EU to suspend arms exports to Egypt

Discussing the situation in Egypt, the EU's foreign affairs ministers have agreed to suspend the export licenses of any equipment that might be used for internal repression, and review their security assistance.

However, based on the EU subsidiary principle, member states must assess what the concrete steps are for national governments to define: "It is up to member states to interpret that," said EU High Representative Catherine Ashton at a brief press conference that followed the meeting.

There was a ‘long and in-depth’ discussion, according to Ashton, but she declined to elaborate, referring to her previous statements condemning violence and supporting the  "people of Egypt" including the most vulnerable, citing women and children's rights in particular.

Egypt remains a "crucial" partner country to the EU, and the top EU diplomat promised to follow events closely, however she underlined that that the EU has no official role in the process: "We don’t mediate. The people of Egypt are determining their own history."

An EU diplomat told EU Reporter that the institutions have no competences to control, monitor or supervise the arms exports of individual countries. On the eve of the meeting Germany, Italy and the Netherlands had already suspended arms exports to Egypt. After the downfall of Hosni Mubarak’s regime in 2011, EU countries granted arms exports licences worth around €300 million with France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Czech Republic and Bulgaria.

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