The EU Annual Report on the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) ignores existing criticism and supports the US rearmament demands. But more weapons do not make a region any safer, and there are European treaties that lay down an appropriate mix of military and civilian measures that turn security policy into peace policy. As shadow rapporteur for the Greens/EFA Group, I strongly criticised the report by Arnaud Danjean (EPP Group) and called for a policy of mediation, disarmament and prevention.
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More InformationIt is a report that calls for strategic autonomy rather than partnership and multilateralism. This autonomy should be achieved primarily by military means. For about 90 percent of the report deals with military issues, structures and industry. We should also analyse our civilian missions in the same way, in order to continue to ensure security in and around Europe without weapons and violence in the future.
So we could simply stick to our own treaties and listen to our own judgement. This also means critically analysing our EU missions and investing more money in crisis prevention, as Danjean’s group colleague and Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, David McAllister, is calling for. Above all, however, we need a European arms export policy that will prevent an arms race and prevent our weapons from falling into the wrong hands.
However, the amendments to the report proposed by myself and my group were rejected, which is why we voted against the report.
