Council Decision 2005/852/CFSP of  29 November 2005  for the destruction of small arms and light weapons (SALW) and their ammunition in Ukraine
Date: 2005-11-29
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU aid, Ukraine, financial aid, firearms and munitions, weapons' destruction

1.12.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 315/27

COUNCIL DECISION 2005/852/CFSP

of 29 November 2005

for the destruction of small arms and light weapons (SALW) and their ammunition in Ukraine

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

(7)

Having regard to Council Joint Action 2002/589/CFSP of 12
July 2002 on the European Union’s contribution to combating
the destabilising accumulation and spread of small arms and
light weapons (1), and in particular Article 4 thereof,
in
conjunction with Article 23(2) of
the Treaty on European
Union,

Whereas:

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

The European Union therefore intends to offer financial
support to Ukraine in accordance with Title II of Joint
Action 2002/589/CFSP. Adequate
this
including by appropriate measures
financial
taken by NAMSA will be assured,

visibility of

support,

In the past Ukraine had a large military industrial
complex, held in the third largest nuclear weapons
arsenal
in the world, and served as a base for the
USSR’s strategic reserves of arms and ammunition.

The European Union shall support

1.
the destruction of
small arms and light weapons (SALW) and their ammunition
in Ukraine.

Article 1

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

Some estimates suggest that Ukraine holds as much as 7
million Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) and 2
million tonnes of ammunition, much of which dates
from the previous world wars. These large quantities of
SALW and ammunition not only represent a huge
surplus in terms’ of Ukraine’s current armed forces
levels but also include large numbers of unserviceable
and hazardous items of ammunition.

The EU-Ukraine Action Plan was adopted by the EU-
Ukraine Cooperation Council on 21 February 2005
and calls upon both parties to jointly address threats
for security, public health and environment, posed by
Ukrainian stockpiles of old ammunition, inter alia, anti-
personnel land mines.

The NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency (NAMSA),
under the terms of the Partnership for Peace (PfP) Trust
is managing a twelve year project aimed at the
Fund,
destruction of 1,5 million surplus SALW and 133 000
tonnes of conventional ammunition to be executed in
four phases.

The European Union considers that a financial contri-
bution to the first phase of
this project would help
Ukraine to reduce the risks related to the accumulation
of large quantities of SALW and ammunition and accom-
modate the level of SALW and ammunition to its current
armed forces levels.

On 18 May 2005 the Parliament of Ukraine ratified the
Convention on the prohibition of the use, stockpiling,
production and transfer of anti-personnel mines and on
their destruction, (Ottawa Convention).

(1) OJ L 191, 19.7.2002, p. 1.

to the NATO Maintenance

To this end, the European Union shall provide financial
and Supply Agency
its twelve year project
the demilitarisation of 400 000 SALW, 15 000

2.
support
(NAMSA) during the first phase of
aiming at
tonnes of conventional munitions and 1 000 MANPADs.

3.

The European Union contribution shall finance:

— purchase and installation of the pollution abatement system

for the explosive waste incinerator,

— demilitarisation of weapons,

— purchase of two furnaces for melting weapons,

— purchase and installation of remotely controlled band saws

for cutting explosive ordnance,

— purchase of a hydraulic press,

— up to 7 % of the direct costs of the project.

the

NAMSA shall procure

installation and
supply,
4.
commissioning of
the necessary demilitarisation and other
equipment from commercial or government entities based in
NATO countries or from those that qualify under the Part-
in addition to
nership for Peace (PfP) Trust Fund policy,
similar entities from EU Member States and Ukraine. Where
appropriate,
include
supply
provision for training to be given to the Ukrainian operators
of the equipment, either in Ukraine or in the country from
which the equipment is procured.

equipment

contracts

shall

L 315/28

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

1.12.2005

Article 2

Article 3

1.
The financial reference amount for the implementation of
the actions referred to in Article 1(3) shall be EUR 1 000 000,
to be funded from the 2006 general budget of the European
Union.

For the purpose of implementing the actions referred to in
2.
the Commission shall conclude a financing
Article 1(3),
agreement with NAMSA on the conditions for use of
the
European Union contribution, which shall take the form of a
grant. The specific financing agreement to be concluded shall
stipulate that NAMSA shall ensure visibility of the European
Union contribution, appropriate to its size.

The Commission shall supervise the proper implemen-
3.
tation of
the EU financial contribution referred to in this
Article. To this end the Commission shall be entrusted with
the task of controlling and evaluating the financial aspects of
the implementation of
this Decision as referred to in this
Article.

The management of

4.
the expenditure financed by the
general budget of the European Union specified in paragraph
1 shall be subject
the
Community applying to budget matters, with the exception
that any pre-financing shall not remain the property of the
Community.

to the procedures and rules of

The Presidency, assisted by the Secretary-General of the Coun-
cil/High Representative for the CFSP, shall be responsible for the
implementation of this Decision and shall report to the Council
on its implementation. The Commission shall be fully associated
in these tasks and in particular it will provide information on
the implementation of the financial aspects. This will be based
on regular
its
contractual relationship with the Commission, as stipulated in
Article 2(2).

to be provided by NAMSA under

reports

Article 4

This Decision shall take effect on the day of its adoption. It shall
expire twelve months after the financing agreement between the
Commission and NAMSA has been concluded.

Article 5

This Decision shall be published in the Official Journal of the
European Union.

Done at Brussels, 29 November 2005.

For the Council
The President

A. JOHNSON