On Thursday morning 26 January, MEPs adopted (25 votes in favour, 9 against, 2 abstentions) the inter-institutional agreement of last December on the “firearms” directive. This vote thereby puts an end to the long months of heated debates. Even during today’s vote, there was a clear divide between the delegations from the west of Europe, and those from Eastern and Northern Europe.
The overwhelming majority of MEPs in the EPP, S&D and ECR groups supported the text, as did the Greens/EFA. One source from the Greens/EFA explained to us that “The text certainly does not go far enough but it does make some major progress”. The shadow rapporteur speaking on behalf of the Greens/EFA group, Pascal Durand, from France, therefore explained in a press release that the text mentioned the existence of medical examinations for owning weapons, stricter storage measures, identity checks on people acquiring weapons online and the sharing of information between member states on firearm possession.
A great many of the MEPs opposing this measure came from northern and eastern Europe, with the Czech Republic at the head of them, irrespective of the political leanings of the groups in question. Therefore, Dita Charanzová (Czech Republic), shadow rapporteur for ALDE, spoke against the text, claiming it was too restrictive, particularly the ban on certain neutralised firearms. Jiří Pospíšil MEP (EPP, Czech Republic) also voted against, as did Olga Sehnalová (S&D, Czech Republic). This position can also be matched with that of the Czech Republic. The country expressed its opposition to the text at the Committee of Permanent Representatives to the EU (Coreper), arguing that it was inappropriate and too restrictive.
Members who voted against include: Richard Sulík (ECR, Slovakia), Morten Løkkegaard (ALDE, Denmark), Jasenko Selimovic (ALDE, Sweden) and Robert Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (ELDD, Poland). The two ENF MEPs, Marcus Pretzell (Germany) and Mylène Troszczynski (France) also voted against it.
Ivan Štefanec (EPP, Slovakia) and Dennis de Jong (GUE/NGL, Netherlands) abstained.
With this adoption, the text can now begin the final legislative phase and be put to a vote during the March plenary session.
Negotiations on the directive have been far from easy both within the European Parliament political groups (see EUROPE 11572) and during the inter-institutional dialogues, particularly with the Council divided and the Commission on a war footing (see EUROPE 11683). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)