The Committee on International Trade adopted the recommendation for second reading contained in the report by Christofer FJELLNER (EPP, SE), on the Council position at first reading with a view to the adoption of a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 428/2009 setting up a community Regime for the control of exports, transfer, brokering and transit of dual use items.
The committee recommended approval of the Council position at first reading without amendment, as well as approval of the joint statement by the three institutions on the review of the dual-use export control system. It took note of the Commission statements on delegated acts and on reform of the approach to the movement of strategic items.
In the joint statement, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission recognised the importance of continuously enhancing the effectiveness and coherence of the EU's strategic export controls regime, ensuring high level of security and adequate transparency without impeding competiveness and legitimate trade in dual-use items. To this, the three institutions undertook to:
· modernise and ensure further convergence of the system in order to keep up with new threats and rapid technological changes, to reduce distortions, create a genuine common market for dual-use items (uniform level playing field for exporters) and continue serving as an export control model for third countries;
· streamline the process for updating the control lists (Annexes to the Regulation), strengthen risk assessment and exchange of information, develop improved industry standards, and reduce disparities in implementation.
The European Parliament, the Council and the Commission acknowledged the issues regarding the export of certain information and communication technologies (ICT) that could be used in connection with human rights violations and to undermine the EU's security, particularly for technologies used for mass-surveillance, monitoring, tracking, tracing and censoring, as well as for software vulnerabilities.
Technical consultations had been initiated in this respect, and actions continued to be taken to address situations of urgency through sanctions, or national measures. Efforts would also be intensified to promote multilateral agreements in the context of export control regimes.