13/05/2026
NGOs warn EU defence overhaul could weaken arms export controls - Campaigners say reforms would reduce transparency over military transfers
Alice Tidey, Euractiv, 12/05/2026 https://www.euractiv.com/news/ngos-warn-eu-defence-overhaul-could-weaken-arms-export-controls/
Twenty-five civil society organisations have warned that reforms in the EU’s planned defence omnibus package could weaken arms export controls by reducing oversight of military transfers.
In an open letter to EU lawmakers and officials involved in negotiations to slash red tape for the defence industry, the groups argued that the current proposals, framed as measures to improve “simplification” and “efficiency”, would in practice make it harder for national authorities to track the final destination of weapons, components and military technologies exported within and outside the bloc.
The organisations criticised plans to expand the use of General Transfer Licences (GTLs), which allow repeated transfers of military goods without case-by-case authorisation. According to the signatories, broader GTLs would significantly limit governments’ ability to monitor where European military technology ultimately ends up, particularly in relation to EU-funded defence projects and emerging technologies such as drones and autonomous systems.
The letter, dated 8 May, also opposes proposals to widen exemptions from prior authorisation requirements and extend special transfer arrangements to non-EU partners. Such measures, the groups warn, could facilitate arms deliveries to conflict zones or fragile states while bypassing safeguards contained in the EU Common Position on arms exports, the Arms Trade Treaty and the Genocide Convention.
Similarly, they called on negotiators to reject proposals to limit preconditions imposed on suppliers applying for licences or reduce transparency for transfers of intangible goods and software, warning that “those transfers can be very sensitive in particular considering the massive development of unmanned and autonomous systems.”
Finally, they reject proposals to give delegated power to the European Commission on matters related to arms transfers, which they described as “problematic”.
“This would go far beyond the original purpose of delegated acts and would grant the European Commission the power to define key elements of national export control systems, even though it has no such competence according to EU treaties,” they wrote.
The groups also accused the European Commission of prioritising defence industry interests over transparency and democratic scrutiny, warning that the omnibus package risks accelerating global arms sales under the cover of technical reform.
Signatories include peace organisations, human rights groups and environmental campaigners from across Europe such as the UK’s Campaign Against Arms Trade, France’s Observatoire des armements, Corporate Europe Observatory, PAX, the European Network Against Arms Trade, Friends of the Earth Sweden, and Saferworld.
Trilogues on the package are tentatively scheduled to be held on 18 and 19 May.
