A bill proposed by the Flemish Greens to ban fully autonomous lethal weapon systems was rejected by the Chamber's Defence Commission on Wednesday.
In 2018, the majority parties in the Swedish Parliament (N-VA, CD&V, MR, and Open Vld) approved a resolution to ban these weapons, also known as 'killer robots.' At the time, the government was requested to take preventive measures.
Since then, however, the defence industry has developed such armaments.
Last year, under the previous legislature, the Vooruit party submitted a bill to ban the 'killer robots.' It received broad support in the Chamber. However, the N-VA requested a second reading, preventing a vote before the Chamber was dissolved ahead of elections.
Now in opposition, the Groen party decided to resubmit the bill.
The bill’s author, Staf Aerts, expressed openness to amendments from the majority, but the Arizona representatives did not speak during the session.
On Wednesday, opposition parties Open Vld and Vlaams Belang indicated they would vote against the bill. Kjell Vander Elst of Open Vld argued that banning these weapons would hinder research and development in the defence industry.
On the other hand, the Parti Socialist, through Christophe Lacroix, expressed support for the proposal.
The bill was ultimately rejected article by article. Since no article received a majority, a vote on the entire bill was impossible.
Staf Aerts criticised what he called a 'next-level silence agreement,' a practice common in the Flemish Parliament whereby proposals are not submitted without prior testing with coalition partners. “The debate hasn’t even started in the Chamber,” Aerts lamented. “It shows incredible contempt for Parliament.”
The Groen MP received support from Open Vld's Vander Elst, who expressed hope for better exchanges between majority and opposition in the future.
