Export control

UK Drags Feet On Control Of Surveillance Exports To Repressive Regimes

The British government has been accused once again of allowing the export of surveillance tools to repressive regimes - just as the EU moves to tighten up such sales.

Eleven EU countries have now reportedly backed a European Commission proposal, released last month, to introduce export controls on surveillance technologies.

A leaked document obtained by Euractiv shows that Croatia, the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain are supporting the initiative, originally proposed by Germany.

The proposal concerns so-called 'dual-use' products that can be used for both civilian and military purposes, and was introduced after European companies - especially British-based ones - were discovered to have happily sold surveillance software to repressive governments during the Arab Spring protests seven years ago.

Last summer, a BBC investigation revealed that British defense firm BAE Systems was using a Danish subsidiary to sell its Evident surveillance system to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Oman, Morocco and Algeria.