EU Council adopts new rules for trade of dual-use items

The EU will soon be equipped with a new regulation setting up a Union regime for the control of exports, brokering, technical assistance, transit and transfer of dual-use items; these are goods, software and technology that can be used for both civilian and military applications.

On May 9th, 2021, The German presidency of the Council and European Parliament representatives reached a provisional political agreement on such topic: the agreement now needs to be endorsed by member states’ ambassadors sitting on the Permanent Representatives Committee (Coreper); Parliament and Council will then be called on to adopt the proposed regulation at first reading.

The EU’s current export control system for dual-use items has been in place since 2009; the new regulation strengthens controls on a wider range of emerging dual-use technologies, and the coordination between member states and the Commission in support of the effective enforcement of controls throughout the EU. By introducing due diligence obligations for producers, the new rules also give companies an important role in addressing the risks to international security sometimes posed by dual-use items.

https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/PE-54-2020-INIT/en/pdf