Annex B
Letter from Uta Zapf, Chairman of the
Committee for Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-proliferation,
German Bundestag, to the Clerk of the Committees
Thank you for your letter of 6 January, in which
you ask about German arms export policies in comparison with EU
and British policies. Let me try to reply to your very extensive
list of questions in a general way.
I myself was involved in articulating German
policies when the current government took over. The outcome of
that process was the Policy Principles of the Government of the
Federal Republic of Germany for the Export of War Weapons and
Other Military Equipment of 19 January 2000.
As you are well aware, Germany now links its
arms exports closely to the human rights situation in the recipient
country.
We have also made considerable progress with
regard to the transparency of arms exports. For example, the government
now submits an annual report on arms export policy to Parliament.
Transparency is, however, restricted by legitimate concerns about
commercial proprietary information.
Other things have not been achievable yet. Thus,
we would have liked to make the rules contained in the EU Code
of Conduct more binding on all member states. I do think that
the goal of a common European arms export control policy remains
desirable. However, I am well aware of the different national
rules and traditions in this sensitive field.
With regard to answers to your specific questions,
I would like to refer you to the answers from the Ministry of
Economics and Labour, which you should have received recently.
25 March 2004
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