EU: Annual reports on EU arms exports
29 January 2014
EU Member States' arms exports are regulated by a set of common rules, set out in Council Common Position 2008/944/CFSP. Under the Common Position, the Council is obliged to produce an annual report based on statistics from each Member State. The report and its associated statistical data was published in the Official Journal of the EU on 21 January, covering the calendar year 2012 for conventional arms exports. Statewatch has reproduced the report and the data tables here separately for ease of access.
There are two sets of reports below as the Council has produced two copies of each under different reference numbers. Due to the vast amount of information contained within it has not been possible to check for any inconsistencies between them. The set of reports with the reference number 16607/13 were
put before the Foreign Affairs Council in December, which
subsequently "took note" of them.
The
Council noted in November 2012 following a review of the Common Position that its provisions "continue to properly serve the objectives set in 2008 and to provide a solid basis for the coordination of Member States' arms export policies," and that "further progress is achievable in the implementation of the Common Position and in order to maximise convergence among Member States in the field of exports of conventional arms."
In January 2012, a
paper for the EU Non-Proliferation Consortium noted that:
"Despite these efforts at the EU level, states continue to maintain final control of all aspects of arms exports licensing, leading to ongoing differences in how states licence arms exports as well as in their decision making on transfers to particular end-users and destinations."
Reports on EU arms exports
16607/13
Fifteenth Annual Report according to article 8(2) of Council Common Position 2008/944/CFSP defining common rules governing control of exports of military technology and equipment and COR 1
ADD 1: Albania-Ecuador
ADD 2: Egypt-Latvia
ADD 3: Lesotho-Singapore
ADD 4: Slovakia-Zambia
ADD 5: Per destination embargoed
ADD 6: Per region
ADD 7: Worldwide
ADD 8: Exports to UN and international missions, brokering licences, consultations, implementing legislation/rules, promotion of arms trade control and Arms Trade Treaty, Member States' national information websites
17747/13
Fifteenth Annual Report according to article 8(2) of Council Common Position 2008/944/CFSP defining common rules governing control of exports of military technology and equipment
ADD 1: Albania-Ecuador
ADD 2: Egypt-Latvia
ADD 3: Lesotho-Singapore
ADD 4: Slovakia-Zambia
ADD 5: Per destination embargoed
ADD 6: Per region
ADD 7: Worldwide
ADD 8: Exports to UN and international missions, brokering licences, consultations, implementing legislation/rules, promotion of arms trade control and Arms Trade Treaty, Member States' national information websites
Further reading
Official Journal of the European Union: Fifteen Annual Report according to Article 8(2) of Council Common Position 2008/944/CFSP defining common rules governing control of exports of military technology and equipment (pdf)
Council Common Position 2008/944/CFSP of 8 December 2008 defining common rules governing control of exports of military technology and equipment (pdf)