Regulation (EU) 2025/41 on import, export and transit measures for firearms, essential components and ammunition, implementing Article 10 of the United Nations Protocol against the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms, their parts and components and ammunition, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (UN Firearms Protocol) (recast)

What it is

to update EU rules on the import, export and transit of firearms for civilian use. PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council. ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council. BACKGROUND: it is estimated that 35 million illicit firearms were owned by civilians in the EU in 2017 (56% of the estimated total of firearms). According to those estimates, illicit firearms outnumber legally-held firearms in 12 EU Member States. The Committee on International Trade adopted the report by Bernd LANGE (S&D, DE) on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on import, export and transit measures for firearms, their essential components and ammunition, implementing Article 10 of the United Nations’ Protocol against the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms, their parts and components and ammunition, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (UN Firearms Protocol) (recast). The committee responsible recommended that the European Parliament's position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the proposal as follows: The Commission and competent authorities granting the export authorisation should carry out regular post-shipment checks, not only in case of suspicion but also randomly to ensure that the exported firearms, their essential components and ammunition are in line with the commitments made in the export certificate as set out in Annex IV. The amended text stressed that customs authorities should suspend the import of the goods for the customs procedure concerned, if they have certain reasonable doubts and in such a case, they should inform immediately, through electronic means the competent national authority, which should take the decision on the treatment of the goods. If the national competent authority does not reply to the customs authority within 20 working days (as opposed to 10 working days proposed by the Commission), then the customs authority should release the goods without delay. Where customs authorities discover an illicit shipment of firearms, their components, ammunition or alarm and signal weapons, they should without delay and no later than two working days from that discovery inform the competent authority in the country of the customs authority thereof. To increase transparency, Member States should submit to the Commission via suitable confidential means, each year by 31 July, their national annual data for the preceding year on the number of authorisations and refusals and the reasons thereof, the quantities and values of actual imports and exports of firearms, their essential components and ammunition, by category and sub-category as listed in Annex I, by origin and by destination, the quantity and results of post-shipment checks at Member State level, the quantity and results of undertaken enforcement actions at Member State level. Members stressed that the Commission should without delay establish and maintain an electronic licensing system for import…

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