Brussels, 13/07/2016 (Agence Europe) - Compared with the original version, the text on the firearms directive agreed by the European Parliament's Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) committee on Wednesday 13 July has been rebalanced, for example, with regard to medical testing and the ban on semi-automatic arms. It remains, however, less restrictive than the Council position (EUROPE 11572).
Principle points. The text bans semi-automatic weapons if they have been reduced in length to less than 60 cm and if the capacity of the magazine is more than 21 rounds. Initially, the Greens wanted to reduce this limit to six rounds. The ECR and the ALDE shadow rapporteur Dita Charanzova (Czech Republic) opposed such restrictions. The position of Charanzova may be explained by her nationality: in Council, the Czech Republic is in favour of a liberal text. Her position, however, is not that of her group, we have been told. The situation is comparable in the case the GUE/NGL shadow rapporteur Jiri Mastalka, also from the Czech Republic. Lastly, plans to ban magazines containing more than 20 cartridges were abandoned at the request of the EPP.
This position is less ambitious than the Council's, we have been told, the member states having introduced, in addition to the above, bans that vary with the length of the arms, so that some firearms that have a 10-shot capacity can be banned.
With regard to medical testing, the member states have been asked to put in place a monitoring system that comprises medical and psychological tests, contrary to the opinion of FACE, the association that represents hunters (EUROPE 11572). No uniform organisation for the tests has been set and member states have been left room for manoeuvre between continuous or periodical testing.
On the issue of storage, it was ultimately agreed that firearms and ammunition should be stored separately. The proposal places greater or lesser restrictions depending on the types of firearm, their key components and the ammunition concerned, and also during transport. This position is in line with that of the S&D. The EPP shadow rapporteur said, in a previous debate, that the provisions should be removed during transport - but this was not what was adopted.
Change of strategy. Generally, Vicky Ford would seem to have adopted an opening position and not sought to create a “right-wing majority”, an observer told us. She had hoped to be able to put each and every amendment to the vote in order to isolate the positions of the Greens and S&D but ultimately declined to do so. The reason for this could be that the UK Conservative MEP wants to win the strong support of the European Parliament with a view to the inter-institutional dialogues which are likely to begin in September. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)