US embassy cable - 05BRUSSELS283

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 000283 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/20/2015 
TAGS: ETTC, PARM, PREL, CH, EUN, USEU BRUSSELS 
SUBJECT: EU/CHINA ARMS: TEXT OF DRAFT EU "TOOLBOX" FOR 
POST-EMBARGO COUNTRIES 
 
REF: REIDHEAD/SUCHAN ET. AL. E-MAIL 1/14/05 
 
Classified By: USEU Poloff Van Reidhead for reasons 1.4 b/d. 
 
1. (S) Poloff was given a confidential EU reporting cable 
containing the current draft of the not-yet-agreed EU 
"Toolbox" for post-embargo countries.  Full text of the draft 
is in para 2.  Council and Member State contacts report that 
the French are close to agreement on this draft, which has 
already been agreed by the other 24 Member States.  Along 
with the strengthened Code of Conduct on arms exports (which 
is also still under discussion pending resolution of 
reportedly "minor" UK reservations), and a political 
declaration of intent, the Toolbox is intended to restrain 
European arms sales to China after the EU lifts its arms 
embargo.  As currently drafted, the Toolbox has seven 
provisions that would commit EU governments to a program of 
enhanced transparency and consultation with regard to arms 
sales to countries emerging from EU embargo status.  It is 
intended for inclusion in the Code of Conduct User's Guide 
(available at http://ue.eu.int/cms3 fo/ 
showPage.asp?id=248&lang=en&mode=g).  The Toolbox does not 
ask EU governments to consult prior to issuing arms export 
licenses, and it does not give any state veto authority over 
any other. 
 
2. (S) BEGIN TEXT OF TOOLBOX: 
 
(a) "Tool box" describing procedures to be applied upon the 
lifting of an embargo, for inclusion in the User's Guide 
 
"Upon lifting an arms embargo, Member States will apply the 
following set of procedures for a given period. Member States 
can agree as appropriate under the actual circumstances to 
cancel the application of individual procedures at any time. 
 
1) Member States might make a statement clarifying that even 
though the embargo had been removed, the criteria in the EU 
Code of Conduct fully apply. 
 
2) Member States will hold regular consultations at expert 
level (COARM, the Working Party responsible for the region in 
which the country is situated, HOMs in the capital) on 
national arms exports policies vis-a-vis the country in 
question, and consult at Council level in the event one or 
more Member State consider a major change of its national 
policy; Such consultations could cover which, if any, 
criteria in the Code of Conduct were of particular relevance 
in considering 
proposed exports to the country emerging from the embargo and 
discussion of any equipment of particular interest in 
relation to that country; 
 
3) Member States will notify each other on a confidential 
basis of licences issued for arms exports to the country in 
question on a three-monthly basis. The provisions for the 
protection of denial notification information would apply 
strictly to such information. The information elements to be 
provided are: 
 
-Date of Issue of the Licence 
 
-Short Description of Goods 
 
-Item Number on the EU Common Military List 
 
-Quantity 
 
- Stated End-Use 
 
-End user Name and Address (Level of detail to be decided) 
 
4) Member States agree to exchange information on any arms 
exports licences granted for the country in question over the 
previous five years. The information should include: a short 
description of the goods (with their matching control list 
number), stated end-use, end-user (specifying whether the 
buyer is a government agency, (border) police, army, navy, 
air force, paramilitary force or whether it concerns a 
private entity, or giving the name of the entity directly) 
and the date on which the licence was issued. This 
information would enable Member States to gain better insight 
in each other's export policies under the embargo and to 
measure changes in total EU exports after the embargo has 
been lifted; 
 
5) Member States will review the notified denials made in the 
last three years concerning the country in question which are 
solely based on criterion l(a) of the Code and state whether 
these denials would have been issued on the basis of other 
criteria, and if so which one(s). The denial notifications 
related solely to the embargo would of course be lifted if 
the embargo were to be removed." 
 
6) It is recalled that Member States will assess licence 
applications for the export of dual use goods to the country 
in question in conformity with Article 8 of Council 
Regulation (EC) No. 1334/2000 as last amended (the Dual Use 
Regulation). 
 
7) It is understood among Member States that this set of 
procedures will only apply for a limited duration to arm 
exports to countries which were previously subject to an EU 
arms embargo and should not set a precedent for the general 
implementation of the code of conduct. 
 
The Secretariat will ensure the issue, as soon as possible, 
of a revised version of the User's Guide, containing the 
above, "tool box". 
 
END TEXT OF TOOLBOX. 
 
McKinley 
 
.