EU Key Messages - Arms Trade Treaty: Working Group on Transparency and Reporting - EU Key Messages

Arms Trade Treaty

Working Group on Transparency and Reporting 

Geneva, 28 February 2025

EU Key Messages

Madam Chair,

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

The candidate countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Republic of Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina[1] and Georgia as well as the EFTA countries Iceland and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this statement.

The EU thanks Ms. Andrea Quezada of Chile for assuming the role of WGTR Chair, and expresses appreciation for her effort to guide the discussion around clear-cut questions.

The EU thanks also the ATT Secretariat for presenting the current status of reporting and expresses its deep concern for the continued low rate of reporting. The EU, as a major provider of assistance in ATT implementation and universalization, stands ready to cooperate with all stakeholders and to build on guidance by States Parties on how to deliver our assistance most effectively. 

Agenda item 2 – Supporting compliance with ATT reporting obligations

Since 2021 the EU has been supporting the ATT Secretariat in capacity building for States Parties in reporting, under a dedicated funding instrument. Present funding secures activities until November 2025. The broader EU ATT Outreach Project, implemented by German BAFA and Expertise France, can also support reporting of partner States, if they request it. In order to achieve best results through cumulative and coordinated assistance from different sources to States Parties in need, the EU remains open for coordination of support activities. We encourage all assistance providers or contributors to liaise with the ATT Secretariat to determine the best allocation of resources.

The EU, in its ATT-related outreach, stresses the importance of regional contextualisation and regional cooperation in confidence-building. A challenge of confidentiality in reporting can be overcome by simultaneous reporting by a group of regional States sharing mutual concerns, thereby offering the same level of transparency in the region. Assistance in reporting should therefore continue to promote neighbourhood partnerships and peer-to-peer assistance, especially the outreach and example provided by regional reporting champions. 

The EU stands ready to reinforce its political support for regional initiatives under the auspices of the ATT Secretariat, and encourages all assistance providers and States Parties which are arms exporters to, or have close political and/or security relationship with the States concerned to do so as well.

An effective action to improve reporting should combine technical assistance and political outreach, in order to address all possible obstacles, including lack of data due to deficiencies in tracking cross-border movement of goods, lack of inter-agency cooperation, lack of political awareness or misperceptions about Treaty obligations.

We need to realistically assume that outreach and assistance in some cases may not result in an immediate submission of a report but rather in identifying obstacles. Such assessment should take a structured, preferably uniform shape for all States concerned, and should become the basis for a process of addressing all deficiencies, building on mutual experiences. This would also contribute to addressing the broader issue of indicators and measurement of implementation and effectiveness of the Treaty. If the country concerned agrees, its progress could be presented at ATT working cycle meetings, in order to encourage others.

Agenda item 5 – WGTR mandate in the period between CSP11 and CSP12

The EU fully supports proposed WGTR mandate for the period between CSP11 and CSP12.

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