EU Statement – 9th Biennial Meeting of States on Small Arms and Light Weapons: Implementation of the Programme of Action: Implementation of the Programme of Action

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

The Candidate Countries North Macedonia, Montenegro*, Albania*, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina* and Georgia, and the EFTA country Iceland, member of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this statement.

Allow me first to congratulate you on your appointment as the Chair of this Meeting of States. The EU commends you, your team, and UNODA for the inclusive and transparent preparatory process carried out over the course of the past months. The EU welcomes your draft outcome document as a good basis for negotiation. You can count on the EU’s support in your efforts towards a meaningful consensual text.

In line with its 2018 Strategy against illicit firearms, small arms and light weapons (SALW) and their ammunition, the EU remains fully committed to preventing and curbing the illicit trade in SALW and their ammunition worldwide, through support for the implementation of global instruments, such as the UN Program of Action (UN PoA), the Global Framework for Through-Life Conventional Ammunition Management, and the Arms Trade Treaty.  Let me use this opportunity to share the relevant developments in the EU actions since the UN PoA Review Conference in 2024:

The EU operates and continuously strengthens its own framework to prevent diversion and illicit trade in SALW and their ammunition through convergent application of the EU legal acts by national arms export control systems of its Member States. In April 2025, the EU Common Position defining common rules governing control of exports of military technology and equipment was amended, following a thorough and inclusive review process, open for views by the civil society, industry, and researchers. Some notable amendments directly translate into goals of the UN programme of Action, such as the obligation of the EU Member States to assess the risk of aggravating conflict, violence, and illegal activities due to the specific nature of the technology and equipment to be exported, in particular with respect to the risk of diversion of small arms and light weapons. EU Member States shall also deny an export licenses if approval would be inconsistent with their commitments under the Global Framework for Through-Life Conventional Ammunition Management. The level of stockpile protection, self-assessed by potential recipient states with the help of the EU-funded Arms and Ammunition Management Validation System (AAMVS) tool, is now recognized in the EU User’s Guide for licensing officers as a relevant factor in assessing diversion risks. 

The EU Council Conclusions on arms export control, a political document adopted in April 2025 to set directions of the EU actions until 2030, also establish a number of tasks contributing to the objectives of the UN Programme of Action, namely:

• First, to continue exploring ways to support the tracing of military technology and equipment for prevention and prosecution of diversion, including through marking arms and tagging of ammunition, employing innovative technical solutions for tracing; continue supporting and work towards further development of the Global Reporting Mechanism on Conventional Arms and Their Ammunition (iTrace). The EU funding for iTrace was extended in March 2026 to cover its operations until 2029. The EU appreciates the willingness of governments to establish cooperation with iTrace on territories of their States and looks forward to seeing its operational benefits.

• Second, to support capacity building of third countries with respect to arms and ammunition stockpiles management.

• And third, the EU encourages willing EU Member States and third countries to explore together cooperation in end-user verification and monitoring as a diversion prevention tool, and work towards developing best practices for Member States.

In addition, the EU emphasizes the importance of appropriate safeguards for the protection of military items from diversion, including SALW and their ammunition, delivered free of charge to third countries under European Peace Facility assistance measures. Such safeguards also include cooperation with recipient countries in establishing and maintaining adequate standards for stockpile management, and post-shipments controls.

The current works of the EU that aim to contribute for the objectives of the UN Programme of Action also include legislative deliberations to seek the harmonization among the EU Member States of definitions and penalties related to firearms-related offences, inter alia trafficking, and to improve data quality and availability to better understand and address such threat. The EU is also exploring ways of supporting digital solutions for secure conventional ammunition stockpiles in the EU neighbourhood, to prevent diversion. 

Chair,

The above-mentioned efforts by the EU and its Member States are driven by the recognition of the acute nature and wide range of threats and challenges posed by diversion, illicit trade and unauthorised use of small arms and light weapons that contribute to instability and armed violence, thwarting sustainable development and crisis management efforts, further destabilising entire regions, the States therein and their societies, fuelling armed violence and organised crime, and amplifying the impact of terrorist attacks.

The EU remains engaged in global and regional actions to prevent the illegal trafficking of arms and ammunition. We continue to support the states of Western Balkans in their efforts to tackle SALW trafficking-related consequences of the armed conflict that ended thirty years ago. This is stark reminder of the longevity of such threats in the absence of an extensive prevention. In this vein, we cooperate extensively with Ukraine to assist in preventing and countering threats of SALW trafficking stemming from the full-scale illegal war of aggression by Russia against Ukraine. The military support by a number of EU Member States is accompanied by strong safeguards to ensure that the equipment is used for the exercise of Ukraine’s legitimate right to self-defence and well protected against diversion. We praise the efforts of Ukraine, appreciate assistance by our international partners: states, international organizations, and civil society, and call upon all actors to take actions in recognition of their shared responsibility. It is also time to recognize the challenges of SALW proliferation in and around Syria after the fall of Assad’s regime and to take collective action to support the government of Syria in addressing them. 

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