The inter-institutional dialogue on the firearms directive on Tuesday 25 October delivered slight political progress on the issue of medical checks and on information exchange between member states. Both the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, however, are refusing to give any ground on the categories of banned firearms.
The point on medical checks prior to obtaining or renewing a firearms licence is of capital importance for the Parliament. It wants this point to be compulsory (“shall”) whereas the member states would prefer it to be optional. Following this latest meeting, MEPs said they would be prepared to accept “establish a monitoring system” being replaced by “have in place a monitoring system” if the member states agreed to “shall”. The member states fear that the term “establish” might force all countries, including those that already have a medical monitoring system in place, to set up new monitoring arrangements.
The Slovak Presidency will now put this latest form of words to the member states, “knowing that the Parliament text gives the member states considerable latitude on the practical arrangements for the medical checks”.
On exchanging information on firearms between member states (for example, on purchase or trade-in), the European Parliament says it is prepared to accept the Council proposal. The member states have suggested information exchange as part of the internal market information system (IMI) provided for in Regulation 1024/2012 on administrative cooperation through the IMI system.
However, there has been no movement on the thorny issue of the categories of banned firearms – in particular, certain semi-automatic firearms. The proposal has aroused the ire of hunters and sports shooters (see EUROPE 11587), who argue that any such ban would apply to arms that have hitherto been held legally. The debate was postponed until the next meeting, which is scheduled for 15 November.
The political issues that remain to be settled are numerous. Until recently, eight major points remained outstanding (see EUROPE 11645). According to a source, several political points have been transferred to the technical negotiations (marking, data filing, and the issue of collectors and museums), which will be discussed on Friday 28 October. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)