MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the Commission delegated regulation of 3 November 2025 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/1818 as regards the definition of prohibited weapons
19.11.2025 - (C(2025)03801 – 2025/2847(DEA))
Martin Schirdewan, Marc Botenga, Pasquale Tridico, Giorgos Georgiou
on behalf of The Left Group
B10‑0499/2025
European Parliament resolution on the Commission delegated regulation of 3 November 2025 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/1818 as regards the definition of prohibited weapons
(C(2025)03801 – 2025/2847(DEA))
The European Parliament,
– having regard to the Commission delegated regulation (C(2025)03801),
– having regard to Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2016/1011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2016 on indices used as benchmarks in financial instruments and financial contracts or to measure the performance of investment funds and amending Directives 2008/48/EC and 2014/17/EU and Regulation (EU) No 596/2014[1], and in particular Articles 19a(2) and 49(6) thereof,
– having regard to Rule 114(3) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas the Paris Agreement, adopted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and approved by the Union on 5 October 2016, aims to strengthen the response to climate change, among other means by making investment flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development;
B. whereas Regulation (EU) 2016/2011 establishes EU Climate Transition Benchmarks and EU Paris-aligned Benchmarks based on the commitments laid down in the Paris Agreement; whereas the objective of those sustainable investment benchmarks is to provide guidance to investors who wish to make climate-conscious investment decisions and to ensure that their investments are aligned with the objectives of the Paris Agreement;
C. whereas the Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts to supplement Regulation (EU) 2016/2011 by laying down the minimum standards for EU Climate Transition Benchmarks and EU Paris-aligned Benchmarks with a view on ensuring that the selection of the underlying assets is coherent with environmentally sustainable investments;
D. whereas the minimum standards set out in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/1818 contain specific exclusion criteria that are based on climate-related or other environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations; whereas, according to those exclusion criteria, financial service providers administrating EU Paris-aligned Benchmarks are to exclude from those sustainable investment benchmarks companies involved in any activities related to controversial weapons;
E. whereas under Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/1818, controversial weapons are defined as controversial weapons as referred to in international treaties and conventions, United Nations principles and, where applicable, national legislation;
F. whereas Commission delegated regulation intends to remove the term ‘controversial weapons’, replacing it with the term ‘prohibited weapons’; whereas that change limits the exclusion criteria for weapons in the EU Paris-aligned Benchmarks to only four categories, namely anti-personnel mines, cluster munitions, biological and chemical weapons, that are expressly prohibited by the international arms conventions to which the majority of Member States are parties;
G. whereas the new definition of prohibited weapons does not refer to controversial weapons such as nuclear weapons, depleted uranium, incendiary weapons, non-detectable fragments, blinding lasers and lethal autonomous weapon systems; whereas, consequently, companies involved in activities related to such controversial weapons will, in principle, be eligible for the selection of assets underlying the sustainable investment benchmarks, despite the fact that such controversial weapons could have a severe, disproportionate and indiscriminate impact on civilians, potentially for longer periods after conflicts have ended;
H. whereas investment in companies involved in activities related to controversial weapons such as nuclear weapons, depleted uranium, incendiary weapons, non-detectable fragments, blinding lasers and lethal autonomous weapon systems, inherently contradicts the principle of environmental sustainability and cannot reasonably be considered to be aligned with the objectives of the Paris agreement;
I. whereas armed conflicts and investment in military activities undermine the capacity of countries to adapt to and mitigate climate change;
J. whereas the recent report of the UN Special Rapporteur, Marcos Orellana, on military activities and toxics states that ‘military activities before, during and after armed conflict generate toxic legacies that harm human health, disrupt ecosystems and livelihoods, and undermine peacebuilding and reconstruction efforts’;
K. whereas nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction subject to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which has been ratified by all Member States and which contains prohibitions on the possession, control, manufacture and assistance of nuclear weapons for non-nuclear-weapon states and therefore for 26 out of 27 Member States;
L. whereas the use of blinding lasers is prohibited under Protocol IV to the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons;
M. whereas the Commission proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the European Defence Industry Program and a framework of measures to ensure the timely availability and supply of defence products (EDIP) excludes autonomous weapon systems from eligibility;
1. Objects to the Commission delegated regulation;
2. Expresses its deep concern that the Commission delegated regulation does not exclude companies involved in activities related to controversial weapons such as nuclear weapons, depleted uranium, incendiary weapons, non-detectable fragments, blinding lasers and lethal autonomous weapon systems from the EU Paris-aligned Benchmarks that were established to provide guidance to investors who wish to make climate-conscious investment decisions and to ensure that their investments are aligned with the objectives of the Paris Agreement;
3. Insists that companies involved in activities related to the above-mentioned controversial weapons should not be eligible for the selection of assets underlying EU Paris-aligned Benchmarks and EU Climate Transition Benchmarks as such activities inherently contradict the principles of environmental sustainability and cannot reasonably be considered to be aligned with the objectives of the Paris agreement;
4. Is concerned about the greenwashing risks for climate-conscious investors who wish to align portfolios with the objectives of sustainable development and the green transition and may reasonably expect that ESG-themed investment products, such as investment products based on Paris-aligned Benchmarks, exclude companies involved in activities related to controversial weapons such as nuclear weapons or lethal autonomous weapon systems;
5. Expresses its dissatisfaction with the proposed concept of ‘prohibited weapons’ defined by a quantitative threshold that refers only to weapons prohibited by international arms conventions to which the majority of Member States are parties; rejects such quantitative approach as it prevents the appropriate qualitative considerations, such as whether weapons may have a severe, disproportionate or indiscriminate impact on civilians or on nature;
6. Is concerned that the quantitative threshold in the proposed definition of ‘prohibited weapons’ will be applied in a biased manner as nuclear weapons are not listed as prohibited weapons even though all Member States are parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT);
7. Expresses its concern that a quantitative approach to the exclusion criteria for weapons will make it more difficult to update and expand the list of weapon types to be excluded from the sustainable finance benchmarks in the future and consequently to account for future developments in controversial weapons; highlights that human rights organisations have warned against the threats posed to human rights by recent developments in lethal autonomous weapon systems;
8. Concludes that the Commission delegated regulation conflicts with the objectives of the underlying basic act; is deeply concerned that it jeopardises the integrity and reputation of sustainable finance framework in the Union;
9. Reaffirms its conviction that simplification should not lead to erosion of environmental sustainability or social standards;
10. Calls on the Commission to submit a new delegated act which takes account of the concerns set out above;
11. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission and to notify it that the delegated regulation cannot enter into force;
12. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and to the governments and parliaments of the Member States.
- [1] OJ L 171, 29.6.2016, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/1011/oj