Council Decision 2010/765/CFSP of 2 December 2010 on EU action to counter the illicit trade of small arms and light weapons (SALW) by air

11.12.2010 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 327/44
COUNCIL DECISION 2010/765/CFSP
of 2 December 2010
on EU action to counter the illicit trade of small arms and light weapons (SALW) by air
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
,
Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in particular Article 26(2) thereof,
Whereas:
(1) On 13 December 2003, the Council adopted a European Security Strategy identifying five key challenges to be faced by the Union: terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, regional conflicts, State failure and organised crime. The consequences of the illicit manufacture, transfer and circulation of small arms and light weapons (SALW) and their excessive accumulation and uncontrolled spread are central to four of these five challenges.
(2) On 15-16 December 2005, the Council adopted the EU Strategy to combat the illicit accumulation and trafficking of SALW and their ammunition (EU SALW Strategy). The EU SALW Strategy promotes the development of a policy for actively combating illicit network trafficking in SALW (illicit brokers and carriers) using the Union’s air, sea and land space, by devising alert and cooperation mechanisms.
(3) The Action Plan of the EU SALW Strategy also underlines the need to improve the impact of missions of crisis management by including in their mandate measures aiming at the establishment of border controls (or control of the air, land and sea space of the conflict zone) and disarmament.
(4) The EU Council Working Party on Global Disarmament and Arms Controls (CODUN) and the EU Joint Situation Centre (SitCen) have, since 2007, developed an EU initiative to hinder illicit trafficking of SALW by air transport, by enhancing the exchange, among Member States, of relevant information on suspected air-carriers. In establishing such a system of exchange of information, CODUN and SitCen have been collaborating with the Stockholm International Peace and Research Institute (SIPRI) and its Countering Illicit Trafficking – Mechanism Assessment Project (CIT – MAP). Within the framework of this initiative, CODUN recently agreed to consider ways to render this EU initiative more operational and effective, by ensuring the timely updating and processing of relevant information.
(5) The risk posed to international security by the illicit trade of SALW via air was also recognised by other international and regional organisations. The OSCE Forum on Security and cooperation held a special session in 2007 devoted to this topic and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly adopted in 2008 a resolution calling for the completion, adoption and implementation of an OSCE Best Practice Guide on the illicit air transportation of SALW. Similarly, Participating States in the Wassenaar Arrangement adopted in 2007 ‘Best practices to prevent destabilising transfers of SALW through air transport’. In addition, numerous UN Security Council Sanctions Committee Group of Expert reports on West Africa and the Great Lakes region have repeatedly documented the key role played by air cargo companies involved in illicit SALW trafficking.
(6) The action foreseen in this Decision does not pursue any objectives related to the improvement of air transport safety,