IV. Developments in the European Union’s dual-use and arms trade controls

Chapter:

14. Dual-use and arms trade controls

Source:

SIPRI Yearbook 2020

Author(s):

Mark Bromley

The European Union (EU) is currently the only regional organization with a common legal framework for controls on the export, brokering, transit and trans-shipment of dual-use items and, to a certain extent, also military items. The key elements of this legal framework are EU arms embargoes, the EU Dual-use Regulation, the EU Common Position on Arms Exports (EU Common Position), the Intra-Community Transfers Directive and the Anti-Torture Regulation.¹ Developments in EU arms embargoes are addressed in section II of this chapter. This section focuses on developments with regard to the EU Dual-use Regulation and the EU Common Position, which were both the subject of review processes in 2019. The EU member states and the European External Action Service (EEAS) completed the process of reviewing the EU Common Position in September 2019. However, the review of the EU Dual-use Regulation was ongoing at the end of 2019.