Mr. Chair,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

The candidate countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Republic of Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina[1] and the EFTA country Norway, member of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this statement.

The EU would like to express its gratitude to Ambassador Ignacio SÁNCHEZ DE LERÍN of Spain and Mr. Rob WENSLEY of South Africa for their continuous efforts as Chairperson and facilitator respectively. The EU looks forward to continuation of productive discussions on the voluntary guide to implementing Articles 6, 7, and 9 of ATT.

Specifically, with regard to Articles 6 and 7:

While export risk assessments under article 7 remain a national prerogative to be carried out on a case-by-case basis, the exchange of good practices amongst States Parties has significant added value. EU Member States regularly consult on such issues with a view to raising coherence of their arms export policies.

In order to further promote convergence among EU Member States’ arms export policies, the EU has launched in May 2022 an internal and confidential database accessible to all licensing officers from EU Member States. This database contains country pages on all potential export destinations for European military equipment and technology. Licensing officers are able to base their decisions on the information contained in these country pages, as well as on relevant and sometimes confidential national sources. The database supplements the already existing consultation system between Member States and European External Action Service, allowing Member States to, for example, consult on the reasons for denying an export license. The ultimate goal of this tool is to ensure that export licenses are only granted following a thorough risk assessment against the EU common set of criteria regarding respect for international obligations, international humanitarian law, international human rights law, counter-terrorism measures, and internal and regional stability.

With regard to the objectives of the current work of this Working Group, the EU strongly believes that sharing national practices with respect to the implementation of the provisions of the Treaty, will result in its coherent application, and this in turn will raise the overall effectiveness of export controls. Such an approach likewise forms the basis of the EU’s User’s Guide, which is a public document endorsed by the EU Council. The EU therefore reiterates its support for the Chairperson’s objectives to agree on a Voluntary Guide, and encourages all States Parties to work towards its endorsement by the Conference of State Parties.

With regard to Article 9:

Since the concepts of transit and trans-shipment are not uniformly understood in relation to conventional arms transfers, the EU welcomes the preparatory work to provide a voluntary guide, also including EU law. It is essential for States Parties to implement measures that close any loopholes and prevent diversion at each stage of the movement of goods.

Identifying and clarifying the responsibilities of various private sector actors involved in transit and trans-shipment are also crucial for the effectiveness of state control.

More work is necessary at the national legislation level on transit and trans-shipment, where differences persist between States Parties. As a first step, States Parties should develop and share good practices on due diligence, and promote awareness raising and transparency both among States Parties and private sector entities, regarding their duties under various legal regimes and state practices.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Sub-working Group on Article 11

Mr. Chair,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

The candidate countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Republic of Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina and the EFTA country Norway, member of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this statement.

In light of the focus on post-delivery cooperation, the EU emphasizes the importance of this topic for the prevention of diversion within the importing country or re-export under undesirable conditions. Such cooperation should build on the relationship of trust between the exporting and importing state which is necessary for the issuance of an export license, and on a shared commitment to international law, including international humanitarian law and human rights law. The private sector and civil society can have an important role to prevent and address diversion.

The EU thanks the German Presidency of CSP8 for its efforts in promoting this subject. We see merit in sharing best practices on post-delivery cooperation and support the German proposal to consider the necessity to develop additional voluntary guidance on post-delivery cooperation in the CSP9 cycle.

The unprecedented arms transfers from EU Member States to Ukraine, both bilaterally and under the European Peace Facility (EPF), is in itself a massive undertaking for national post-shipment cooperation and highlights a need for post-shipment capabilities at the EU level to the extent possible. These capabilities form a part of safeguard measures to ensure responsible transfers, and their adoption at the EU-level may supplement capabilities of Member States and thus ensure the highest possible standards for preventing diversion.

In its ongoing disinformation campaign, Russia has used the issue of potential arms diversion in its criticism of legitimate military support to Ukraine. While no facts support such claims, this further shows the need of strengthened international cooperation to address diversion as a whole.

The EU welcomes the work of Diversion Information Exchange Forum and invites States Parties to explore ways to include the EU in its confidential work as an observer, given the already mentioned high interest and experience of the EU in preventing diversion and EU’s record of support to initiatives such as iTrace. The EU also could consider the exploration of the possibility of a public component to the discussions of the Diversion Information Exchange Forum, to allow for broader, more inclusive exchanges.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Working Group on Treaty Universalization

Madam and Mr. Co-Chairs,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

The candidate countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Republic of Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina and the EFTA country Norway, member of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this statement.

The EU warmly welcomes Gabon as 112^th State Party and congratulates Andorra, which will become the 113^th State Party on the 2^nd of March.

The EU calls on all States Parties to continue the collective engagement and outreach efforts to non-State Parties, underlining the benefits of joining the ATT, thus contributing to international and regional peace and stability. The EU, as a regional organization and a global actor, continues to address the issue of ATT universalization in the context of EU bilateral dialogues on disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control with third non-State Party countries.

The EU expresses its general support for recommendations presented by Germany, including a switch to multi-year planning, focus on signatory states, regional champions, tailored assistance and enhanced coordination efforts. Many of these working methods are already employed by implementing agencies of the 2021 EU Council Decision on ATT outreach, which also support Treaty universalization.

Thank you, Madam and Mr. Co-Chairs.

Working Group on Transparency and Reporting (WGTR)

Mr. Chair,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

The candidate countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Republic of Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina and the EFTA country Norway, member of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this statement.

Transparency and reporting are key elements leading to confidence-building among States and enabling accountability and scrutiny for arms export decisions taken by national authorities. Reporting is one of the cornerstone obligations of the ATT.

In December the EU has released its Annual Report on EU MS arms exports, with data on the year 2021. The report is also available in the user-friendly public searchable online database on the European External Action Service’s website.

The EU Member States are also working together towards further improvement in the practice of reporting. Last November, the EU adopted its internal good practice paper with elements for developing a national system on reporting actual exports, to serve as a voluntary aid in EU online system for reporting.

The EU once again calls on all States Parties to fulfil their reporting obligations in a timely and transparent manner. We encourage all States Parties to report publicly as an essential way of contributing to the treaty’s aim of transparency on arms transfers. Non-confidential reporting increases the relevance of the reports and facilitates information-sharing on transfer decisions.

The EU recognizes that difficulties in ensuring transparency and reporting are manifold. To assist others in fulfilling their obligations in this field, the EU and its Member States has for multiple years conducted various outreach projects. We remain committed to continue to build capacities through these projects, as well as the EU ATT Outreach Project.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

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