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EU Presidency Statement - Illicit trade in small arms

Mr. Chairman,

I have the honour to take the floor on behalf of the fifteen Member States of the European Union. The Central and Eastern European countries associated with the European Union, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, the associated countries of Cyprus, Malta and Turkey, and the EFTA country of Iceland, align themselves with this statement.

The EU has asked for the floor to give some comments on what we have accomplished during this session in the PrepCom, and some views on our future tasks, in particular the third session of the PrepCom.

Before doing so, the EU would like to touch upon the overarching reason for our concerns regarding the small arms issue, by placing our endeavours into a larger context.

There are no accurate statistics about the suffering caused by small arms, but those commonly quoted are:

• over 500 million small arms are in circulation
  
  
• 8 out of 10 casualties in recent armed conflicts have been civilians, many of them women and children (approx. 25 per cent).

Even if figures vary, it is clear that we have to take action now to tackle this very serious problem. The general public in all our countries expect us to act.

Most deaths and casualties related to small arms occur in conflicts, but we should not discount the number of killings in the course of criminal and terrorist acts.

Let us not forget the threat that small arms pose to the safe and effective operation of UN and other personnel engaged in development assistance, peacekeeping, and humanitarian efforts world-wide. We owe it to them to reduce that threat.

In addition, we should not forget that the proliferation of small arms has a negative effect on efforts to achieve social and economic development.

Mr. Chairman,

The discussions over the last two weeks have clearly shown that we all agree that the illicit trade in small arms needs to be stopped. Also, there is now a better understanding of the various aspects of illicit trade, such as for example those regarding national controls on legal production, and good stockpile management. Indeed, the pertinent resolution of the General Assembly (54/54V) mandated this forum to look at the problem in all its aspects. Let me briefly illustrate the relevance of these "aspects" for dealing with illicit trade effectively.

Nearly all small arms in circulation have been produced legally, often by established and well-known manufacturers, and have subsequently been sold through legal channels. In other words, almost all small arms originate from legal sources. The problem starts further down the chain, when weapons are diverted through less scrupulous trading, through theft etc. Hence, there is a fine line between legal and illegal transfers, and one can only restrict the number of small arms getting into the illegal circuit by strict measures to keep them in legal hands. That is the reason why we need measures for marking and traceability of small arms, record-keeping , export criteria, information exchanges on transfers, standards for safe storage and stockpile management etc.

To deal effectively with the illicit trade in small arms, we have to adopt measures both to prevent small arms from entering the illegal circuit, and to remove existing illegal weapons through collection and destruction etc. In other words, we need a comprehensive approach in dealing with the small arms problem in all its aspects. The conclusion is that that the illicit trade in small arms cannot be tackled effectively without addressing issues pertaining to legal production, transfer etc.

I would like to underscore this conclusion with one further remark. "Illicit", or "illegal", is defined by the virtue of what is "legal". Arms that are not legal are, by consequence, illegal. States must therefore ensure that relevant legislation governing the flow of legal weapons is in place, and implemented. Without this, we would be ill equipped to tackle the flow of illegal small arms.

Some measures have to be taken at the global level, but most practical actions need to be taken on the national, sub-regional and regional levels.

We should bear in mind that even though the small arms problem is global in scope, it takes different expressions in different regions, making it necessary to find solutions adapted to regional conditions. Efforts to tackle the small arms problem have indeed already been undertaken in different regions of the world. We can learn from regional experiences, and we should build on them as we now prepare for the Conference.

At the international level, we should add those measures that need a global solution. It is the opinion of the EU that such measures should include global standards for export control and criteria, transparency, promotion of cooperation and assistance, as well as measures to deal with surplus, tracing, financing, transportation, and brokering.

The EU is of the opinion that the basis for our actions should be the fundamental principles of the UN Charter.

Mr. Chairman,

The EU is very pleased that the PrepCom for the first time has engaged in substantive discussions on the Programme of Action to be adopted by the Conference. We have agreed on a common basis for discussion, that is your constructive draft Programme of Action contained in document L.4, and we now look forward to receiving your revised draft as soon as possible before PrepCom III.

It is true that our discussions on this document have been intensive and have reflected a wide range of views. Still, I feel confident in saying that our proceedings have been conducted in a good, non-confrontational manner, which bodes well for our future work.

During this PrepCom session we also managed to make progress on the procedural issues, notably by reaching a solution as regards decision-making. We regret that we have not yet reached agreement on NGO participation, but we are confident that we will do so on the basis of the normal practice for UN conferences, as established by ECOSOC.

The EU welcomes the opportunity given to NGOs to address the PrepCom, as we believe that the NGO community represents vast knowledge and provides a considerable amount of experience regarding the problems of small arms. We listened with great interest to their presentations this morning, and we look forward to the continued participation of NGOs in PrepCom III and in the Conference itself. The EU counts on their active participation in the implementation of the Programme of Action.

The EU is also pleased that the PrepCom will involve relevant UN organs and the Bretton Woods institutions in the preparatory process. We listened with interest to the useful statements of the UNDP and UNICEF yesterday.

Mr. Chairman,

Turning now to the future. The third and final session of the PrepCom in March is just around the corner. In our view, we should organise our work so that we can agree, to the greatest extent possible, on a draft Programme of Action to be forwarded to the Conference for adoption.

The EU has put forward its own ideas for concrete measures in document PC/21. We will continue to press for them, and to elaborate on them as necessary, taking into account the many valuable contributions by other delegations.

As regards outstanding procedural issues, the EU reaffirms its support for the candidacy of Sir Michael Weston for the chairmanship of the Conference.

The EU is aware of the fact that we have a challenging task before us, and therefore we need an effective organisation of work in March.

The EU would suggest commencing the next PrepCom with a brief session in which general remarks on the latest version of the Chairman's draft Programme of Action could be given. After that, as soon as possible, we would like to enter into discussions on the draft, small section by small section. We also look forward to further input from UN organs and other institutions at the beginning of the next session. In particular, we would like to hear about their experiences from specific projects that they are or have been involved in.

In order to facilitate the work at PrepCom III, you have invited delegations to submit written comments on the revised version of L.4 before the next PrepCom. The EU will certainly do its utmost to do so.

Let me end this intervention by once again congratulating all delegations on the progress made and the atmosphere attained during this session, hoping that we by this have set course for future success in our endeavours. In particular, I would like pay tribute to you, Mr. Chairman, for providing the substantive basis for our work, and for your calm and professional conduct of business.

Thank you.

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• EU Presidency Statement - Illicit trade in small arms  (8/1/2001)