Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 March 2004
192 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs his proposals to advance the case for stricter controls on small arms through international fora in which he participates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8394/04]
View answerIreland is fully supportive of the principle of having strict controls on small arms and is working within the European Union to address the need for such controls. The export of arms from EU countries must conform to the EU code of conduct on arms exports which establishes criteria to control such exports. Ireland was actively involved in the establishment of this politically binding code which lists the factors to be taken into account when deciding whether to allow an export of military goods. These include respect for human rights, the internal situation in the country of final destination, and the preservation of regional peace, security and stability. Discussions are under way during our EU Presidency on the possible reinforcement of the status of the code of conduct, for example, by its transformation into an EU Common Position, which would be legally binding. Ireland supports such a reinforcement of the code.
The European Council adopted a joint action on the EU's contribution to combating the destabilising accumulation and uncontrolled spread of small arms and light weapons in July 2002 which is concerned primarily with enhancing efforts by EU member states to build consensus in the relevant regional and international fora, such as the UN and the OSCE, to prevent the further accumulation of small arms and to ensure that the EU's arms controls are as effective as possible. More recently, the European Union adopted a Common Position on arms brokering, in June 2003, requiring member states to introduce ad hoc legislation to control the activities of brokers. Ireland has contributed within the framework of the OSCE in developing best practices guidelines which will provide useful common standards in this area. The OSCE published a handbook of best practices on small arms and light weapons last December. Work is ongoing within the OSCE on issues such as end-use certificates, brokering and man portable air defence systems. Ireland will continue to participate fully in this forum and other international fora to promote the objective of strengthening arms controls globally.
There is widespread recognition in the global community that illicit trading of small arms must be addressed in a multilateral context. In July 2001, the United Nations convened a conference on small arms to consider how this could be most effectively addressed. A programme of action to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects was agreed at that conference. The programme of action is a politically binding document which includes measures for implementation and international co-operation and assistance and provides a procedure for follow-up, including biennial meetings to assess progress in implementation. The first such biennial meeting took place in New York in July 2003 and focused on the presentation of national experiences in the field. A review conference will take place in 2006.
Ireland also welcomes the recent recommendations of a UN group of experts on the feasibility of a multilateral instrument to enable states to identify and trace, in a timely and reliable manner, illicit small arms and light weapons. The first substantive discussion by the working group established to examine this issue will take place in New York in June. In our EU Presidency capacity we must prepare and co-ordinate the EU positions for this session. While the nature of such an instrument will be the subject of negotiation, we together with our EU partners, have stated our preference for a legally binding measure.
