Arms Export Database (DE0045)

What is the public problem that the commitment will address? Germany’s arms export control policy is a topic of great political and social interest. By being transparent about its arms export decisions, the Federal Government lays the foundations for objective and well-founded discussion of arms exports in the public discourse. To that end, it already presents a report on its arms export policy twice a year, supplemented by press releases supplying quarterly figures. It thereby keeps the Bundestag and the public informed of Germany’s arms export policy and the authorisations which have been granted to export military equipment during the reporting period in question. The Federal Government has set itself the objective of making reporting on arms export decisions even more transparent in future.

What is the commitment? The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action intends to establish a publicly accessible online database through the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control on which data pertaining to arms export authorisations will be published. This move stems from the intention recorded in the coalition agreement to make the reports on arms exports transparent.

How will the commitment contribute to solving the public problem? Establishing a publicly accessible online database of arms export control authorisations will further raise the level of transparency in arms export policy above the current level. Inter- ested parties will have up-to-date, directly searchable and therefore generally improved and more comprehensive information at their disposal for that policy area.

Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values? The online database will increase the amount of information provided by the Federal Govern- ment about its arms export decisions and will contribute to greater transparency.

Milestone activity with a verifiable deliverable | Start date - Implementation by

Cost and basic requirements for implementation (staff, equipment and IT costs) established and quantified | May 2023 - October 2023

Blueprint for the structure and operation of the database presented by Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control | October 2023 - December 2023

Beta version for testing purposes | End of current legislative term

Publication of the database | End of current legislative term

Action Plan Review

Commitment 2. Arms export database

Commitment 2 takes up a promise from the coalition agreement to make arms exports more transparent by establishing a searchable and up-to-date database of authorization data relating to German arms export control. [26] Since the start of Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine and the war in Gaza, arms exports have been a hotly debated topic in Germany. Germany is the fifth largest arms exporter in the world, accounting for roughly 5% of all arms transfers globally. [27] German arms exports are divided into the categories of weapons of war and other military items. The production, transportation, and marketing of weapons of war are in principle prohibited by the constitution and require the consent of the government, administered by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) and the Ministry of Defense (BMVg). All exports are assessed in the context of the human rights situation in the receiving country, regional stability, and international relations, with special considerations for exports to non-EU and non-NATO countries. Other military items can be exported under the agreement of the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA). [28] Since 1999, the German government has reported on its arms exports, currently in biannual reports and (since 2022) quarterly figures in press releases. The BMWK reports export list items (“Ausfuhrlistenpositionen”) under broad categories (e.g., A0001: Small arms and automatic weapons). In reports of arms exports to Ukraine, however, the BMWK directly reports the number and type of weapons. [29] Germany also reports to the UN Register of Conventional Arms (UNROCA), the Secretariat of the Arms Trade Treaty, and to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). In addition, civil society monitors arms exports through existing channels, including cooperation with MPs, who can issue parliamentary requests for information on arms exports and answers to parliamentary requests are made public on the website of the Bundestag.

The commitment does not specify whether additional data not currently available in the biannual report will be disclosed. The government states that questions of the extent of data being disclosed will be answered in the process of setting up the database, considering the limitations set by constitutional law and the requirements of foreign and security policy. [30] According to an expert on arms exports, the most crucial additional information for disclosure is the precise weapon type beyond the export list item, the recipient and contract volume, and reexports (“Reexportgenehmigungen”). The most contentious issue is small arms and light weapons (SALWs), for which Germany adopts the EU’s definition of weapons of war which is more restrictive than the UN’s. In the biannual reports, the government only reports with reference to the broad export list items. In compliance with the UNROCA, the government reports the precise systems only for large weapons, whereas SALWs are included as numbers within a broad category (e.g., the export of 83 assault rifles of unspecified type to Italy in 2022). [31] In 2022, Germany reported the export of SALW at around EUR 87 million, whereas the total SALW exports (including weapons like sniper rifles and pistols, which are classified as sporting weapons but have received public criticism due to their repeated appearance in conflict zones) [32] was EUR 272 million. [33] The expert also highlighted the increase of general export authorizations for dual use and conventional arms. The currently issued authorizations (for instance of explosives to countries like the Republic of Korea and Singapore) generally include mandatory notifications to the BAFA, [34] but it is not evident whether they need to be included in the export reports, as they only include figures of new, not general, authorizations.