EU Statement

Arms Trade Treaty

Informal Preparatory Meeting for the Tenth Conference of States Parties (CSP10)

Geneva, 16-17 May 2024

Mr. President,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union.

The candidate countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Republic of Moldova[1] and Georgia align themselves with this statement.

Agenda item 2: Progress reports of ATT subsidiary bodies

a) Working Group on Effective Treaty Implementation (WGETI)

The EU would like to express appreciation to Ambassador Christian Guillermet Fernández of Costa Rica for chairing the Working Group, and to Ms. Grisselle Rodriguez of Panama and the ATT Secretariat for facilitating the work of WGETI sub-working groups.

With regard to Sub-Working group on articles 6 and 7, the EU commends the progress of the work on the Voluntary Guide and welcomes draft Chapter 3, which concludes the work on the current version of the Guide. The EU supports the adoption of the Guide as a voluntary living document during CSP10. We also support the initiative to continue discussing issues concerning the practical implementation and application of Articles 6 & 7 in the WGETI Sub-working Groups, as appropriate.

With regard to Sub-Working Group on Exchange of National Implementation Practices, the current draft working plan is a realistic base for future engagements. CSP10 should consider calling on all States Parties to submit responses to the practical implementation questions, preferably well ahead of the meeting, in order to form a solid basis for conclusions. The deliverables should be practical, to ultimately constitute a focused guidance to supplement the existing Voluntary Basic Guide to Establishing a National Control System, and designed to serve the aim and purpose of the ATT.

With regard to Sub-working Group on Current and Emerging Implementation Issues, we welcome that the role of industry in responsible international arms transfers, as well as the role of conventional arms in gender-based violence (GBV), were identified as topics to be explored further. Industry has broad relationships both with governments for licensing of arms transfers, and with end users throughout life cycle of arms and ammunition. While only States are legally bound by Treaty provisions, industry also has a distinct and complementary role regarding responsible business conduct including through the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Recognizing the role of industry and the private sector in the arms trade is important to pursue discussion within the Treaty and assure its effective implementation. While inter-agency cooperation is complex, and governmental-industrial cooperation adds to that complexity, the exercise launched by the Republic of Korea CSP9 Presidency needs to continue and to deliver. Moreover, protecting women and girls from GBV has long been a vital priority for the EU in all disarmament fora. Sharing national practices in GBV risk assessment and prevention will facilitate knowledge exchange and spark initiative for other States and groups to engage in similar practices, hopefully setting strengthened common standards for the future.

To sum up, the European Union expresses its support to all recommendations within the remit of WGETI as presented in the meeting documents.

b) Working Group on Transparency and Reporting (WGTR)

Further to the ATT Secretariat presentation at the Working Group meeting in February, the EU expresses its deep concern  for the low rate of reporting, which is the lowest recorded since the ATT came into force.

We reiterate the call upon all States concerned to share, at the ATT forum or bilaterally, the details of their actual challenges and to the extent practicable, internal issues that hamper reporting, in order that other stakeholders can adjust their assistance to each State delivering on their legal obligations under the ATT. To that end, we also encourage the use of the ATT Needs and Resources Matching Database. We support the adoption by CSP10 of the list of practical implementation questions.

The EU is open to learning about specific needs of States facing reporting challenges to consider them in future outreach planning. The EU reiterates its own commitment to supporting the ATT Secretariat in capacity building for States Parties in reporting, under a dedicated funding instrument created in 2021.

We would like to emphasise the importance of regional contextualisation and the role of regional organisations in incentivising and setting standards in transparency, thereby supplementing the letter and spirit of ATT legal obligations. We encourage States to seek neighbourhood partnerships and peer-to-peer assistance. We stand ready to share EU experiences in the annual reporting of arms exports.

c) Working Group on Treaty Universalisation (WGTU)

The European Union wishes to express appreciation to WGTU Co-Chairs - Ambassador Răzvan Rusu of Romania and Ambassador Seong-mee Yoon of the Republic of Korea for their work. The EU supports all recommendations, including the draft workplan for universalisation efforts, and list of practical questions on national processes and practices.

The EU stands ready to cooperate with ATT Secretariat and WGTU Co-Chairs and to contribute to focussed universalisation efforts on the Asia-Pacific States for a specific period. In that region, the EU already assists Thailand, which is an ATT Signatory State. Decisions to be taken by CSP10 will be an important guideline for the EU as it is planning for a new phase of its ATT Outreach Project, starting in February 2025.

In our own outreach work, we employ both individual and regional approaches, in a number of cases supported by ATT Secretariat, which work hand in hand with our implementing agents. Individually, a comprehensive and effective outreach should include both high-level political dialogue and working-level familiarisation workshops and technical assistance activities for implementing agencies. In the latter area, we would like to emphasise the role of study visits hosted by EU Member States.

The regional approach emphasises the role of neighbouring countries implementing similar controls to bring benefits in real terms in fighting arms trafficking and cross-border organised crime in general, which often could be tackled effectively only by cross-border cooperation and eliminating the legal and operational vacuum. Neighbouring countries are also better placed to provide peer-to-peer advice suited to local conditions, and regional activities serve to create working relationships and trust among counterparts from participating States.

The EU is ready to contribute further to ATT outreach, with a view to seeking synergies and utilising international assistance from multiple sources in the most effective way.

In this regard, we invite all interested States and participants to an online side-event organised on Friday 17 May 2024, 13:30-14:30 jointly by BAFA and Expertise France on ATT Outreach Programme-Phase III, which will give an excellent opportunity to learn more about technical assistance offer for States Parties, Signatories States, and States non-Parties.

Agenda Item 4:

Status of the Working Paper on the priority theme of the Romanian Presidency on Interagency Coordination

The European Union is thankful to the Romanian CSP10 Presidency for taking up the relevant topic of inter-agency cooperation, and the efforts so far in this working cycle. We would like to express support for recommendations in the final part of the informal paper, especially with regard to preparation of elements for interagency cooperation to be included in updated versions of the Voluntary Basic Guide to Establishing a National Control System, and in the document on Reporting Authorised or Actual Exports and Imports, as well as in the form of a dedicated stand-alone voluntary paper to compile best practices. It is also notable that proven forms of intra-governmental communication could be as useful, per analogy, in cross-border cooperation, given many similarities in mandates and licensing procedures.

Thank you, Mr. President

[1] North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.