Brussels, 11/05/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 11 May, after observing the persistence of many technical obstacles to the revision of the directive on controlling, acquiring and possessing weapons, the Permanent Representatives of the Member States (Coreper II) decided to send the dossier back to the competent workgroups, so that the Dutch Presidency of the Council of the EU could come up with new proposals.
Two sticking points emerged during the discussions - the definition of semi-automatic weapons, and lists of arms exempt from the application of the future directive.
In the view of the Commission formulation, semi-automatic weapons should be banned because they contain a risk of being converted into automatic weapons. According to the communication, whose presentation was rushed forward following the Paris attacks (see EUROPE 11433), semi-automatic weapons equipped with high-capacity magazines present a particularly high risk and in this sense, the Commission is proposing to ban semi-automatic firearms in the current B7 category. The COREPER debates mainly focused on magazine capacity (11 or 20 cartridges) or barrel length. Some semi-automatic rifles can be long or short, as is the case with certain handguns, such as the Uzi whose magazines can contain up to 30 cartridges, explained one source familiar with the dossier.
With regard to the question of the list of weapons exempt for reasons to do with culture (museums, collectors), for example, two groups of member states are beginning to take shape. The first group follows the line advocated by the United Kingdom and would like an exhaustive list of these weapons, whilst the second group would prefer an example list of weapons, which would leave more room for manoeuvre among the member states. Many museums are concerned about the consequences of adopting this directive as it stands and which could possibly have a detrimental impact on European cultural heritage (see EUROPE 11513).
The situation varies significantly from one member state to another. There is one group of states, like the United Kingdom, which supports European legislation that is much more binding than that which already exists (Directive 91/477/EC) and another group, which is requesting a number of robust exemptions. These latter countries include the Czech Republic, which has a substantial small arms industry; Finland, where hunting is very widespread and reservists can keep their weapons and follow military training; and the Baltic countries, which allow weapons to be kept by individuals for defence purposes, particularly with regard to Russia and Scandinavian countries, where weapons can be kept by individuals to defend themselves against polar bears.
The revision of this directive will be particularly hard, explained another observer, who underlined the technical complexity of subjects focusing on barrel length, magazine capacity and firearm component parts. The same source also indicated that the Parliament was currently involved in a thorough modification of the Commission proposal, favouring an approach based on the intrinsic characteristics of firearms rather than on their appearance (see EUROPE 11497). In addition, the dossier could also take another turn in the event of a Brexit because the United Kingdom has a particularly hard line on this dossier.
A group of experts will be meeting on 13 May to examine the subject. An ad hoc group known as the Genval group will also be meeting on 19 May in an effort to unblock the dossier. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)