# Council Decision (CFSP) 2019/2111 of 9 December 2019 in support of SEESAC disarmament and arms control activities in South-East Europe reducing the threat of illicit small arms and light weapons and their ammunition, Division: Description

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

Building upon the successful approach of facilitating networking at regional level, this component will continue to facilitate regional cooperation between SALW Commissions through regular regional meetings, information exchange and work on collecting data and increasing capacity for evidence‐based policy‐making. Transparency of arms transfers will also be increased through the partial integration of the regional information exchange process on arms transfers into the SALW Commission cooperation process, as well as support for continuing transparency of arms transfers in SEE. In addition, this component envisages the transfer of SEE‐acquired expertise to other regions in order to support the Union’s interventions in other areas. Finally, this component will provide technical support through targeted and on‐demand policy‐relevant research and briefs for policy‐makers.
Additionally, considering the risk of illicit trafficking of firearms towards the Union, as well as the use of firearms in organised crime and terrorist incidents, the development of robust information‐gathering and exchange systems and mechanisms is an essential element in efforts to combat this threat. Through its longstanding work in the SEE region, and especially through the successful implementation of Council Decisions 2013/730/CFSP and (CFSP) 2016/2356, including the establishment and facilitation of SEEFEN, SEESAC has been at the forefront of such efforts, acting as a convener of cooperation processes while working to increase the capacity of law enforcement agencies for marking, tracing and record‐keeping, including through technical assistance and support for the establishment and enhancement of record‐keeping systems. As such, this component will build upon the basis established in the previous period by further strengthening SEEFEN, while at the same time using it as a platform for increased cooperation among law enforcement agencies in SEE and beyond to combat illicit trafficking of SALW and their ammunition. All activities of SEEFEN will be closely coordinated with and contribute to the efforts of Europol, EMPACT, EFE, DG Migration and Home Affairs, Interpol, Eurojust and Frontex, as well as other relevant actors.
Lastly, the component will aim to address the evident and urgent need for a tighter legislative and regulatory framework on SALW and firearms control in the Western Balkans to effectively regulate arms control and facilitate the response to relevant threats. This will consequently enable the compatibility of laws and procedures on arms control in the Western Balkans and the standardisation of SALW and firearms control procedures and practices. Such standardisation would allow for the removal of obstacles preventing law enforcement agencies and the judiciary from cooperating directly, exchanging information and conducting joint or parallel investigations. Additionally, as the gender perspective is often neither fully recognised nor adequately addressed by legislative and policy frameworks regulating SALW control in SEE, thereby making the arms‐control efforts less efficient in providing security for all citizens, whether women, men, girls or boys, the project will also contribute to further integrating the gender perspective in arms control legislation. It will do so, building upon the support provided through the implementation of Council Decision (CFSP) 2018/1788, by developing tailor‐made national and regional thematic workshops, updating the regional arms‐law compendium and carrying out a gender screening of the legal framework of the project beneficiaries in order to ensure that policies regulating arms control are not silent about the links between SALW and gender.
Specifically, the project envisages the facilitation of regional cooperation and support of evidence‐based policy‐making in SALW control through:
regional meetings of SALW Commissions (twice per year) in SEE focusing on information exchange and knowledge‐sharing on, and standardisation of, arms control policies;
regional meetings of SEEFEN (twice per year) focusing on operational information exchange and cross‐border cooperation in fighting illicit trafficking of firearms;
provision of on‐demand technical advice and expertise to SALW Commissions and SEEFEN in order to enhance policy development, design, adoption and implementation;
on‐demand support for harmonisation of arms control legislation for relevant amendments regarding EU legislation on arms control and standardisation throughout the SEE region (2022‐2023);
support for SALW data collection and analysis based on recommendations of the regional SALW Surveys;
maintenance of the Armed Violence Monitoring Platform and regular dissemination of a SEE Armed Violence Monitor enabling capture of trends;
further integration of gender perspective in SALW control policy‐making;
transferring of expertise to Belarus and Ukraine through facilitation of participation in selected formal meetings and SALW control tools;
maintenance of the online information exchange platform and its enhancement through the development of policy‐relevant on‐demand knowledge products.
Project results/implementation indicators:
organisation of up to eight regional meetings of SALW Commissions;
organisation of up to eight regional meetings of SEEFEN (twice yearly) focusing on networking and information exchange between law enforcement firearms experts;
enhancing capacities of SALW Commissions and SEEFEN members through targeted training sessions and the provision of technical and advisory support;
enabling information exchange, knowledge transfer and standardisation of approaches;
organisation of up to ten thematic workshops for the beneficiaries supporting harmonisation of legislation with the Acquis and standardisation within the SEE region;
provision of expertise on legislative and policy updates with the aim of harmonisation with the EU regulatory framework and standards;
publication of monthly monitors on armed violence trends throughout the SEE region;
ensuring data collection, analysis and dissemination from authorities based on SALW Survey recommendations;
integration of gender perspective in SALW policy‐making;
further development of the weapons registry system in the Republic of Moldova;
facilitating knowledge exchange and information‐sharing with the authorities of Belarus and Ukraine.

---
Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eudn/2019/2111/annex/division/3/division/3.1/division/2 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/eu-decision-2019-2111/annex/division-3/division-3.1/division-2
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.