Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) has called for the restrictive German rules on arms exports to be relaxed. A conflict is looming in the traffic light coalition. Because Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens), whose ministry is in charge of exports, wants to stick to the tightening of the guidelines that was actually planned.
In a keynote speech on defense policy before the German Society for Foreign Policy (DGAP), Lambrecht said on Monday in Berlin that, with a view to European cooperation on armaments projects, Germany is “in an obligation to deliver: To this day, we make such cooperation complicated by the fact that we rely on special rules for the export of insist on armaments”.
Which partner should invest in projects with Germany if you always have to fear that Germany will then prevent exports and thus make refinancing more difficult, she asked. In the case of major armaments projects such as the planned joint development of a new fighter jet (Future Combat Air System) with France and Spain or a new main battle tank, also with France, the development costs are so high that, in the overwhelming opinion of independent experts and industry representatives alike, they can only be financed through exports can be refinanced.
Lambrecht went on to say that Germany places itself above its European partners with its reservation of values. “But what do European values even mean when we say to our democratic partners: your morals are not enough for us?” she added. It’s not about delivering to “rogue states”. “If France, Italy and Spain say it’s acceptable, can we opt out? Veto it? I don’t think so.”
Federal Minister of Economics Habeck said on the other hand Süddeutsche Zeitung: “Instead of demanding more lax rules for arms exports, we will become stricter and at the same time strengthen the interaction with value and alliance partners.” It is clear that weapons should not be supplied to violators of human rights. This already applies today according to German and European rules. “We want to strengthen this line.”
Lambrecht had explained that the European idea, which Germany is happy to promote for good reason, obliges the Federal Government very directly. “So we have to get to the German export rules in order to give cooperation on defense goods a powerful boost in European policy,” Lambrecht demanded. That must also be reflected in the national security strategy that is currently being developed in the Federal Foreign Office under Green Minister Annalena Baerbock.
In the case of large cooperation projects, the question arises again and again as to whether one of the partners can prevent the other participating states from exporting the end product to third countries. France, for example, has delivered fighter jets to Egypt and the United Arab Emirates in recent years and, unlike Germany, has also continued to export arms to Saudi Arabia.
With her statements, Lambrecht is taking a confrontational course with the Greens, but also with parts of her own party. In the coalition agreement, the traffic light had agreed to make the approval practice for arms exports more restrictive, largely under pressure from the Greens and the SPD Left Party, including parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich, who has been campaigning for exports to be limited for years.
Deliveries of armaments to so-called third countries that are neither members of NATO nor the EU should only be possible “in justified individual cases, which must be documented in a publicly comprehensible manner”. The Economics Ministry is in the process of drafting a national arms export control law, and in the EU the federal government also wanted to work towards stricter rules and more consistent compliance with them.
The SPD co-chair Saskia Esken said in a first reaction that Lambrecht’s proposal must be discussed widely in the Social Democratic Party and also in Parliament. It is obvious that the existing structures for equipping the Bundeswehr and the procurement of armaments are not running smoothly, she said. That’s what it’s all about in this context. That’s why you have to talk about it.
Green Party leader Ricarda Lang said the defense ministers’ proposal was not compatible with a human rights-based policy. “We need clearer and tougher rules here. And we will continue to do so in line with the coalition agreement,” she announced on Monday in Berlin. For the Greens, the proposal also threatens internal party adversity. The party leadership had repeatedly fended off grassroots objections to arms deliveries to Ukraine, arguing that the Habeck family would soon be issuing stricter laws against arms exports.