European Code of Conduct on Arms Exports#European Parliament resolution of  13 March 2008  on the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports - Failure of the Council to adopt the Common Position and transform the Code into a legally binding instrument
Date: 2008-03-13
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: European Union, arms trade, code of conduct, export monitoring, military equipment

C 66 E/48

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

20.3.2009

Thursday 13 March 2008

European Code of Conduct on Arms Exports

P6_TA(2008)0101

European Parliament resolution of 13 March 2008 on the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports —
Failure of the Council to adopt the Common Position and transform the Code into a legally binding
instrument

(2009/C 66 E/08)

The European Parliament,

— having regard to Rule 103(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas in 2008 the European Union Code of Conduct on Arms Exports (‘the Code’) will celebrate its

tenth anniversary,

B. whereas more than two years ago, on 30 June 2005, Coreper agreed at the technical level the text of a
Common Position as the result of a thorough process of revision of the Code, with the aim of trans-
forming the Code into an efficient instrument to control arms exports from EU territory and by
EU companies,

C. whereas the adoption of this Common Position will make the Code a legally binding arms export

control instrument for all Member States,

D. whereas Parliament has strongly welcomed this Common Position on several occasions, inter alia in its
resolution of 18 January 2007 on the Council's Seventh and Eighth Annual Reports according to
Operative Provision 8 of the European Union Code of Conduct on Arms Exports (1),

E. whereas, nevertheless, the Council has since 2005 failed to adopt this Common Position at the political

level,

F.

whereas the reasons for this have never been officially explained but are evidently linked to the wish of
some Member States to lift the current EU embargo on arms exports to the People's Republic of China,

G. whereas this issue has acquired a new sense of urgency due to the following developments:

(i)

the signing of the Lisbon Treaty, which commits the EU to being a globally responsible actor,

(ii)

the evolving European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP), in which EU external military and civi-
lian missions are being increasingly deployed and in the pursuit of which EU personnel might be
threatened with arms previously supplied by Member States,

(iii) recent announcements by Member States indicating a willingness to increase arms exports as a

tool to promote economic interests,

(iv) several initiatives to harmonise national arms procurement policies and intra-Community arms

transfers and sales,

H. whereas the positive efforts by COARM (Council Working Group on Arms) to further improve the
Code and its application are being undermined by arms exports from Member States to countries
instability or failure to respect human rights, and which are
which are in a situation of conflict,
regarded as ‘irresponsible destinations’ under the Code,

(1) OJ C 244 E, 18.10.2007, p. 210.

20.3.2009

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 66 E/49

Thursday 13 March 2008

I.

whereas the lack of political will to turn the Code into a Common Position runs counter to the leading
role played by the European Union and its Member States in promoting legal instruments aimed at
controlling all international public and private arms transfers, notably the Arms Trade Treaty,

Deplores the current political impasse on the adoption of this Common Position, in the light of the

1.
tenth anniversary of the Code;

Calls on the Slovenian Presidency to make the adoption of the Common Position a permanent item

2.
on the agenda of each General Affairs Council meeting until such time as the issue has been resolved;

3.

Urges those EU Member States that are opposed to a legally binding Code to reconsider their position;

Believes that the EU's contribution to an internationally binding Arms Trade Treaty will gain in cred-

4.
ibility as soon as its own arms control regime becomes legally binding;

Is convinced also that, in parallel with the adoption of the Common Position, action should be taken,

5.
inter alia, to:

(a) prevent irresponsible arms transfers by strict application of the Code's criteria to both companies and

national armed forces;

(b) improve and apply brokering controls, and prevent illegal arms trafficking by air and sea;

(c) ensure prompt investigation of recent allegations of violations of arms embargoes;

(d) prevent the selling-off to private brokers of arms collected in the course of ESDP and SSR operations

and other EU initiatives and their subsequent transfer;

(e)

improve the transparency and quality of data submitted by Member States in the context of the Annual
Report on the Code;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the governments

6.
and parliaments of the Member States.

The particular situation of women in prison and the impact of the imprisonment
of parents on social and family life

P6_TA(2008)0102

European Parliament resolution of 13 March 2008 on the particular situation of women in prison
and the impact of the imprisonment of parents on social and family life (2007/2116(INI))

(2009/C 66 E/09)

The European Parliament,

— having regard to Articles 6 and 7 of the EU Treaty and Article 4 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights
of the European Union, signed on 12 December 2007 (1), which concern the protection of human
rights,

(1) OJ C 303, 14.12.2007, p. 1.