Mr. President

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

The Candidate Countries Turkey, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia[1], Montenegro*, Serbia* and Albania*, the country of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidate Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Georgia align themselves with this statement.

Let me start by commending Ambassador Sabrina Dallafior of Switzerland and the three Subgroup Chairs from Australia, Ghana and Sweden for their hard work and skilful coordination of the Working Group on Effective Treaty Implementation.

The EU recalls that the Arms Trade Treaty is a legally binding instrument that must be implemented in its entirety to achieve its objectives, namely to establish the highest possible common standards to regulate international arms trade and to prevent and eradicate the illicit trade in conventional arms and ammunition and prevent their diversion. Our work should contribute to international peace, security and stability, reduce human suffering, and promote cooperation, transparency and responsible action in the international arms trade.

Implementation is a national responsibility in the framework of national control systems that States Parties have to establish and maintain. Multilateral export control regimes and other types of international, regional and sub-regional cooperation can support these efforts. Although States start from different points of departure, with different legal systems, arms trade profiles and administrative resources, they all benefit from an exchange of information and good practices. Frequent information exchange will contribute, over time, to a more uniform understanding of the Treaty requirements and an effective dissemination of proven practices. In this context, we welcome the comprehensive guidance documents provided by the ATT Working Group on Effective Treaty Implementation.

Within the EU, the 2008 Common Position defines common rules governing the control of exports of military technology and equipment of the EU Member States. The EU Common Position has increased cooperation between national export licensing officials by establishing a notification and consultation mechanism for export licence denials. Every request for an arms export licence for an item listed in the EU Common Military List has to be assessed against the eight risk criteria. These include respect for human rights and international humanitarian law also taking into account the risk of gender based violence; internal or regional instability as well as diversion. A similar system of information sharing and good practice is demonstrated by EU Member States in relation to brokering activities.

A number of third countries have officially aligned themselves with the criteria and principles of the EU Common Position, notably Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Georgia, Iceland, Montenegro and Norway. A User's Guide is available online to all interested States Parties.

Mr. President,

The Treaty's core requirement of establishing national control systems and national control lists is new to many States, which underlines the importance of international cooperation, assistance and capacity building. The Voluntary Trust Fund (VTF) remains a key international instrument in this regard.

The EU has a long track record of providing assistance and capacity building in the area of export control.  The German Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Controls (BAFA) and Expertise France (EF) will present the EU Outreach Programme at a side-event on Wednesday 22 August 2018 at 13:15. We will provide further details during the agenda item on international assistance.

The EU looks forward to further cooperation with interested partner countries, civil society, industry and donors in order to promote effective and well-functioning national control systems, coherent with the requirements of the ATT.

Thank you, Mr. President

[1] The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.