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EU Presidency Statement - UN Security Council Open Debate on Small Arms

United Nations Security Council Open Debate on Small Arms Statement by Ambassador Gerhard Pfanzelter, Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations, on behalf of the European Union.

1. 
   
   
2. I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The Acceding Countries Bulgaria and Romania, the Candidate Countries Turkey, Croatia*, and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia and Montenegro, as well as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova align themselves with this statement.
   
   
3. Substantive progress has already been achieved since the adoption in 2001 of the United Nations Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All its Aspects (PoA). Just a few months before the first Review Conference of the PoA, we welcome this opportunity to address this important subject in the Security Council. I am particularly happy to see you, Mr. President, preside over this meeting since Argentina and the EU share many concerns in this field as well as the conviction that much stronger concerted efforts by the international community are necessary.
   
   
4. SALW still constitute the weapons of choice in the vast majority of conflicts under the consideration of the Security Council. From Côte d'Ivoire, the DRC and Sudan to Haiti, Iraq and Afghanistan SALW are used by militias, armed groups and terrorists to commit the worst atrocities imaginable against civilian populations, disrupt the political processes underway, control the illegal exploitation of natural resources and contribute to the destabilization of whole regions. The easy availability of small arms and light weapons, ammunition and explosives is in itself a fuelling factor for many of these conflicts.
   
   
5. The EU welcomes the continuing emphasis by the Security Council on arms embargos and on the links between the illicit exploitation of natural resources and the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons. However, as evidenced in the reports of the various expert and monitoring groups that are supporting the SC sanctions committees in their work, much remains to be done in order to make this central tool of the SC more effective. Often, the inability to trace arms flows and the lack of appropriate records inhibit the effective execution of the work of these expert groups. Global standards on the marking and tracing of SALW are essential, if we are to understand, track and crack down on the illegal trade in these weapons.
   
   
6. In this regard, the EU regards the adoption by the General Assembly in 2005 of the International Instrument to Enable States to Identify and Trace in a Timely and Reliable Manner, Illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons as a first and important step in the implementation of the PoA. If implemented by states with the necessary political will, the content of the instrument will help to discourage, and thus reduce, the illicit trafficking in SALW as well as aid in implementing UN arms embargos. Unfortunately, provisions on the right of UN Peacekeeping Operations to initiate tracing requests and on ammunition could not be incorporated into the instrument. We hope that the instrument can be strengthend at future review meetings, including by making it legally binding.
   
   
7. With regard to the Secretary-General's recommendations on disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR), we welcome the increased attention paid to this issue by the Security Council and, in particular, to the importance of inter-mission cooperation in DDR. The post-conflict situations in West Africa, where trans-border movements of arms, combatants and illicitly exploited resources are contributing to continued insecurity and instability, are a case in point for the need for cooperation and coherence within the UN system. In this regard, we also look forward to the operationalisation of the Peacebuilding Commission as a forum where the serious small arms problems faced by many countries recovering from conflict can be usefully addressed in an integrated manner. We welcome work done elsewhere within the UN to develop integrated international standards for DDR and look forward to their implementation. The EU is of the opinion that assistance should be provided to conflict-affected countries with the aim of fostering security, disarmament and demobilisation as well as the reintegration of ex-combatants into civil society, taking into account special needs of women and children, as an integral part of post-conflict peace agreements and development strategies.
   
   
8. In order to alleviate the serious impact of the proliferation of illicit SALW on conflict, development and human rights and to tackle the issue in a comprehensive manner, we believe that UN efforts to control SALW have to be intensified, notably through measures on brokering, transfer controls, marking and tracing, end user certification, stockpile management and destruction, ammunition and especially capacity building. In this regard, the EU welcomes the decision to establish a group of governmental experts to study global regulations on brokering. The EU recognizes the close link between illict SALW and their ammunition and the need to find a coordinated response to these issues. The EU encourages the use of minimum common standards in transfer controls including criteria or guidelines to determine whether a proposed transfer of SALW will aggravate conflict, repress human rights or undermine development. Such guidelines can also prevent a shipment from being diverted into the illegal market. The 1998 EU Code of Conduct on arms exports represents one of several examples of agreed regional instruments. Many other regions have adopted their own agreements. We will endeavour to reach substantive progress on all these issues in the framework of the PoA and its Review Conference in June and July this year.
   
   
9. Furthermore, the integration of small arms measures into development assistance must be strengthend. In this respect, we welcome the adoption by the 60th General Assembly of the resolution on "Addressing the negative humanitarian and development impact of the illicit manufacture, transfer and circulation of SALW and their excessive accumulation" (A/Res/60/68). The classification of assistance for small arms control as Official Development Assistance by the OECD-DAC last year allows states to include armed violence prevention programmes in their poverty reduction strategies, and enables donors to provide assistance for SALW control as part of their development co-operation programmes.
   
   
10. Our contribution in this field is based on the EU strategy on SALW and their ammunition (adopted on 15/16 December 2005), which formalises the Union's existing small arms policies. It is a strategy with a global geographic scope and makes several proposals for progress at the 2006 Review Conference of the PoA, including all those mentioned above. The Strategy identifies Africa as the continent worst affected by the impact of internal and cross border conflicts aggravated by the destabilising influx of small arms and light weapons, but the strategy covers Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America as well. The European Union expresses its readiness to continue to provide support, both financial and technical, to governments, NGOs, regional organisations and arrangements engaged in the fight against small arms and light weapons trafficking and misuse, and the elimination of dangerous small arms stockpiles.
    
    Mr. President,
    
    
11. For a few years now, the Security Council has been seized of the matter of SALW, since the Council has recognized that the illicit trade in SALW plays a central role in fuelling conflicts and spreading instability. We welcome the draft resolution under consideration by the Council and commend Argentina for preparing it, since it is a sign of heightened awareness for the issue by the Council. We are confident that the Security Council will continue to pay particular attention to this cross-cutting issue and call on all States to do their utmost to contribute to the fight against this scourge, which is killing thousands of people every day. The EU will continue to play its part in this common endeavour.
    
    

* Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.

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