Brussels, 18/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - Following the attacks in Paris on 13 November, the Commissioner for the Single Market, Elzbieta Bienkowska, in coordination with the Commissioner for migration policy, Dimitris Avramopoulos, announced on Wednesday 18 October a raft of restrictive measures on the acquisition of firearms in the European Union, also in order to guarantee better traceability.
“We have been working flat out on the project for a month”, the Commissioner said, stating that her objective was to secure European legislation which is both tougher and more harmonised. The Commission announced the revision of the directive on firearms (2008/51/EC) on the basis of an assessment of the implementation of the directive carried out previously in the context of the REFIT programme.
The Commissioner announced a series of measures, the first of which covers neutralised weapons, the sale of which will be subject to tougher rules. “They are not just pieces of metal, but firearms”, she said, before adding that in the past, deactivated weapons have been used in terrorist attacks. Bienkowska therefore plans to: - broaden the scope of application of the directive to collectors, who will in future have to obtain authorisation before acquiring a collector's weapon; - ban certain semi-automatic weapons (category B) for individuals, even deactivated ones; - ensure better traceability of firearms through common marking rules; - lay down common criteria for alarm weaponry, such as distress signals and starter pistols, to avoid any modifications which could render them lethal; - prevent individuals from buying or selling firearms or parts thereof over the Internet, reiterating that one of the weapons used in the Paris attacks had been built out of separate parts bought legally over the Internet; - lastly, improve the exchange of information between the member states on refusals of authorisation to hold firearms. “Somebody who has been denied authorisation to acquire a firearm in one member state must not be able to get hold one in another”, she stressed.
The Commission has also pledged to present an action plan to fight illegal trafficking in weapons and explosives, focusing on the black market, controls on external borders and the fight against organised crime. Admittedly, the control of trafficking in weapons is a national competence, the Commission states, but the cross-border dimension of this trafficking allows the Commission to intervene to facilitate coordination between the police and intelligence services, particularly in controls on imports.
In this framework, the Commission intends to support the member states in order to step up their cooperation with the Balkan states. This point will be discussed at a meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs ministers of the EU and of the Western Balkan countries on 7 December, on the basis of the EU-Balkans action plan to fight the illegal trafficking in firearms, which has been in place since 2013.
The plans were sent to the member states last week and were adopted today in comitology, the Commissioner added.
“Once again, the Commission is barking up the wrong tree”, said Filippo Segato, secretary general of FACE, the European Federation of Associations for Hunting and Conservation, when contacted by EUROPE. He regrets the fact that the institution is seeking to restrict access to weapons instead of declaring war on illegal trafficking. “Terrorists didn't go shopping and they did not apply for authorisation to procure their weaponry, they helped themselves on the black market mainly”. Additionally, the ban on new weapons seems inappropriate. The weapons used in the attacks, mainly AK-47s, are already banned, and those targeted by the Commission are not used by terrorists, as they are too cumbersome. He feels that the Commission sought a quick reaction and tabled a project which was initially supposed to have been presented in 2016. He also regrets the fact that his association was not consulted in this framework. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)