Tuesday, April 25, 2006

EU MILITARISM Statewatch: "The European Union is preparing to spend up to 1 billion Euro per year on new 'research' into surveillance and control technologies, according to Arming Big Brother, a new report by the Transnational Institute (TNI) and Statewatch. Arming Big Brother lifts the lid on the secretive committees and arms industry lobbying that led to the creation of the European Security Research Programme (ESRP). 'The ESRP is completely unaccountable and gives multinational corporations an unacceptable role in EU decision-making. This is contributing to a European security agenda in the corporate rather than the public interest,' says Hayes [author of the report]. 'The militarisation of policing and border controls will not prevent crime or terrorism', said Hayes, 'it does nothing to address root causes while posing a massive threat to civil liberties. The EU should be regulating the trade in security technology, not lavishing it with taxpayers money in an unaccountable fashion.'" Summary: "Arming Big Brother concludes with a call for civil society to resist the development of the security-industrial complex and the wider militarisation of the EU. Civil liberties groups and anti-militarist campaigners should challenge current developments and explain to the people of Europe what is being done in their name. It is hoped that this report contributes to a broader campaign against EU militarism and that it will be followed-up by systematic monitoring of the development and implementation of the ESRP by independent groups." 11:48:01 AM

© Copyright 2006 Hetty Litjens.