Discussions have been taking place on a joint British and French proposal for a European Union code of conduct based on the eight agreed common criteria for some months now. Political agreement was reached on the text of the code at the General Affairs Council yesterday.
Ireland has long advocated the adoption of measures to ensure the effective implementation of the EU common criteria in line with our objective of the promotion of restraint and responsibility in transfers of conventional arms and technologies for military use. Under the Irish Presidency in 1996 some initial elements of interpretation of particular criteria and some practical measures for application of the criteria for internal use by arms export licensing authorities was agreed.
During the negotiations for the EU code of conduct, our primary objective was to ensure the code's credibility as a promoter of restraint and responsibility. To be credible, the code needed to contain clear unequivocal language on human rights. Throughout the process, Ireland advocated the strongest possible language on human rights consistent with the importance we place on human rights in our foreign policy.