Glossary export control policy for military equipment

The Export List is an annex to the Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance. It lists all the military equipment which is subject to an export licence. The military equipment is listed in Part I Section A of the Export List, and classified in 22 items (A0001 to A0022), which are further subdivided.

The Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA) is an administrative and licensing agency of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. It is responsible for issuing or refusing export licences for “other military equipment” in accordance with the Foreign Trade and Payments Act and the Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance. It passes sensitive applications on to the Economic Affairs Ministry for a political assessment and decision. The Economic Affairs Ministry generally requests comments from the Federal Foreign Office regarding foreign policy, and involves further federal ministries as necessary.

The Federal Security Council is a cabinet committee of the Federal Government chaired by the Federal Chancellor. Its members comprise the Head of the Federal Chancellery, the Federal Ministers of Defence, Economic Affairs and Energy, Economic Cooperation and Development, Foreign Affairs, Finance, the Interior, and Justice. In addition to the licensing of exports of military equipment, its core tasks include the coordination of German security policy and the discussion and coordination of its strategic direction. Its meetings, which take place at irregular intervals, are held in secret. Apart from this, the Federal Government has kept the Bundestag informed about final decisions on export licences taken by the Federal Security Council since mid-2014.

The Foreign Trade and Payments Act and the Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance regulate foreign trade and payments, i.e. movements of goods, services, capital, payments and other transactions with other countries. They form the basis for the control of the export of military equipment. On 1 September 2013, a revised version of the 1961 Act, which had become confusing after five decades of amendments, entered into force.

In contrast to an individual licence, a global export licence permits particularly reliable exporters to make a large number of exports or transfers to various recipients based in one or in several countries. Such licences are granted only to exporters which are subject to special controls by the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control. As a rule, the global licences permit shipments of military equipment to EU, NATO or NATO-equivalent countries.

Military equipment means all goods designed specifically for military purposes. This includes not only war weapons, but also, for example, radio communication equipment or uniforms. It can also include software and technology. The military equipment is listed in full in Part I Section A of the Export List (Annex to the Foreign Trade and Payments Act).

On the basis of the “Political Principles Adopted by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany for the Export of War Weapons and Other Military Equipment”, the Federal Government presents the Bundestag with an annual Military Equipment Export Report, and also with a half-yearly report in the autumn. The reports explain how the principles of Germany’s policy on export controls for military equipment have been implemented in the relevant period. For example, it provides a breakdown of the export licences for war weapons and other military equipment granted by the Federal Government in line with the statutory provisions.

Further to this, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy also regularly provides the public with press releases on data and developments in export control policy.

In addition to the member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the countries of Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Switzerland are categorised as NATO-equivalent.

For the export of small arms to third countries, the “New for Old” principle is also applied wherever possible. This calls for sales contracts to be worded to ensure that the recipient destroys small arms that are to be replaced by the new consignment, in order to prevent their proliferation. Moreover, insofar as possible, in new supply contracts the exporter is to require the consignee in a third country to destroy the weapons supplied in the case of a later removal from use. In this way, exporters and recipients make an active contribution towards not increasing the number of small arms available worldwide, and preventing their proliferation across to grey or black markets. Germany, and in particular the Bundeswehr, destroys surplus small arms. No other country applies the “New for Old” principle in this way.

The “Political Principles Adopted by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany for the Export of War Weapons and Other Military Equipment” were adopted by the federal cabinet on 19 January 2000, and were last revised in June 2019. Many decisions on exports of military equipment involve a weighing up of political interests. The Political Principles are national guidelines setting out the points that should play a role in this decision-making process. Not least, the Political Principles stress the following aspects:

• observance of human rights in the country of destination
• consideration of the internal and external situation in the country of destination
• the recipient country’s conduct toward the international community concerning matters such as the fight against international terrorism and organised crime; the extent to which the recipient country meets its international obligations as well as aspects of non-proliferation, military weapons, and arms control
• restraint on licences for and a strict control of exports to “third countries” (countries outside the EU, NATO and the NATO-equivalent countries of Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Switzerland) regarding the human rights situation, and the security policy interests of Germany and the international community
• Germany’s special interest in the ongoing capability for cooperation of Germany’s defence industry in the EU and NATO

The Principles refer to various groups of countries of destination and also stress the need to ensure the end-use of military equipment.

The Principles also require the Federal Government to present an annual report on exports of military equipment to the Bundestag each year, as well as a half-yearly report.