The GUE/NGL Group invites you to a

PUBLIC HEARING

on

ARMS EXPORTS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION:
A THREAT TO PEACE AND SECURITY?

The major European Union (EU) arms exporting countries - France, Germany,
Italy, Sweden and the United Kingdom - accounted for one third of the
worldwide arms transfer agreements signed between 1994 and 2001. The EU's
share of the market was smaller than the United States and Russia, but it
increased on 1 May 2004 when ten new countries joined the EU. Now the EU
is exporting more arms than USA and Russia. The hearing will explore, the
implications of this peace and security worldwide.

WEDNESDAY 29 JUNE 2005 - FROM 9.00 TO 12.30 - ROOM ASP1G3

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT BRUSSELS


OPENING SPEECH 9.00 - 9.30
Tobias Pfüger, MEP

PANEL I 9.30 - 10.15
Arms export of the European Union - An Overview
Chair: Eva-Britt Svenson, MEP,
Speaker: Herman Schmid, Prof. of Sociology, Sweden

PANEL II 10.15 - 11.00
THE CODE OF CONDUCT ON ARMS EXPORTS OF THE EUROPEANUNION - LEGAL ASPECTS
Chair: Tobias Pflüger, MEP
Speaker: Ottfried Nassauer, Berlin Information-center for Transatlantic Security - BITS, Germany

PANEL III 11.00 - 11.45
ARMS EXPORTS AND THE EUROPEAN AND DEFENCE POLICY
Chair: Sahra Wagenknect
Speaker: Lühr Henken, Council of Speakers of the German Peace Movement, Germany

PANEL IV 11.45 - 12.30
THE EUROPEAN DEFENCE AGENCY: SPONSORING ARMS EXPORTS OF THE EU?
Chair: Willy Meyer, MEP
Speaker: Christofer Steinmetz, Berlin Information-center for Transatlantic Security/ BITS, Germany)

Translation will be Provided in En, Fr, De, It, ES, Sv, PT, Gr and other
Languages

contact: GUE/ NGL press officer: Gianfranco Battistini + 32 475 646628
gbattistini@europarl.eu.int