RECOMMENDATION on the draft Council decision authorising Member States to ratify, in the interests of the European Union, the Arms Trade Treaty

23.1.2014 - (12178/2013 – C7‑0233/2013 – 2013/0225(NLE)) - ***

Committee on International Trade
Rapporteur: David Martin

DRAFT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

on the draft Council decision authorising Member States to ratify, in the interests of the European Union, the Arms Trade Treaty

(12178/2013 – C7‑0233/2013 – 2013/0225(NLE))

(Consent)

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the draft Council decision (12178/2013),

–   having regard to the request for consent submitted by the Council in accordance with Articles 114 and  207(3) and Article 218(6), second subparagraph, point (a) (v), of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (C7‑0233/2013),

–   having regard to Rules 81 and 90(7) of its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the recommendation of the Committee on International Trade and the opinion of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (A7-0041/2014),

1.  Consents to the draft Council decision;

2.  Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council, the Commission and the governments and parliaments of the Member States.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Unlike weapons of mass destruction and land mines, trade in conventional weapons has not been subject to any legally binding global instrument. The Arms Trade Treaty is intended to close this gap.

After long negotiations[1] the Arms Trade Treaty was adopted on 2 April 2013 through a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly. Three States voted against the Treaty (North Korea, Iran and Syria) and 22 abstained (including China, India and Russia, which could result in slow ratification and possibly incomplete implementation in these countries).

The Arms Trade Treaty establishes a common international standard for the regulation of international trade in conventional weapons and, to some extent, on ammunition and parts and components. It also aims to prevent and eradicate the illicit trade in these weapons.

While existing European export regulation relating to conventional weapons[2] has been used as a best practice during the UN negotiations, European regulation sets much higher standards and has a broader scope than the ATT.

The EU Common Military lists - defining weapons subject to EU arms export regulations - is more exhaustive than the categories of the UN Register of Conventional Arms listed under Art 2(1) of the ATT. The ATT, for example, does not cover tear gas, drones or military technology and ammunitions and parts and components are excluded from ATT clauses relating to import, brokering, transit and reporting. ATT does not cover dual-use items either, which are already subject to an export control system at the EU level.

The European list of criteria against which to assess prospective exports is also broader than in the ATT - with gender-based violence being the only criteria included in the ATT which is not covered at EU level. Socio-economic development and internal repression are not among the criteria of the ATT

If Your Rapporteur regrets the loopholes and limited scope of the Treaty, as well as imprecise wording of several treaty provisions that hence leave room for interpretation, he is however of the opinion that efforts might now be focused on ensuring complete implementation of the Treaty by ratifying countries – including when necessary providing assistance to developing countries, especially African countries. Your Rapporteur also considers that a quick ratification by all EU Member States will send a message to third countries that have not yet ratified such as the United States.

With a view to ensuring a quick and effective implementation of the Treaty, a fully-fledged ATT secretariat should facilitate cooperation between States in fields such as institutional capacity building, legal advice and technical, material and financial assistance. Remaining questions regarding its size and composition, location and funding, should be resolved in the short term.

The European Union cannot sign and ratify the Arms Trade Treaty since only Members States can be parties to United Nations treaties. However, the European Commission was mandated by the Council to negotiate some of the provisions of the Arms Trade Treaty that fall under the exclusive competence of the Union, i.e. within the scope of the Commercial Policy.

Subsequently, the current proposal for a Council Decision seeks to authorise the Member States to ratify the Treaty with respect to the matters falling under the exclusive competence of the Union. This decision does not cover those elements of the Arms Trade Treaty that may fall under Union’s competence under the CFSP.

• [1]  Formally launched by the UN General Assembly resolution entitled “Towards an arms trade treaty: establishing common international standards for the import, export and transfer of conventional arms” adopted on 6 December 2006.
• [2]  In particular the Council Common Position of 8 December 2008 defining common rules governing control of exports of military technology and equipment.

OPINION of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (16.1.2014)

for the Committee on International Trade

on the draft Council decision authorising Member States to ratify, in the interests of the European Union, the Arms Trade Treaty
(12178/2013 – C7‑0233/2013 – 2013/0225(NLE))

Rapporteur: Krzysztof Lisek

SHORT JUSTIFICATION

The EP welcomes the UN Resolution A/67/L.58 adopting by overwhelming majority the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), after long negotiations culminating in a legally binding instrument of the highest standards to regulate and improve the international trade in conventional arms.

The ATT is establishing the first global regulation of legal trade of arms, it will prevent illegal trade of weapons, international terrorism and organized crime and limit serious violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law.

The EU exports are under the 2008 Common Position which sets up rules and standards to be followed, as one of the major actors in this field therefore, the EU is directly concerned with the success of the ATT: as it not only establishes a level playing field for this trade but, more important, regulates a commerce of the kind of weapons most used in local wars, terrorist attacks or civil and other uprisings.

The main strong point of the ATT is that State Parties are obliged to establish a national control system for these transfers and to evaluate, before authorising any transfer, the risk that these arms could impair the peace and security or could be used to commit serious violations to international humanitarian law or human rights or to commit acts of terrorism. It is also important that not only trade of arms, but other acts such as rental, licensing, grants, transfers of relevant technology also fall under the prohibition.

One of the stumbling blocks could be the narrow scope of some provisions of the ATT.

However, the treaty itself provides for its potential for improvement due to its revision clause.

******

The Committee on Foreign Affairs calls on the Committee on International Trade, as the committee responsible, to propose that Parliament give its consent.

RESULT OF FINAL VOTE IN COMMITTEE

Date adopted	16.1.2014
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	43 0 1
Members present for the final vote	Hiltrud Breyer, Elmar Brok, Jerzy Buzek, Tarja Cronberg, Susy De Martini, Mark Demesmaeker, Michael Gahler, Marietta Giannakou, Ana Gomes, Anna Ibrisagic, Liisa Jaakonsaari, Tunne Kelam, Paweł Robert Kowal, Eduard Kukan, Vytautas Landsbergis, Ryszard Antoni Legutko, Krzysztof Lisek, Ulrike Lunacek, Marusya Lyubcheva, Willy Meyer, Francisco José Millán Mon, María Muñiz De Urquiza, Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck, Norica Nicolai, Pier Antonio Panzeri, Ioan Mircea Paşcu, Alojz Peterle, Bernd Posselt, Hans-Gert Pöttering, Cristian Dan Preda, José Ignacio Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra, György Schöpflin, Werner Schulz, Sophocles Sophocleous, Davor Ivo Stier, Charles Tannock, Eleni Theocharous, Geoffrey Van Orden, Sir Graham Watson, Boris Zala
Substitute(s) present for the final vote	Charalampos Angourakis, Kinga Gál, Helmut Scholz, Ivo Vajgl

RESULT OF FINAL VOTE IN COMMITTEE ()

Date adopted	21.1.2014
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	29 0 0
Members present for the final vote	Laima Liucija Andrikienė, Maria Badia i Cutchet, David Campbell Bannerman, Daniel Caspary, María Auxiliadora Correa Zamora, Christofer Fjellner, Yannick Jadot, Metin Kazak, Franziska Keller, Bernd Lange, David Martin, Vital Moreira, Paul Murphy, Godelieve Quisthoudt-Rowohl, Niccolò Rinaldi, Helmut Scholz, Peter Šťastný, Robert Sturdy, Henri Weber, Jan Zahradil, Paweł Zalewski
Substitute(s) present for the final vote	Catherine Bearder, Béla Glattfelder, Syed Kamall, Elisabeth Köstinger, Katarína Neveďalová, Tokia Saïfi, Peter Skinner, Jarosław Leszek Wałęsa