Events

The GKKE welcomes the efforts of the German government to establish a national Arms Export Control Act. From GKKE's point of view, important points are missing in the draft, such as a control mechanism for spin-offs or the acquisition of shares in foreign arms companies as well as a right of action for associations.
Developments at the European level also require urgent attention, as Prelate Anne Gidion, the Protestant Chair of GKKE, made clear. The EU Commission considers arms exports as a central success factor for the business model of the European arms industry, and calls for the unification of national standards. "In fact, this amounts to the least restrictive arms export policy becoming the European standard," Gidion warned. Therefore, GKKE demands that European arms export cooperation should not take precedence over restrictive arms export control.
Dr Simone Wisotzki, Chair of the GKKE specialist group on arms exports, made it clear that the high authorisation levels for arms exports in 2021 to third countries that are neither members of NATO nor the EU or have the same status as them continue to be highly problematic. "The GKKE calls on the German government to adhere to its self-imposed principles and to refrain from supplying war weapons to third countries without exception, unless it can actually provide a plausible foreign and security policy justification in a few individual cases," said Wisotzki.
Press release "Gute Ansätze, die steckenzubleiben drohen" (pdf, in German)
GKKE Report 2022