Strong support for arms export code of conduct

Date: 09/10/1997

By Mark Turner

PROSPECTS for common European arms export rules are looking unprecedentedly rosy as both the European Commission and the UK prepare significant new policy initiatives between now and the end of the year.

UK diplomats are drafting an EU-level code of conduct which could go even further than new British weapons sales guidelines adopted this July, while Commission experts are considering drawing up a White Paper “with the aim of preparing a restrictive code of conduct”, according to Foreign Affairs Commissioner Hans van den Broek.

London plans to make the code a priority of its EU presidency in the first half of next year. “As one of the world's four largest arms exporters, we must ensure proper regulation of the arms trade not just in Britain, but the world,” UK Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said last week.

Critics say they have seen this all before - the Netherlands also put an arms export code high up its presidency agenda - but acknowledge that this time round the signs look more encouraging.

Most notably, French Premier Lionel Jospin has publicly welcomed the UK push, although President Jacques Chirac is less keen given France's burgeoning weapons trade with China.

Soundings taken amongst other EU arms exporters such as Sweden and Germany, both of which have strict export controls that currently put them at a disadvantage, have been positive. “If any one country adopts a more ethical approach in its legislation, its position can be seriously undermined by its neighbours. That is why this measure is so important,” said a British official.

The code would go substantially beyond measures adopted by the then 12 EC member states in 1991. At the time, government leaders committed themselves to respect human rights in the country of sale and not to sell weapons to countries with serious internal tensions. That undertaking, however, had no legal force.

If the proposed EU code mirrored the UK's new rules, and had legal force, it could halt exports used for internal repression or external aggression, stop international sales of torture equipment, increase transparency in the arms trade and ban land-mine exports.

Meanwhile, the Commission's foreign affairs arm is looking into ways of identifying how trade barriers are damaging European business, and whether more restrictive sales practices would cost jobs.

Although it has no formal role in Union defence policy - Article 223 of the treaty exempts arms from internal market rules - the Commission has become a conduit for claims that conflicting European policies are hindering potential industrial partnerships.

European defence firms are growing more vocal in their demands for change, as they witness mega-mergers in the US increasingly dominating world markets. But, until now France has resisted any common policy.

The outcome of these talks could be extremely significant. If the US also adopts tough export rules, which are being discussed in the Senate this month, up to 90&percent; of the world's defence industry could come within ethical guidelines by the millennium.

A United Nations-level code, being championed by Nobel Peace Prize winners such as ex-Russian Premier Michael Gorbachev, the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu may follow.

Although these moves might drive rogue purchasers to do business with more unscrupulous dealers, advocates of arms controls welcome them. “We think that Europe should agree on high and effective levels of restraint,” said Steve Shropshire from UK-based think-tank Saferworld.

But no one expects any changes to the EU treaty for some time yet, given the failure by Union leaders at Amsterdam to agree any binding alterations.

An international conference on arms export controls will consider the chances of success in Stockholm next month.