HOMEPAGE
DOCUMENTATION CENTRE
Presentation
Arrange a visit
New acquisitions
Reference documents
Mailing list
Analyses
Reports
Books
GRIP News
Short News
Database
 GRIP shop

 GRIP Blogs

 • lisbon-treaty.grip.org
 Internal documents
 Restricted access

EU and Belgian arms transfers to Israel.
What compliance with the Code of Conduct on arms exports?

by Caroline Pailhe, researcher at GRIP

7 January 2009

Abstract

Whereas Israel maintains its military offensive on Gaza, the "positive" diplomacy of the EU towards Israel is paralleled with defence transfers towards this country which has an extensive track record of violations of international law as well as a long history of staging military attacks on its neighbours. Although a small country of less than 7 million inhabitants, Israel is nevertheless the 6th world largest recipient of conventional weapons between 2003 and 2007, and, in 2006, the 5th largest supplier. Tel-Aviv also dedicated 8,5% of its GNP to its national military expenditures in 2006, while the 2007 budgets present a 10% increase due to the impact of the Israeli-Lebanese war of July-August 2006. If it is true that on all the conventional arms exports flooding towards Israel each year, the EU Member States, among which Belgium, represent a very secondary source of supply in comparison with the United States, Israel, which makes the excessive use of force the basis of its strategy for regulating disputes, may represent a lucky destination for the defence industry. But to export military articles there indubitably poses intricate ethical and juridical problems, which enter in contradiction with the European Code of Conduct on arms exports.

Key words : arms exports, conventional weapons, European Union, Belgium, Code of Conduct, Israel, Middle-East
Read more:
 
 Latest updates
 Website map
 Print
  
 Contact | Access
Update: 12/03/2009


 
 
 
ABOUT GRIP | RESEARCH AREAS | RESEARCH THEMES | PUBLICATIONS | DOCUMENTATION CENTRE
Mailing list | Latest updates | Website map | Search | Shop | Contact | Access to GRIP | RSS
Envoyer page Edition