German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the new coalition government would introduce a law that tightens curbs on weapons exports.
The Green party politician made the comments days after it was revealed that then-Chancellor Angela Merkel's administration approved export deals worth nearly €5 billion with Egypt and Singapore as it prepared to hand over power.
"As a coalition, we have made it clear that we are reviewing the arms export policy of the past few years," Baerbock told the German dpa news agency.
"We are working on an arms export control law that will make clearer the criteria by which arms exports are approved."
The new coalition government — made up of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and the neoliberal FDP — vowed in their alliance agreement to tighten arms exports to so-called third countries outside the European Union and NATO. That would include Egypt, which has been one of Germany's key export destinations for arms.
The previous government approved the sale of three warships and 16 air defense systems from Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems and Diehl Defense to the North African country.
On Saturday, figures from the Economy Ministry, requested from a politician from the socialist Left party, revealed that those last-minute deals were worth nearly €5 billion ($5.6 billion). The deals made Germany's weapons exports hit a new record in 2021of €9.04 billion.
