Brussels, 03/01/2001 (Agence Europe) - The second annual report on the application of the EU's Code of Conduct for Arms Exports (adopted in June 1998) notes (for translation see OJ 379) that the Code of Conduct's second year of operation brought further progress, particularly by a sizeable increase in the number of arms export refusals notified by Member States, which (see I. Balance sheet) "confirms the will" of the Member States to "put a new transparency into practice" and take more coordinated action in this connection. In a table annexed to the report (published in the Official Journal C 379), notified refusals for conventional arms exports reached and take more coordinated action in this connection. In a table annexed to the report (published in the Official Journal C 379), notified refusals for conventional arms exports (from 1 January to 30 June 2000) reached 46 in France, 13 in Belgium, 12 in Italy, 9 in Germany, 7 in Austria, 6 in the Netherlands, 2 in Spain and Finland, 1 in Denmark. From June 1999 to July 2000, there were 15 refusals for the United Kingdom, and for 1 January 1999 to June 2000 there were 2 refusals for Portugal. The report also highlights that the Council of the EU has been able to draw up a common list of military equipment the export of which will be monitored and notified as stipulated in the Code (the list is constantly updated by the COARM group on conventional arms exports) and that Member States have agreed to give greater details on the notified refusals.
The report also outlines the guidelines to be promoted in the near future, concentrating on the following areas: - finalising a common list of non-military security and police equipment; - extending the exchange of information on national policies concerning countries or regions requiring particular vigilance; - harmonising national annual reports on the application of the Code; - coordinating the positions of the Member States in multilateral areas; - promoting the idea of the Code to third countries.