Arms export control: Council reviews EU framework strengthening the control and accountability of international arms trade

The Council has concluded today the review of the EU framework for arms export control, by adopting a decisionamending the Council’s Common Position defining common rules governing the control of exports of military technology and equipment, and approving conclusions on the matter. The Council conclusions on arms export control reaffirm the EU’s commitment to responsibleandtransparent trade in arms, to preventing diversion of arms to unintended use by terrorists, criminals and other unauthorised users, and to building convergence of national arms export policies of member states within the framework of the Common Foreign and Security Policy. The Council expresses commitment to continuing the EU’s efforts to promote the universalisation and effective implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) and calls upon the states that have not yet done so, to accede to or ratify the ATT. The conclusions also set the agenda for work in the Council in the coming years on elements supporting responsible trade in military technology and equipment, such as tracing of equipment, end-user verification and monitoring, facilitating exports of equipment jointly developed in the EU, or controls of intangible technology transfers and supporting jointcapacity building. The updated User’s Guide for licensing officers in member states was also adopted as a part of this review. Background EU arms deliveries to Ukraine were one of the factors to drive this review, together with the need to facilitate...