EU Key Messages - Arms Trade Treaty: Working Group on Treaty Universalisation
Arms Trade Treaty
Working Group on Treaty Universalisation
Geneva, 27 February 2025
EU Key Messages
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, 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 WGTU Co-Chairs Ambassador Foradori of Argentina and Ambassador Rusu of Romania for presenting an overview of the universalization activities which they have undertaken and for all efforts made in that regard.
The EU welcomes ratification of the Treaty by Colombia, which last month became the 116th ATT State Party. Colombia has been a partner State in the EU ATT Outreach Project, and the EU is continuously assisting Colombian authorities in preparations for effective implementation of the Treaty.
More generally, the EU and its Member States continue to actively pursue ATT universalisation through the EU Outreach Project implemented for over a decade by German BAFA and Expertise France with currently 22 partner States in various regions, and in bilateral dialogues. One focus area for the 3rd phase of the ATT Outreach Project in 2021-2024 was cooperation with signatory States: Comoros, Malaysia, and Thailand[2], which notably also coincides with geographic focus on Asia-Pacific endorsed by CSP10. Activities under this phase ended last month and will be followed by the next, 4th phase starting in the coming weeks and expected to cover activities until early 2028. We plan to coordinate closely this three-year project with the ATT Secretariat from the outset. We invite all other interested stakeholders to engage with the Secretariat or with the EU implementing entities to join efforts and expertise, in particular to create comprehensive ATT profiles of target States, to understand their needs and national and regional challenges. The EU also looks forward to working together with WGTU chairs and regional universalization champions, regional organizations, and civil society in areas where our focus converges.
With regard to Asia-Pacific, we are well aware that barriers to ATT universalization are to a large extent political, including: reservations and scepticism due to difficulties in reconciling the ATT with national security interests, and a need for closer political oversight over ratification progress in the case of ATT signatories. Hence, we consider political outreach as an important part of universalization efforts in the region.
We also encourage all actors to heed the request to inform the Secretariat well in advance about their planned efforts in order to better coordinate and mutually reinforce all actions. It is also important to share assessments of challenges and drivers of success in target States. When available, we should also share such knowledge within this Working Group.
[1] North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.
[2]Other partners of ATT-OP III – IV (all already States Parties to ATT): Botswana, Benin, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cote d’Ivoire, Ecuador, Guyana, Kazakhstan, Liberia, Madagascar, Mexico, Philippines, Peru, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Zambia.