Introductory text

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in particular Articles 26(2) and 31(1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy,

Whereas:

On 13 December 2003, the European Council adopted a European Security Strategy identifying five key challenges to be faced by the Union: terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, regional conflicts, State failure and organised crime. The consequences of the illicit manufacture, transfer and circulation of conventional weapons, including small arms and light weapons (hereinafter referred to as ‘SALW’), and their excessive accumulation and uncontrolled spread are central to four of these five challenges. They fuel insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and many other regions of the world, exacerbating conflict and undermining post-conflict peace building, thus posing a serious threat to peace and security.

On 15 and 16 December 2005, the Council adopted the EU Strategy to combat the illicit accumulation and trafficking of SALW and their ammunition (hereinafter referred to as ‘EU SALW Strategy’), which sets the guidelines for EU action in the field of SALW. That Strategy identifies Africa as the continent most affected by the illicit accumulation and spread of SALW. It also acknowledges that the problem of transfers of SALW to sub-Saharan Africa cannot be isolated from that of the sources of the transfers and states that particular attention should be paid to the ways and means by which SALW are disseminated in Africa, including illegal brokering and transport.

The EU SALW Strategy also asserts that the Union should strengthen and support the machinery for sanctions monitoring and support the strengthening of export controls as well as the promotion of Council Common Position 2008/944/CFSP^f1 by, inter alia, promoting measures to improve transparency.

With the United Nations Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in SALW in All Its Aspects (hereinafter referred to as ‘UN Programme of Action’), adopted on 20 July 2001, all UN Member States have undertaken to prevent illicit trafficking in SALW, or their diversion to unauthorised recipients and, in particular, to take into account the risk of diversion of SALW into the illegal trade when assessing applications for export authorisations.

On 8 December 2005, the United Nations General Assembly adopted an International Instrument to Enable States to Identify and Trace, in a Timely and Reliable Manner, Illicit SALW.

The 2007 Joint Africa-EU Strategic Partnership defines the prevention of the illicit trade in and excessive accumulation of SALW as an area for action through enhancing capacity, networking, cooperation and exchange of information.

At the 2012 Second Review Conference on the UN Programme of Action, all UN Member States reaffirmed their commitment to prevent illicit trafficking in SALW, including their diversion to unauthorised recipients, as well as their commitments contained in the UN Programme of Action relating to the assessment of applications for export authorisations.

On 2 April 2013, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the text of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). The objective of the Treaty is to establish the highest possible common international standards for regulating or improving the regulation of the international trade in conventional arms, to prevent and eradicate the illicit trade in conventional arms and to prevent their diversion. The Union should support all UN Member States in implementing effective arms transfer controls in order to ensure that the ATT, upon its entry into force, is as effective as possible, in particular as regards the implementation of Article 11 thereof.

The Union therefore wishes to finance a global reporting mechanism on illicit SALW and other illicit conventional weapons and ammunition to reduce the risk of their illicit trade in order to contribute to the achievement of the goals described above,

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