Germany (on behalf of the European Union)

[Original: English] [30 April 2007] Common reply of the European Union to General Assembly resolution 61/77 on transparency in armaments 1. The General Assembly, in operative paragraph 7 (a) of its resolution 61/77, requested Member States of the United Nations to provide the Secretary-General with their views on the continuing operation of the Register of conventional arms and its further development and on transparency measures related to weapons of mass destruction. 2. The Member States of the European Union continue to consider transparency in armaments as an important instrument in building confidence and security between States. The Register of conventional arms is an important, concrete and effective measure in this respect. 3. The Register provides data on international arms transfers of those categories of conventional arms which are potentially destabilizing when accumulated excessively. It serves to enhance transparency, build confidence and promote better understanding among states. The Member States of the EU are committed to securing the widest possible participation in the Register to improve its effectiveness. In this context, contacts of the Union with non-participating States in support of securing wider participation have shown that only in exceptional cases non-participation is motivated by disagreement with the concept embodied in the Register. 4. The Member States of the European Union welcome all efforts to further strengthen the role of the Register in the field of conventional arms control. In this respect, the EU reiterates the broadening of the scope of the Register in 2003 by lowering of the reporting threshold of artillery systems from 100 mm to 75 mm, and the inclusion of Man-Portable Air-Defence Systems as a subcategory under the existing category of Missiles and Missile Launchers. 5. The Member States of the European Union welcome the consensus report of the 2006 Group of Governmental Experts, the recommendations therein and the decision of the United Nations General Assembly to adapt the scope of the register accordingly. The 2006 Group of Governmental Experts has built on the achievements of the 2003 Group, whose work paved the way for the first expansion of the scope of the Register. 6. In 2006 again, a broadening of the scope of the Register has been established, which entails three important developments. Firstly, it has been agreed that international transfers of conventional arms involving only Member States of the United Nations should be reported to the Register. Secondly, the notification commitment regarding the sixth category of the Register has been extended. This will result in a wider information exchange on warships and submarines, including all naval vessels under the threshold of 500 metric tons that are armed with missiles and/or torpedoes with a range of at least 25 km. Thirdly, the 2006 Group of Governmental Experts has developed an optional standardized form for notification of transfer of small arms and light weapons. Earlier resolutions on transparency in armaments already called on Member States of the United Nations to provide additional information on transfers of small arms and light weapons, using definitions and reporting measures they deemed appropriate. However, with the reference in resolution 61/77 to the optional standardized form, notification on these kinds of weapons will be more accessible to States willing to do so. 7. The Member States of the European Union thus express their hope and expectation that the existence of the optional standardized form will make more States submit small arms information to the Register in the coming years. As the Secretary-General expressed in his note transmitting the report of the Group of Governmental Experts in August 2006, the European Union believes this result marks a step towards overcoming the lack of transparency in the area of small arms and should also help in combating illicit trafficking of th