Dear Mr. ...,
thank you for your message.
The Green Group in the European Parliament is closely following the revision of the directive on control of the acquisition and possession of arms.
In general, our Group shares the purpose of the current revision, which is intended to improve the safety measures. Although the Commission's proposal was in the time of the terrorist attacks in Paris, a revision would take place in 2015 anyway. However, from our point of view, the attacks, as well as the everyday practice of police security and the fight against crime, show very clearly that the acquisition and possession of weapons in the European Union must be controlled more effectively. The directive provides for stronger registration requirements and partial ownership requirements, which are largely the same in Germany. In some other EU countries, however, this is much more relaxed.
In addition, the Commission is proposing a series of further amendments to close gaps in the existing Directive. This concerns issues such as the deactivation, registration and marking of weapons and ammunition, the trade of weapons on the Internet, and the official exchange of information.
We share the view of the EU Commission that semi-automatic weapons are a significant threat to people's lives. The Commission's proposal is criticized by many stakeholders, in particular hunters and sportsmen, because it prohibits some semi-automatic firearms, but without providing a useful definition of these weapons. Only "similarity" between semi-automatic firearms and automatic weapons is used. We believe there is an urgent need at EU level to define clearly and uniformly which weapons are particularly dangerous. In our opinion, some semi-automatic weapons are so dangerous that they should be banned. This requires precise and objective criteria. On the subject of prohibited semi-automatic weapons, the Green Shadow rapporteur, Pascal Durand, has proposed a clear set of measures.
In May, the Interior and Judiciary Committee, under the leadership of the Swedish Green Party, Bodil Valero, adopted an opinion which was v.a. in the marking of firearms:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/get ... anguage=DEFor your information: Contrary to some reports the negotiations between the Parliament and the Council are not blocked. After the adoption of the IMCO Report in July and of the Council’s General Approach in May, 4 trilogues have taken place, and the last one ended up at the 6 December., with a consolidated text (still to be finalised at technical level) which settles virtually all the key issues.
We understand the concerns voiced by some hunters and sportsmen who are concerned that restrictions on the legal possession and use of weapons could be made within the framework of these activities. This was not the purpose of Directive 2008/51 and is not the objective of its revision. Rather, it is about concrete measures to achieve a greater degree of real security for the entire population.
Best regards
Reinhard Bütikofer
