SaferGlobe Finland
Pamela Baarman
11. October 2011
FINLAND'S ARMS EXPORT IN 2009
The Peace and Security Research Network SaferGlobe Finland has published a report on the Finnish arms export of 2009. The primary theme for the report was the export of dual-use technology. Finnish arms export doubled under the period 2005-2009 compared to the previous five-year period, and entirely new arms trade partners in 2009 included states such as Lebanon and Mexico.
A central, question-raising part of the annual report is the so-called “gray list”, which intends to draw attention to export to states where to arms export is or may be contrary to official Finnish foreign and security policies or the EU’s Common Position on arms export. Such states include non-democratic or developing states, states where human rights are gravely and constantly violated, where the violence related mortality is high, or where there is an armed conflict or war.
In their report, SaferGlobe Finland also assesses the authorities’ reporting practices regarding arms and military technology, which in many respects still are quite inadequate. At the same time the report highlights the problems with corruption in the arms trade. In 2009 alone, there were four ongoing investigations in Finland related to corruption in the arms trade.
Suomen asevienti 2009: Kaksoiskäyttöteknologia - aseita, jotka eivät näytä aseilta. Pamela Baarman and Jarmo Pykälä (Eds.), SaferGlobe Finland 2011. 32 pages.
MINISTER HEIDI HAUTALA: FINLAND'S ARMS EXPORT TO BE SCURTINIZED
The Finnish Minister of Development, Heidi Hautala (The Greens of Finland), former MEP and chair of the EU Commission's Human Rights subcommittee, said that the limits and targets for arms exports, foreign policy and development cooperation "should be aligned."
According to the report, Finland grants arms export licenses to several states where human rights are consistently breached.
In addition, millions of euros worth of export licenses have been granted to Egypt, a state that for decades has been a partner state for Finnish development cooperation.
- Coherence in different sectors of our policymaking needs to be the central principle for the development program. From this point of view there has been very little attention paid to arms export in the past, she says.
Transparency and consistency are needed to get rid of these contradictions, she says, but is not prepared at this point to evaluate any specific states or licenses granted.
Hautala proposes that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would be the ministry to grant export licenses, instead of the current Ministry of Defense. With the current regulations, the Ministry of Defense decides on export licensing, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has an advisory role.
- Questions regarding export criteria that are binding for all member states of the EU fall under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to a much greater extent than under the Ministry of Defense. Therefor it should be no obstacle to consider putting the arms export licensing authority under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well.
Hautala would like to see the EU set up a joint and independent body to monitor the EU's Common Position on arms export. She believes that different member states’ interpretation of the criteria in the Common Position and the reporting thereof needs to be unified.
As it is today the export regulations set up by the EU are legally binding for all member states, but in reality the control of individual member states’ export licensing is very limited.
Published originally in Finnish by Taloussanomat 11.10.2011, translated Pamela Baarman (SGF)