EU Presidency Statement - Report of the Secretary General on Small Arms

Mr. President,

I have the honour to take the floor on behalf of the European Union. The Acceding Countries, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia, the Candidate Countries, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro and the EFTA countries, Iceland and Liechtenstein, members of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this statement.

Mr. President,

The European Union welcomes today's debate and the opportunity to address the subject of small arms two and a half years since the 2001 UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects and a year on from the Council's last debate on this issue.

The European Union worked very actively to achieve a successful outcome from the 2001 Conference and remains consistent, through the political and practical actions of the Union and its member states, in its commitment to the full implementation of the Programme of Action.

The problem of small arms and light weapons worldwide has, unfortunately, not diminished in any significant way over the past two years. Estimates for stockpiles worldwide of small arms vary considerably but recent figures suggest as many as 600 million of these weapons are in circulation. Such statistics demonstrate the scale of the problem.

The death toll from misuse of small arms and light weapons remains dramatic by any standard - perhaps as many as 500,000 people each year. The nature of modern conflicts is such that it is most often civilians who suffer most, with the overwhelming majority of victims being women and children. But the impact on societies of the destruction caused by the misuse of small arms and light weapons is much wider - on victims' immediate families, on livelihoods and, more generally, on the very fabric of societies.

Mr. President,

The problem of the excessive and destabilising accumulations of small arms is a global one, requiring a coordinated response at national, sub-regional, regional and international levels. The response also needs to be comprehensive if we are to address effectively this complex and multifaceted issue, involving, inter alia, factors such as international and internal security, trade, civil-military relations, the role of weapons in societies, human rights and humanitarian concerns, the impact on development.

The Small Arms Survey 2003 puts it succinctly when it says that "the challenge is and will be to develop an adequate conceptual, political and practical framework, within which all relevant dimensions of the problem can be tackled."

Many of the world's conflicts are fuelled by the easy supply and availability of small arms. The ease with which they can be concealed and moved, their relatively low cost, and violations of Council arms embargoes make it extremely difficult to retrieve and remove these weapons from the equation. It makes sense, therefore, to do everything possible to stop their supply at source or to prevent their diversion from legitimate purposes.

The illicit trade in small arms and light weapons is recognised as a primary factor in sustaining conflicts, exacerbating violence, contributing to displacement, fuelling crime and terrorism. Arms control activities, including, in particular, measures to combat the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, remain an essential dimension, therefore, for conflict prevention and resolution, as well as for the success of peace-building efforts.

Therefore, the EU welcomes the Secretary-General's report, in response to the statement of the President of the Security Council of 31 October 2002, on the state of implementation, one year on, of the recommendations originally proposed to the Council by the Secretary-General.

Overall, the balance of the report is positive. It notes where advances have been made, without on the other hand shying away from pointing to areas where progress has been less marked or where a more proactive approach is needed.

Mr. President,

In 2002, the Secretary-General had recommended that the Council might call upon member states to support the development of an international instrument to enable states to identify and trace, in a timely and reliable manner, illicit small arms and light weapons. The European Union warmly welcomes the concrete progress which has been made on this particular point, with the agreement by the General Assembly at this session to establish an open-ended working group to negotiate an international instrument on marking and tracing. The working group will hold its organisational session in early February and we hope that it can hold its first substantive session already before the summer. The European Union strongly believes that a multilateral, legally-binding instrument on marking and tracing would greatly strengthen abilities to tackle issues of illicit weapons flows, illegal traders, and also to curtail their acquisition by those engaged in terrorist activities.

Mr. President,

The EU regards the UN Register of Conventional Arms as a global transparency and confidence-building measure, and welcomes the recent decision taken on expanding its scope. The widest participation by member States in the Register would greatly enhance its value, and the EU therefore reiterates its call on all States to submit timely returns of their imports and exports to the Register, including information on military holdings and procurement through national production.

The EU supports the Secretary-General's recommendation that the Council pursue more vigorously and expeditiously the use of arms embargoes to countries or regions threatened by, engaged in, or emerging from armed conflict and to seek additional ways to promote their effective implementation through enhanced monitoring mechanisms.

Stopping the flow of small arms at source through efforts aimed at preventing their diversion from legitimate purposes implies the implementation and enforcement of national laws and regulations controlling the manufacture, production, import, export, possession, and trade in small arms and also through cooperative efforts at sub-regional, regional and global levels. In this regard, the EU co-sponsored resolution A/RES/58/55 on "Promotion at the regional level in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe of the United Nations programme of action on the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects" at this year's First Committee, which reaffirms the importance of ongoing efforts at the regional and sub-regional levels.

The European Union's code of conduct on arms exports has been in operation since 1998 and we believe that it is a model which can be drawn on in implementing legislation in other jurisdictions.

The EU is currently looking at the elaboration of common national and international standards, which would aim to ensure that legal trade is not diverted into illegal channels and also to limit the excessive accumulation of small arms in areas of existing tensions or armed conflict.

Export controls are an essential tool in helping to curtail illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons. One measure to improve control over the export and transit of small arms and light weapons would be to enhance the effectiveness of end-user certificates. The European Union continues to advocate enhanced international action in this area.

Controls on brokers and on brokering is an area of particular concern and one to which the EU is paying priority attention. Illicit brokering and trafficking are recognised as among the main factors fuelling the illegal trade in small arms and light weapons around the world. I therefore wish to draw the attention of the Council to the adoption by the European Union, in June 2003, of a common position on arms brokering, requiring member states to introduce legislation in order effectively to control the activities of brokers.

In this regard, also, the EU welcomes the General Assembly's decision, in its resolution 58/241, to request the Secretary-General to hold broad-based consultations with all member states, interested regional and sub-regional organisations, international agencies and relevant experts on further steps to enhance international cooperation on illicit brokering in small arms and light weapons. We look forward to the Secretary-General's future report on his consultations.

Mr. President,

The European Union, as a demonstration of its seriousness in implementing its commitments under the 2001 Programme of Action, has allocated assistance totalling approximately 7.7 million euro in the period 2001-2003 to affected countries to help them deal with the excessive and destabilising accumulation of small arms and light weapons. Examples include projects in Cambodia (approximately 4.8 million euro), Latin America and the Caribbean (1.045.000 million euro), Albania (1.370.000 million euro). Additionally, a contribution of 500.000 euro was granted to the running costs of the "Stability Pact/UNDP Regional Clearinghouse on small arms and light weapons" in Belgrade. In May 2003, a financial agreement totalling 2 million euro over a three-year period for a large-scale project implemented by Safer Africa was concluded between the Republic of Tanzania and the European Commission. In addition, Member States of the European Union contribute individually to numerous projects and assistance programmes with the aim of controlling the illicit trade in, and combating the use of, small arms and light weapons, particularly in African countries.

Mr. President,

We appreciate the emphasis placed by the Secretary-General in his report on disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programmes in post-conflict situations and welcome the increased focus by the Council on this issue. Given porous borders in many regions of tension around the world, and the easy portability of small arms, effective disarmament programmes, including weapons collection and disposal, will often require a sub-regional or wider regional approach. We encourage the Council to continue to explore how best to address this regional dimension of the issue.

Thank you, Mr. President.

| Arriba |

• EU Presidency Statement - Conventional Weapons (6/11/2003)
• EU Presidency Statement - Small arms (7/7/2003)