02/07/2001 (Agence Europe) - On 30 June, last day of the Swedish EU Council Presidency, Council President Anna Lindh published jointly with European External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten, an article in The International Herald Tribune called "Let's Control the Small Arms Trade" . Just one week from the UN Conference on the illegal trade in small arms to be held in New York from 9 to 20 July, Ms Lindh and Mr Patten recall that, over the past decade, small arms have killed over 3 million people (two thirds of whom have been civilians), namely 90% of the casualties of conflict in the world. They also recall several initiatives taken by the EU, such as the Code of Conduct 1998 on arms exports (which also covers commitments on small arms) or the technical assistance to programmes in this field throughout the world (the most comprehensive so far being the EU programme in Cambodia, they stress).