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EP report calls for stricter arms controls

Xinhua, December 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

The terrorism threat in Europe has boosted calls for stricter arms controls, a report written by a committee of the European Parliament (EP) said on Tuesday.

The report on the EU's arms exports calls for the EU's code on arms exports to be applied more strictly.

"The security situation of Europe is completely different from what it was five years ago," said Bodil Valero, who authored the report on behalf of the EP's foreign affairs committee.

"For many years, we sold a lot of weapons to countries that were stable at the time, but now are in conflict. If we do not have a proper risk assessment then we will have problems," she added.

In her report, Valero calls on member states to support the creation of an independent European Arms Control Authority.

"The authority would have the role to ensure everyone was respecting the minimum rules, but countries would still be free to apply stricter rules," she said.

Members of EP will debate the report on Wednesday and a vote will follow the next day.

In 2013 alone, EU member states exported 26.7 billion euros (29.17 billion U.S. dollars) worth of weapons to countries outside the EU. Endit