European Peace Facility

Today, EU Foreign Affairs Ministers will decide on the establishment of a European Peace Facility. The new instrument will allow the EU (as a bloc) to export arms to third countries for the first time. The budget for financing joint civilian and military operations is to be €5 billion by 2027.

Hannah Neumann MEP, foreign policy spokesperson of the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament, comments:

"With this so-called 'Peace Facility' the European Union will be able to export lethal weapons around the globe, including to conflict regions. This is a paradigm shift. Arms exports can add fuel to the fire of military conflicts, lethal weapons and ammunition can quickly fall into the wrong hands. Once delivered, arms cannot be taken back. Although a strict control regime is mentioned, we have already seen in the past that rules are interpreted in a very lax way – one example are the common rules for exports of individual member states. That is why we need transparency and comprehensive control rights for the European Parliament."