The Federal Foreign Office welcomes today’s decision by the Council of the European Union to amend the Common Position on the control of exports of military technology and equipment, which is binding for the EU Member States. The amendment is an important step towards creating more consistency among Member States in the sphere of arms exports control.

It is the first time in ten years that an agreement has been reached regarding further development of the Common Position. This effort also involved taking account of new legal obligations, such as those of the Arms Trade Treaty of 2014 or the Dual‑Use Regulation of 2009. Moreover, the new Common Position takes up demands for greater transparency made by the European Parliament and civil society. For example, in future the EU’s annual report on arms exports of the Member States will be made available earlier and in a more user‑friendly format on the European External Action Service’s website.

The German Government will continue to campaign for restrictive, Europe‑wide rules governing arms exports, as well as for greater consistency and transparency regarding the control of arms exports of EU Member States.