Source: European Parliament
Question for written answer E-002359/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Mathilde Androuët (PfE)
The Commission wants to relax national rules governing the movement of defence equipment between Member States, in order to reduce the administrative burden and speed up production of weapons in the EU[1]. Germany, Italy and Spain in particular share France’s concerns about this attempt to deregulate.
A majority in the Council of the EU seems to be in favour, arguing that ‘EU arms deliveries to Ukraine were one of the factors to drive this review’, but reaffirmed ‘the EU’s commitment (…) to preventing diversion’[2], which poses a serious risk to the protection of critical technologies developed by our industrial firms.
Seeking to accelerate arms production by removing national safeguards amounts to sacrificing the sovereignty of the peoples of Europe, as decisions on arms exports traditionally fall within the sovereign powers of our nations. Those decisions directly involve their diplomatic responsibility, their strategic security and their industrial autonomy.
- 1.How will the Commission prevent this relaxation from facilitating unwanted transfers of sensitive know-how?
- 2.Can it confirm that the Member States will retain control of their arms export policy, without any pressure or binding mechanism, in line with their freedom to make political assessments?
Submitted: 11.6.2025
- [1] “France says ‘non’ to loosening rules for arms exports in Europe”, 28 April 2025, Aurélie Pugnet, https://www.euractiv.com/section/defence/news/france-launches-battle-against-looser-intra-eu-defence-export-controls/
- [2] ‘Arms export control: Council reviews EU framework strengthening the control and accountability of international arms trade’, 14 April 2025, Council of the European Union press release, https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2025/04/14/arms-export-control-council-reviews-eu-framework-strengthening-the-control-and-accountability-of-international-arms-trade/?