Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons - Group of Governmental Experts - Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems

Characterisation of the systems under consideration in order to promote a common understanding on concepts and characteristics relevant to the objectives and purposes of the Convention

Mr. Chairman,                                                                                                            

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.

The EU and its Member States do not consider non-autonomous systems such as automated, remotely operated, and teleoperated systems to be LAWS. While a working definition on LAWS would bring further clarity to our debate, we recognize the difficulty in trying to agree on such a definition. Nevertheless, we should maintain our efforts to find further common ground on the concept and characteristics of LAWS, pursue further discussions on the issue of human control and identify and agree a set of common principles. Further discussions should address, inter alia, how to ensure compliance with international law, including International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law, of emerging weapons systems with increasingly autonomous functions.

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