EU Council Conclusions on an International Treaty on the Arms Trade

Council of the European Union 2678th GENERAL AFFAIRS Council meeting, Luxembourg

The Council adopted the following conclusions:

"The Council acknowledged the growing support, in all parts of the world, for an international treaty to establish common standards for the global trade in conventional arms and, to ensure its success, encouraged all states, regional organisations and multilateral institutions to join the growing international consensus for action in this area.

The Council underlined its support for this principle and agreed that binding standards, consistent with the existing responsibilities of states under relevant international law, would be critical in tackling proliferation which is undesirable and irresponsible and which undermines peace, security, development, and full respect for human rights in some of the most vulnerable parts of the world.

The Council further agreed that the United Nations was the only forum that could deliver a truly universal instrument and called for the start of a formal process at the United Nations at the earliest opportunity.

The Council expressed the belief that the European Union should play an active role in this process, together with like-minded states and regional organisations from different parts of the world. The Council noted that in developing this process due consideration should be taken in respect to other relevant initiatives, including the 2006 Review Conference of the UN Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects."

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• EU Parliament - MEPs deeply worried by WMD arms race (5/10/2005)
• EU Presidency Statement - Small Arms and Light Weapons: Human Development (15/7/2005)
• Déclaration de la Présidence de l'Union européenne - Armes légères (17/2/2005)