European Parliament resolution on small arms and light weapons, with a view to the 2006 Review Conference on the United Nations Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All its Aspects, and towards the establishment of an International Arms Trade Treaty
Date: 2006-06-15
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: UNO, action programme, arms trade, firearms and munitions, illicit trade, international law, non-proliferation of arms

C 300 E/496

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

9.12.2006

Thursday 15 June 2006

P6_TA(2006)0274

Small arms

European Parliament resolution on small arms and light weapons, with a view to the 2006 Review
Conference on the United Nations Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the
Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All its Aspects, and towards the establishment of
an International Arms Trade Treaty

The European Parliament,

— having regard to its previous resolutions of 15 March 2001 (1), 15 November 2001 (2), 19 June 2003 (3)
and 26 May 2005 (4) on combating the proliferation and misuse of small arms and light weapons
(SALW),

— having regard to its previous resolution of 17 November 2005 on the Council's Sixth Annual Report
according to Operative Provision 8 of the European Union Code of Conduct on Arms Exports (5),

— having regard to the EU Programme for Preventing and Combating Illicit Trafficking in Conventional
Arms of 26 June 1997 (6), 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 (7), to Council Common Position 2003/468/CFSP of 23 June 2003 on the control of arms
brokering (8) and to the EU Strategy to combat illicit accumulation and trafficking of SALW and their
ammunition as adopted by the European Council on 15 and 16 December 2005 (9),

— having regard to the conclusions adopted by the General Affairs and External Relations Council at its
meeting of 3 October 2005 expressing EU support for an International Arms Trade in the framework
of the United Nations that would establish binding common standards on the global trade in conven-
tional arms (10),

— having regard to the United Nations Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit

Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All its Aspects as adopted in July 2001,

— having regard to the Second United Nations Biennial Meeting of States to Consider the Implementation
of the UN Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and
Light Weapons in All its Aspects, held on 11 to 15 July 2005,

— having regard to the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2005 of the
International Instrument to Enable States to Identify and Trace, in a Timely and Reliable Manner, Illicit
Small Arms and Light Weapons (11),

— having regard to the entry into force on 6 July 2005 of the 2001 Protocol against the Illicit Manu-
facturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition (the ‘UN Fire-
arms Protocol’) (12),

— having regard to the UN Review Conference on the UN Programme of Action, scheduled to take place
between 26 June and 7 July 2006, and to the need to make a full success of that conference and its
follow-up,

— having regard to Rule 108(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

(1) OJ C 343, 5.12.2001, p. 311.
(2) OJ C 140 E, 13.6.2002, p. 587.
(3) OJ C 69 E, 19.3.2004, p. 136.
(4) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2005)0204.
(5) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2005)0436.
(6) Adopted by the General Affairs Council of 26 June 1997.
(7) OJ L 191, 19.7.2002, p. 1.
(8) OJ L 156, 25.6.2003, p. 79.
(9) Council of the European Union, 5319/06, 13 January 2006.
(10) Council of the European Union 2678th meeting, Luxembourg, 3 October 2005.
(11) A/60/463 (L.55) decision, 8 December 2005.
(12) Protocol adopted in May 2001 by General Assembly resolution 55/255.

9.12.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 300 E/497

A. welcoming the growing international support for a legally binding International Arms Trade Treaty to
ban transfers which risk undermining human rights or international humanitarian law, which threaten
the stability of countries or regions or which are likely to contribute to the outbreak or escalation of
armed conflict,

Thursday 15 June 2006

B. whereas the illegal arms trade supplies terrorist and drugs trafficking organisations; whereas it leads to
destruction and imposes its code of death and corruption; whereas it supports organised crime respon-
sible for hijackings, acts of violence and the undermining of public safety; whereas it supplies inter-
national terrorist organisations seeking to impede democracy and exalting dogmatism and intolerance,

C.

D.

E.

F.

G.

H.

reaffirming its concern about the ongoing proliferation of SALW, which cause unnecessary human
suffering, exacerbate armed conflict and instability, facilitate terrorism, undermine sustainable devel-
opment, good governance and the rule of law and contribute to grave violations of human rights and
international humanitarian law,

affirming its determination to strengthen the UN Programme of Action and to further engage govern-
ments to agree upon binding provisions to control SALW (including brokering and transfers) through
international, regional and national legislation; strongly supporting the call for international financial
and technical assistance to be made available as laid down in paragraph 6, section III of the UN Pro-
gramme of Action,

convinced that the time is ripe for the international community to tackle the proliferation and misuse
of SALW through binding international standards that are based upon full respect for international law,
including human rights and international humanitarian law,

concerned about the exclusion of ammunition and explosives from the International Instrument to
in a Timely and Reliable Manner, Illicit Small Arms and Light
Enable States to Identify and Trace,
Weapons, as well as by the non-legally binding nature of the instrument,

regretting further the slow process of the UN broad-based consultations on combating illicit brokering
of SALW as well as the absence of a commitment to negotiate a legally binding international instru-
ment on arms brokering,

stressing that the UN Programme of Action requires states to assess applications for export authori-
sations according to strict national regulations and procedures that cover all SALW and which are
consistent with the existing responsibilities of states and the relevant international
law, taking into
account in particular the risk of diversion of these weapons into the illegal trade,

I.

convinced that the appropriate integration of SALW reduction and control strategies has to become an
integral part of international programmes aimed at conflict prevention and post-conflict peace building,

