Member States' ambassadors to the European Union (Coreper) could inherit the thorny issue of the export control regime for dual-use goods, i.e. goods that can be used for both military and civilian purposes. At the meeting on Friday 7 December, their intervention could make it possible to finally adopt the Council's common position.
The European Commission's proposal to modernise the Community system for controlling these exports dates back more than two years (see EUROPE 11634). The Commission proposed, inter alia, to provide this regime with a human security dimension in order to prevent human rights violations linked to cyber-surveillance technologies. The European Parliament had adopted its position in January 2018 (see EUROPE 11941).
The European institutions would like to close the file before the end of the legislature and therefore initiate an interinstitutional dialogue on the proposal as soon as possible. But the Council is struggling to define its line and reconcile, in particular, the German and French positions.
In order to speed up the search for a political compromise, the subject was therefore proposed on Coreper's agenda. However, no agreement had been anticipated at the beginning of the week, as bilateral discussions between Member States had not yet been concluded. These include, inter alia, the amendment, by delegated act, of an annex to the proposal.
At the same meeting, Member States will confirm the final compromise text on the Foreign Investment Screening Regulation (see EUROPE 12141). (original version in French by Hermine Donceel)