Handelshinder som policy. Exportkontrollens effektivitet och påverkan på Sveriges handel med krigsmateriel 1984-2010 kopplat till policyutveckling.
Arms exportRegulationTrade policyForeign policySecurity policyAccountabilityInspectorate of Strategic ProductsISP
The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the regulatory power, efficiency and impact of export control on Swedish arms export from the 1980s onwards, linked to the delegation of authority of permit license to the Inspectorate of Strategic Products in 1997. An increase in the administrative sector, based on a collective decision making process and established criteria and guidelines, aimed to strengthen the control of arms export to non-democratic and problematic states. In short, the aim of the study is to investigate and analyze whether there was a decrease in the arms export to problematic states or not. On one hand, it is reasonable to assume that the introduction of the new regulation entailed a more strict arms export policy. However, previous research has showed that regulations are sometimes not effective since incentives to breach these may be present.The study begins by examining the Swedish case and situation in terms of arms manufacturing and export, as well as the delegation of authority and legislation applied to the field over time. The general conclusion is that the legislature regulations and guidelines are vague in their design, as well as outdated, accompanied by the fact that new concepts, terms and classifications are introduced. The statistics are then approached by way of the analysis of the volume and composition of the trade and of the number and shares of problematic export in relation, based on the classifications of recipients regarding political freedoms and democratic rights. Finally, a correlation analysis is conducted and shares of problematic export is compared with the total arms export over time in order to interpret development.The results indicate that the delegation of authority regarding permit licensing to the Inspectorate of Strategic Products has not led to a decrease in the numbers of disputed shares. What is more, the study demonstrates that the delegation has led to a decrease in the responsibility concerning the arms export authority that can be correlated to the continuous high levels of disputed export, which might be approved. The existence of generic guidelines that are open to interpretation combined with an outdated set of legislature, plays a large role in this.