to ensure that sufficient staff resources are available at national and EU levels and at delegations and embassies in importing countries for the purposes of implementing viable end-use controlrisk assessments, end-use controls and post-shipment verifications; calls on the EEAS and COARM to report on iTrace any identified diversion of EU- origin goods as part of the annual report;
Amendment 284 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Believes that the increasing Europeanisation of arms production, the recent Council conclusions on convergence in arms exports and the establishment of the EPF should be complemented by a mechanism for EU-level monitoring and control based on strict compliance with the eight criteria; calls on steps to be taken for the setting-up of an EU mechanism of sanctions for Member States infringing the Common Position;
Amendment 290 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)
Paragraph 25 a (new)
25a. Believes that “pooling and sharing” and more cooperation in arms policy and procurement policy are only possible if strict export controls, mutual information and regular parliamentary scrutiny, as well as strong sanction mechanisms in the event of non- compliance with common rules, are binding. Further demands that the European Parliament - alongside the national parliaments - be able to guarantee parliamentary control over the EU’s common security and defence policy and its budget;
Amendment 298 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Considers that regular consultations with the European Parliament, national parliaments, arms export control authorities, industry associations and civil society are central to meaningful transparency; calls on national parliaments to exchange best reporting and oversight practices in order to enhance the scrutinising role of all national parliaments in the decisions on arms control exports; calls on COARM to enhance dialogue with civil society and consultations with Parliament and arms export control authorities; encourages civil society and academia to exercise independent scrutiny of the arms trade and calls on the Member States and the EEAS to support such activities, including by financial means;