The European Commission believes there is room for improvement in the ‘firearms’ directive, including the creation of a European firearms register, a senior Commission official told MEPs in the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO) on Monday (8 November).
Presenting the report on the implementation of the Directive (whose transposition into national legislation remains problematic - EUROPE 12821/7), Mr Olivier Onidi, Deputy Director General of the European Commission’s DG for Migration and Home Affairs (DG HOME), welcomed the progress made since the adoption of the text, such as the introduction of licensing of dealers and couriers and the setting up of national registers in all Member States. The 2017 revision also improved the classification of weapons by reducing them to three categories, banned semi-automatic weapons and improved the regulation of potentially dangerous weapons (such as alarm pistols and other recreational weapons).
But there is room for improvement, according to the senior official. These improvements are of three types and relate to - mutual recognition of licences and numbering of weapons; - harmonisation of firearms storage practices; - the issue of exemptions for certain categories of firearms.
In the long term, the European Commission wants to improve the export and import regime for firearms, he said. An initiative should be presented during the 2022 course. The institution also wants to better harmonise the registration of weapons to ensure greater consistency between Member States and, consequently, improve traceability.
Mr Onidi emphasised the need to digitise procedures, particularly for firearms licences. In his view, we need to harmonise and move towards a digital European register. “The first and most important lesson we have learned from the Covid certificate experience is that Europe can do it”, he told MEPs. Mr Onidi stressed the need for better enforcement of 3D printing rules. Printing firearms is illegal, but too many companies are still doing it, mainly because of a lack of knowledge of EU rules, he said.
The Firearms Directive was revised as a matter of urgency after the 2015 Paris Bataclan attacks, leading to heated debates between co-legislators (see EUROPE 11683/8) and angering some Eastern Member States (see EUROPE 12527/30). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)