Introductory text

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in particular Articles 28(1) and 31(1) thereof,

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

Whereas:

The 2016 EU Global Strategy for the European Union’s Foreign and Security Policy (the ‘EU Global Strategy’) emphasises that the Union will promote peace and guarantee the security of its citizens and territory and step up its contributions to collective security. It also strongly supports the full implementation and enforcement of multilateral disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control treaties and regimes and calls for ‘the cross-border tracing of weapons’ recognising that European security hinges on better and shared assessments of internal and external threats and challenges.

The EU Strategy of 19 November 2018‘Securing Arms, Protecting Citizens - EU Strategy against illicit firearms, small arms & light weapons and their ammunition’ (the ‘EU SALW Strategy’) stresses that illicit firearms, small arms and light weapons (‘SALW’) continue to contribute to instability and violence in the Union, in its immediate neighbourhood, and in the rest of the world. The EU SALW Strategy sets out the framework for action for the Union in order to address those challenges and commits to supporting research efforts targeting the origins of illicit SALW in conflict zones, such as Conflict Armament Research’s iTrace project.

Council Common Position 2008/944/CFSP^f1, as amended by Council Decision (CFSP) 2019/1560^f2, reflects the determination of Member States to address, inter alia, the risk of military technology or equipment being re-exported to undesirable destinations or being diverted to terrorist organisations or to individual terrorists.

The 2005 EU Counterterrorism Strategy underscores the threat of weapon acquisition by terrorist groups, including of SALW, and calls on Member States to ‘make best use’ of Union level research activity.

The illicit manufacture, transfer, and circulation of conventional weapons and ammunition, and their excessive accumulation and uncontrolled spread fuels insecurity in Europe and its neighbourhood as well as in many other regions of the world, exacerbating conflict and undermining post-conflict peace-building, thus posing a serious threat to European peace and security.

The EU SALW Strategy asserts that the Union will support the work of UN panels that monitor arms embargoes, and that it will consider ways of improving access to their findings on diversion and on illicit firearms and SALW for arms export control purposes.

With the UN Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in SALW in All Its Aspects (the ‘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.

At the 2018 Third Review Conference on the UN Programme of Action, all UN Member States affirmed their commitment to encourage States when tracing illicit SALW, including those found in conflict and post-conflict situations, to consult records within the State where the small arm or light weapon was found and/or consult with the State of manufacture of that weapon.

On 24 December 2014, the Arms Trade Treaty (‘ATT’) entered into force. 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 will be as effective as possible, in particular as regards the implementation of Article 11 thereof.

The Union previously supported iTrace by Council Decisions 2013/698/CFSP^f3, (CFSP) 2015/1908^f4, and (CFSP) 2017/2283^f5 (iTrace I, II, and III) and wishes to support iTrace IV, the fourth phase of this global, reporting mechanism on illicit conventional arms and their ammunition so as to contribute to Europe’s collective security, as requested by the EU Global Strategy,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: