EU Joint Action on Small Arms

European Union Joint Action on Small Arms

On 17 December 1998 the Council of the European Union adopted a Joint Action intended to make a contribution to combating the destabilising accumulation and spread of small arms and light weapons (Joint Action of 17 December 1998 (1999/034/CFSP).

Joint Action of 12 July 2002 (2002/589/CFSP), which replaced the 1998 Joint Action, extended the document's provisions to ammunition for small arms and light weapons.

The Council has published annual reports on the implementation of the Joint Action:

First Annual Report (2001) (pdf)
Second Annual Report (2002)(pdf)
Third Annual Report (2003)  (pdf)
Fourth Annual Report (2004)  (pdf)
Fifth Annual Report (2005)  (pdf)

A Joint Action is legally binding on the member states though it is implemented through national laws and procedures. For example, an individual or corporate legal person could not be prosecuted on the basis of violating the Joint Action. The Joint Action is indefinite in duration and can be modified or removed by the Council of Ministers. In cases of imperative need arising from changes in the conditions that led to the adoption of the joint action individual member states may introduce national measures outside the framework of the joint action. However, in these cases they must have regard to the principles underpinning the joint action and refer their national measures to the European Council.

In the Joint Action the measures related to export controls are not presented as an end in themselves. These export policy measures are seen as contributing to the achievement of three principles:

• to combat and contribute to ending the destabilising accumulation and spread of small arms;
• to contribute to the reduction of existing accumulations of these weapons to levels consistent with countries legitimate security needs, and
• to help solve the problems caused by such accumulations.

1. legitimate self-defence;
2. preserving domestic order;
3. supporting international operations.
   

The importing countries are mainly responsible for determining the scope of their legitimate security needs. However, importing states are encouraged to develop a series of confidence and security building measures to try and ensure that their national decisions are not incompatible with regional and sub-regional security.

Whether these stated needs are in practice legitimate will be decided by each EU member state in the process of deciding whether to approve or deny the individual authorization to export. This determination will be made using the respective national export control procedures.

The Joint Action applies to categories of small arms and light weapons listed in an annex to the document. The categories refer to military-style weapons and not to other types of firearms, for example those developed and produced for civilian or sporting use.

Under the Joint Action only states are considered legitimate end-users. Article 3(b) includes a commitment by exporting countries to supply small arms only to governments -- either directly or through duly licensed entities authorised to procure weapons on their behalf. The sale of military-style small arms to sub-state or non-state groups is not permitted and the European Union member states have renounced this form of military assistance as an instrument in their foreign and security policy.

The Joint Action also enables the EU to provide financial and technical assistance to address the problems caused by existing accumulations of small arms and light weapons.

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Any reproduction of text and data is authorized only by permission, SIPRI March 2004.