Review of the MAIRE-TABAROT information report on arms export control, By Jean-Georges Betto
Link to the information report by Mr. Jacques MAIRE and Mrs. Michèle TABAROT, Deputies, on arms export control: https://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/dyn/15/rapports/cion_afetr/l15b3581_rapport-information
On Wednesday, November 18, 2020, French Deputies Jacques Maire and Michèle Tabarot presented to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the French National Assembly their long-awaited report on parliamentary control of arms exports.
In their report, the two Deputies propose a key measure: the creation of a parliamentary delegation for arms export control, based on the parliamentary delegation for intelligence (DPR). According to Jean-Georges Betto, this proposal, if accepted, would be a real upheaval of the French system, which is for the moment and in this matter largely in the hands of the executive.
Context
As a preliminary, Jean-Georges Betto proposes to contextualize the debate and reminds that armament is a highly strategic sector in France and a considerable tool of influence and foreign policy. This is particularly true due to France’s presence in the United Nations Security Council, the operational deployment of French armed forces in several overseas operations, the French nuclear deterrent force and its arms industry. Additionally, this industry, usually known as the industrial and technological defense base (BITD), represents a major economic challenge for the Hexagon.
The issue of arms export control is therefore a complex one, combining humanist values and France’s international commitments in the fight against the proliferation and in the regulation of the arms trade with strategic, diplomatic, security and economic issues, emphasizes Jean-Georges Betto.
This is a long-standing debate that has gradually gained magnitude over the past decades. First, because of societal changes such as the end of military conscription and the development of a distancing between civil society and the armed forces, the growing role of NGOs and the demand from citizens for more transparency in the functioning of public policies.
Besides, some events had a profound impact on civil society. This was the case of the first Gulf War, during which the French learned that weapons sold to Iraq had been turned against their soldiers. The debate crystallized in 2015 with the Saudi intervention in Yemen, after which NGOs mobilized to demand more control and transparency on arms sales by France. This period marks the end of the “French consensus”(1) on the power of the executive in this area.
Current parliamentary control
Today, members of parliament can, as in other areas, set up a commission of inquiry, including parliamentarians from all groups, within the limit of 30 deputies and 21 senators, for a period of six months at the most, to carry out a control on specific facts. Jean-Georges Betto comments that this a posteriori control, is a rather heavy mechanism to deploy and which, in a certain way, puts the executive at fault.
The report submitted at the end of 2020 by deputies Jacques MAIRE and Michèle TABAROT proposes to go further in the control of arms exports with the creation of a parliamentary delegation based on the one for intelligence: “Rapporteurs coming from several committees and working together under the seal of national defence secrecy could exercise control over France’s export policy”(2).
Control of so-called dual-use goods
Jean-Georges Betto notes that this delegation would include the control of so-called dual-use goods. The scope of these goods, which may have both civilian and military uses, has considerably expanded during the last few years and the question of their control is at the heart of the debate. Indeed, at the same rate as society is becoming digitalized, more and more wars are being waged using these dual-use technologies.
In particular, it is a matter of monitoring, raising awareness and alerting industrial exporting armament and dual-use goods to their potential criminal liability, as shown in the first proposal of the report: “Proposal №1: Charge the DGA and the SBDU with a mission to raise awareness regarding human rights issues for companies exporting arms and dual-use goods, taking into account the risks associated with their criminal liability”(3).
About the author
Jean-Georges Betto advises and represents clients in international arbitration. He has extensive experience in complex and sensitive cases in the defense and aviation sectors. He assists some of the main players across the industry, including manufacturers, maintenance companies, reinsurers, and airlines, both in pre-contentious phases and litigation, especially in international arbitration proceedings. Jean-Georges Betto deals with matters arising out of sale contracts, cooperation agreements, supply contracts, leasing and maintenance contracts, serial defects, and launch contracts.
Jean-Georges Betto has acted as counsel and arbitrator before the main international arbitration institutions in French and English.
Jean-Georges Betto is a director of the International Academy of Arbitration Law and a speaker at international conferences. He is President of the Think-tank of lawyers Cabinets de croissance and led the working group “Arbitration and international construction” of the French Arbitration Committee. He was secretary of the commission that proposed the reform of French international arbitration law.
(1) Extract from the Information Report by Mr. Jacques MAIRE and Mrs. Michèle TABAROT, on the control of arms exports. Summary
https://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/dyn/15/rapports/cion_afetr/l15b3581_rapport-information(2) (3) Extract from the Information Report by Mr. Jacques MAIRE and Mrs. Michèle TABAROT, on the control of arms exports. c. Which parliamentary organization for the control of arms exports?
https://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/dyn/15/rapports/cion_afetr/l15b3581_rapport-information