J. welcoming and supporting the ongoing campaigning efforts of civil society organisations,

1.
Calls on the State Parties to the 2006 UN Programme of Action Review Conference to agree a set of
global principles on arms transfers, consistent with their existing responsibilities under international,
regional and national laws, including a requirement not to transfer weapons that are likely to contribute
to human rights violations or crimes against humanity or that foster regional or national instability and
armed conflict;

2.
Urges the international community to start negotiations on an International Arms Trade Treaty within
the United Nations directly after the 2006 UN Programme of Action Review Conference in order to estab-
lish a legally binding instrument to regulate arms transfers as described in the previous paragraph;

C 300 E/498

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

9.12.2006

Thursday 15 June 2006

3.
Calls on the states participating in the 2006 Review Conference to address the humanitarian and
development dimension of the UN Programme of Action, emphasising the importance of the interrelation-
ship between trafficking, proliferation and misuse of SALW and development, poverty reduction and
humanitarian assistance; calls, therefore, for the appropriate integration of SALW programmes and measures
into international, regional and national development and poverty reduction strategies;

Stresses that already existing obligations under international law with respect to arms transfers, spe-

4.
cifically covering human rights and humanitarian law, should be codified;

Calls on all signatories to the UN Firearms Protocol to ratify the protocol and incorporate it into

5.
national legislation without any further delay;

Urges states to make violations of arms embargoes (including financial or logistical support) a criminal

6.
offence under national law;

7.
Highlights the fact that reforms intended to improve the functioning, transparency and accountability
of armed forces as well as law enforcement agencies and criminal justice systems can contribute to a secure
environment where citizens no longer feel the need to possess firearms;

8.
Takes the view that national laws should be enforced to regulate private military and security services
operating overseas and that, where such laws do not exist, they should be developed and applied in order to
improve regulation and accountability over this growing security sector;

Urges all states to incorporate into national legislation the Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement

9.
Officials (1) and the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials (2);

10.

Strongly recommends that governments:

(a) prohibit the unauthorised civilian possession and use of SALW and automatic and semi-automatic rifles

and machine guns;

(b) develop information and exchange programmes between states that wish to cooperate on issues relating

to controlling civilian possession of SALW;

(c)

address the issue of reducing the excessive and undesirable demand for SALW within society and there-
fore promote programmes and measures aimed at reducing that demand, preventing and reducing
urban or rural violence and insecurity and focusing on groups that are specifically affected by SALW
violence;

11.
Urges states, in particular, to develop national legislation for the screening and licensing of SALW and
automatic and semi-automatic machine guns and to prevent gun acquisition by people who have a record of
violence, especially family violence, or have a criminal record for trafficking or violating arms control
regulations;

Urges the State Parties to the UN Programme of Action and the future International Arms Trade
12.
Treaty to develop technical assistance programmes to assist any third state or regional organisations wishing
to develop legislative controls to regulate the arms trade;

Urges the same State Parties to create reporting and monitoring mechanisms in order to support

13.
states in the implementation of their commitments;

(1) Adopted by General Assembly resolution 34/169 of 17 December 1979.
(2) Adopted by the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, Havana,

Cuba, 27 August 1990 to 7 September 1990.

9.12.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 300 E/499

Thursday 15 June 2006

Requests the EU delegation to defend this resolution's principles and recommendations during the

14.
UN Programme of Action Review Conference;

15.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments
and parliaments of the Member States, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Parliamentary
Forum on Small Arms and Light Weapons and the Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

P6_TA(2006)0275

Deployment of the European rail signalling system

European Parliament resolution on the deployment of the European rail signalling system ERTMS/
ETCS (2005/2168(INI))

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the Commission communication to the European Parliament and the Council on the
deployment of the European rail signalling system ERTMS/ETCS (COM(2005)0298) and the accom-
panying Commission staff working paper (SEC(2005)0903),

— having regard to the agreement, known as the ‘Memorandum of Understanding’, signed in Brussels on
17 March 2005 by the Commission and European railway industry associations (CER, UIC, UNIFE,
EIM), which lays down the main principles governing the deployment of ERTMS,

— having regard to Council Directive 96/48/EC of 23 July 1996 on the interoperability of the trans-Euro-
pean high-speed rail system (1) and Directive 2001/16/EC of the European Parliament and of the Coun-
cil of 19 March 2001 on the interoperability of the conventional rail system (2),

— having regard to Decision No 884/2004/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April
2004 amending Decision No 1692/96/EC on Community guidelines for the development of the trans-
European transport network (3),

— having regard to the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council determin-
ing the general rules for the granting of Community financial aid in the field of the trans-European
transport networks and energy and amending Council Regulation (EC) No 2236/95 (COM(2004)0475),

— having regard to the hearing held by the Committee on Transport and Tourism on 24 January 2006, at
which representatives of railway companies, infrastructure managers, and the railway industry came out
unanimously in favour of the deployment of ERTMS,

— having regard to the current programme and the future seventh framework programme of the Euro-

pean Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities,

— having regard to the agreement of 27 January 2004 between the European Rail Community (ERC) and
the European Transport Workers' Federation (ETF) on the European train driver's licence for drivers
assigned to interoperable cross-border services,

— having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

— having regard to the report of the Committee on Transport and Tourism (A6-0183/2006),

A. whereas the present situation, in which there are more than 20 different national train protection and
signalling systems, hampers the development of a fully interoperable European rail system capable of
competing with other modes of transport,

(1) OJ L 235, 17.9.1996, p. 6.
(2) OJ L 110, 20.4.2001, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 167, 30.4.2004, p. 1.