12/12/2006 (Agence Europe) - Meeting on 11 December, the Council adopted conclusions on the proposal on an international arms trade treaty. The Council welcomed the formal launch of the process to draw up a legally binding international arms trade treaty with the adoption on 6 December by the United Nations General Assembly of the resolution: “Towards an arms trade treaty: establishment of common international standards for the import, export and transfer of conventional weapons”. The Council expressed its satisfaction that a clear majority of UN Member States, among which all the EU Member States, had approved the resolution. In particular, it welcomed that in the resolution measures, the General Assembly called on the UN Secretary General to seek the views of Member States on the feasibility, scope and broad thrust of a legally binding, global instrument and to set up a group of governmental experts to examine these issues, beginning in 2008. The Council reaffirmed that the EU and its Member States would play an active role in this process. (oj)