Actions taken:
The EU and its Member States are convinced that national implementation and enforcement of international humanitarian law and other relevant legal instruments which have an impact on international humanitarian law are of great importance and fall under states’ responsibilities.
In line with the EU guidelines on promoting compliance with IHL, the EU Member States pledge:
– to work towards further participation in the principal international humanitarian law instruments and other relevant legal instruments which have an impact on international humanitarian law by considering ratification of those instruments to which they are not yet all party, including
– the 2006 Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance;
– the Additional Protocol III to the Geneva Conventions;
– The Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict;
– The [First] Protocol to The Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict;
– The Second Protocol to The Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict;
– Protocol V to the 1980 Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects;
– The Convention on the prohibition of military use of environmental modification techniques.
In order to improve implementation of international humanitarian law at national level the EU and its Member States pledge:
– to support states in their efforts to adopt relevant national legislation pertinent to their international humanitarian law obligations.
The EU welcomes the entry into force of the Arms Trade Treaty in December 2014. It promotes its effective implementation, which notably applies to the IHL related provisions of the Treaty by states parties. Against this background, the EU and its Member States pledge:
– to continue its efforts towards effective implementation and universalisation of the Arms Trade Treaty;
– to work for robust and transparent reporting in accordance with the object and spirit of the treaty;
– to fully apply – at its domestic level – the IHL related provisions of the Arms Trade Treaty consistently with its own principles regarding respect for IHL in arms transfers as enshrined in EU Common Position 2008/944/CFSP on arms export control.
The EU and its Member States continued working towards further participation in the principal IHL instruments and other relevant legal instruments that have an impact on IHL.
The first Conference of the States parties to the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance was held on 19 December 2016 and 11 EU Member States participated; one EU Member State ratified the Convention in 2017.
To date, 25 EU Member States are party to the Additional Protocol III to the Geneva Conventions as well as to the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, and 26 EU Member States are party to its First Protocol and its Second Protocol. EU Member States not yet party to these conventions are committed to making further progress towards ratification.
To date, 27 Member States are Party to the Protocol on Explosive Remnants of War (Protocol V) of the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons which may be deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to have Indiscriminate Effects, and ratification by the remaining EU Member State continues to be under active consideration.
22 EU Member States are party to the Convention on the prohibition of military use of environmental modification techniques. Again, EU Member States not yet party to the Convention are committed to consider its ratification.
In order to improve the implementation of IHL at the national level, the EU and its Member States continued supporting third States in their efforts to adopt relevant national legislation pertinent to their IHL obligations. For instance, the EU has actively advocated with the Government of Iraq to accede to and proactively enact Additional Protocol II of the Geneva Conventions, allowing for the full application of IHL in the context of internal armed conflict.
At the national level, some Member States established dedicated units or working groups, for example on the protection of cultural property or worked to strengthen the protection of the Red Cross emblem nationwide, and reviewed their domestic legislation or updated their legal frameworks in order to improve their implementation of IHL. Moreover, EU member states supported initiatives in international fora that acknowledge IHL instruments on the protection of cultural property, such as the Resolution ‘Cultural rights and the protection of cultural heritage’ that was unanimously adopted by the UN Human Rights Council in 2016 and 2018, and the Council of Europe Convention on Offences Relating to Cultural Property.
The EU and its Member States continued to implement Council Common Position 2008/944/CFSP defining common rules governing the control of exports of military technology and equipment. The promotion of effective national arms export controls and the principles and criteria of Common Position 2008/944/CFSP in selected third countries was pursued with the adoption of Council Decision (CFSP) 2018/1013, which secured the follow up to Council Decision (CFSP) 2015/23094.
Since the 32nd Conference, the remaining EU Member States ratified the Arms Trade Treaty. Outreach efforts also significantly increased on universalisation and implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty, and a large number of activities were carried out, for example several regional workshops, study visits and individual assistance events. In addition, further regional outreach activities, tailored national assistance programmes and ad hoc individual assistance workshops were carried out under Decision (CFSP) 2017/915, supporting the Arms Trade Treaty’s effective implementation and universalisation.
Political dialogue meetings on arms export control issues were also held on a regular basis (in 2017 and 2018 with Norway, Canada, the United States and Ukraine). These political dialogues provided a forum for fruitful discussions on matters of mutual interest such as export policies to specific destinations, compliance and control issues and the Arms Trade Treaty process.
The EU and its Member States also played an active part in the Third Conference of States Parties, held in Geneva on 11-15 September 2017, and the Fourth Conference of States Parties, held in Tokyo on 20-24 August 2018.
Several EU Member States made financial contributions to the ATT Voluntary Trust Fund, which supports States in implementing the provisions of the treaty, and encouraged all other States, in a position to do so, to contribute to the Fund. EU Member States also actively participated in the EU’s Arms Trade Treaty Outreach Programme.
