Berlin

The Parliamentary Forum on Small Arms and Light Weapons in cooperation with the German Bundestag held a Regional Parliamentary Conference on SALW with a specific focus on European states.

Over 30 parliamentarians from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Germany, Argentina, Mozambique, Tanzania, Haiti and the Democratic Republic of Congo attended the two day conference. In addition, Government representatives from Germany and Moldova as well as representatives from NATO, Assembly of WEU, research institutes and civil society also participated.

The problems which arise from the manufacturing of firearms, proper control of exports as well as criteria for granting licenses, stockpile management and the reduction of surpluses is indeed an area where European countries, as well as other developed countries, play an important part. This will undoubtedly have implications on security in various other regions of the world.

The main topics of discussion were:

- Parliamentary response on brokering of small arms

- The Convention on Cluster Munitions

- Stockpiling of Conventional Ammunition

- Model legislation for Europe

The Arms Trade Treaty, the EU “Common Position” on arms control and the Latin American Parliament’s Model Legislation among other where highlighted as particularly valuable tools. Development, implementation and harmonization of national legislation as well as increased awareness raising will be crucial.

In the final session a declaration encompassing all four topics was adopted by the participants.