Arms exports, civil society associations criticise government bill: 'Less transparency and more political controls'

The measure under discussion abolishes the obligation to include in the government's annual report to Parliament a chapter on banks with the names of institutions that finance arms sales. According to the associations criticising the decree, the changes 'meet the demands of the arms industries and the banking lobby', which have been showing dissatisfaction with the regulations of Law 185 of 1990 for years.

Defence Minister Guido Crosetto was president of AIAD, the association of aerospace and defence companies, until October 2022. The banks that finance arms sales and their association (Abi) do not like the publicity given in the Annual Report to Parliament and the definition of 'armed banks' used by Catholic and pacifist associations, they fear they will lose customers.

"The proposed changes aim, among other things, to delete the 'list of armed banks' which, albeit with many limitations, has for 30 years allowed Parliament and citizens to know which banks finance the production and export of arms and for what amounts," notes Anna Fasano, president of Banca Etica. "Deleting this garrison of transparency would contradict the guidelines of Europe, which wants consumers in the member states to be increasingly free to make informed choices on the market, including that of banking and financial products. The EU has passed several regulations requiring banks to disclose the sectors they finance and their social and environmental impacts."

Fasano and Vignarca explained their position at a press conference, which was attended for a few minutes by the former president of the Chamber of Deputies, Laura Boldrini, a member of the Italian Democratic Party. 'Italy with law 185 has been in the vanguard, it is a model for other countries as well. It makes no sense to cancel it just now that the rest of Europe is also moving in the direction of ever greater transparency on the work of banks and funding for the arms industry,' Boldrini said. The former president of the Chamber criticised Stefania Craxi, chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, who had tabled amendments in line with the criticism of civil society associations "but in the end did an about-turn".

'There were amendments by senators in the majority that echoed our positions,' Vignarca explained, 'but they were eventually withdrawn and replaced by a single amendment, which we think was agreed with the government. "In the House, the majority is in a hurry to close this game. The examination of the bill is going very fast. At this rate by April the work of the committees will be finished. Then the conference of group leaders will set the date for consideration in the chamber. The law could be approved by the end of May'.

Just as in the Senate, the Peace Disarmament Network expressed its position in the Chamber: 'The legitimate and even natural updating of law 185/90 cannot and must not become an opportunity to weaken parliamentary control over Italian arms exports,' Vignarca added. "Greater decision-making responsibility on the part of the political part of the government must always be balanced by technical expertise capable of applying the criteria laid down by Italian and international standards. The text is a clear favour to arms dealers. Moreover, it is motivated by a phantom greater regulatory cage for Italian companies, which is totally contradicted by the data that show that Italian military exports are growing steadily'.

Giorgio Beretta, an analyst at Opal, explained that 'with the amendment already approved in the Senate, it will no longer be required, as envisaged since Law 185/90 came into force, that the Annual Report to Parliament contain "analytical indications", but only "the countries of final destination with their amount subdivided by type of equipment" and "with a similar subdivision, the authorised companies" and "the list of agreements from state to state". "Practically we will not know the specific type of arms and military equipment that is exported to the various countries. This is vital information for parliamentary and our associations' scrutiny of government activity."

"We also ask," Fasano added, "that the amendments to Law 185 incorporate the provisions of Law 118 of 2013 with which Italy ratified the Arms Trade Treaty, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. It is imperative that the law under discussion at least introduce a reference to that Treaty, making explicit that for anything not contained in Law 185 of 1990 - and, in any case, for any reference to standards and general norms and regulatory provisions on the arms trade - it is necessary to refer to what is contained in the Treaty ratified in 2013'. Instead, the bill that came out of the Senate contains no explicit reference to this treaty.

Without a treaty reference - according to Vignarca - it will not be possible to prevent arms being sent to countries accused of human rights violations. "The law in force says that weapons cannot be sold to countries involved in 'serious violations of human rights', but it does not explain what 'serious' violations mean. Instead, according to the treaty adopted by the UN,' explains Vignarca, 'it is sufficient that there is a suspicion of violations to block the sale of arms'.