WRITTEN QUESTION No. 4192/97 by Maria BERGER to the Council. Private ownership of weapons
Date: 1998-01-22
Institutions: BERGER, European Parliament
Subjects: arms control, arms limitation, arms supply, arms trade, civil defence, crime, fight against crime, personal weapon, public safety

C 196/98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

22. 6. 98

Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private
projects  on  the  environment (1),  the  so-called  environmental  impact  assessment  (EIA)  Directive,  lists  in  its
Annex II 3 b as activity (cid:145)transmission of electrical energy by overhead cables(cid:146). According to the EIA Directive
such installations have to carry out an EIA if their impact on the environment is significant which has to be
determined  by  the  Member  States  for  Annex  II  projects.  If  the  Member  State  has  determined  (by  setting
thresholds or criteria on by a case by case examination) that such type of installation should carry out an EIA the
effects  on  different  environmental  media  as  well  as  on  human  beings  have  to  be  identified,  described  and
assessed. In this context, of course, health impacts might play in important factor in the impact assessment.

In Council Directive 97/11/EC of 3 March 1997 amending Directive 85/337/EEC (2) which was adopted in 1997
and  has  to  be  implemented  in  the  Member  States  by  March  1999  at  the  latest,  the  construction  of  overhead
electrical power lines with a voltage of 220 KV or more and a length of more than 15 km was moved from Annex
II of the EIA Directive to Annex I. This means that for projects of this type an EIA will be obligatory as of March
1999.

Given the information currently available, for the Commission there are no legal grounds to take action since it
has not been notified of non-compliance with existing Community legislation.

(1)  OJ L 175, 5.7.1985.
(2)  OJ L 73, 14.3.1997.

(98/C 196/137)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-4192/97

by Maria Berger (PSE) to the Council

(22 January 1998)

Subject: Private ownership of weapons

For some time now there has been a steadily growing number of reports of incidents in the various Member
States  involving  gunmen  running  amok  and  causing  many  deaths.  The  victims  are  of  very  diverse  origin,
different kinds of weapon are used (although most of them are fairly readily available) and the perpetrators are of
very varying types. Such incidents can probably only be prevented if the private ownership (and in particular the
trade in, and the purchase of, weapons for personal use) is subject to uniformly strict EU-wide regulations and
restrictions.

In view of such incidents in the Member States, is the Commission intending to tighten up the EU directive on
weapons?

Answer

(30 March 1998)

As  the  Honourable  Member  will  no  doubt  be  aware,  the  acquisition  and  possession  of  weapons  by  private
individuals is currently regulated by Directive 91/477/EEC of 18 June 1991 (OJ L 256 of 13 September 1991).
Under the Directive, firearms are divided up into four categories: those which are prohibited, those subject to
authorization,  those  subject  to  declaration  and  those  which  may  be  bought  and  sold  without  any  restriction.
Member States are also free to retain or introduce more stringent measures as they think fit. In fact, most of the
Member States have either banned the purchase of firearms by individuals or made it subject to authorization.
The Council has not so far received any Commission proposals for tightening up the law.