Directive 91/477 on control of the acquisition and possession of weapons

Djupanalys 01-02-2016

Since its entry into force, the Firearms Directive has been broadly successful in facilitating the free movement of firearms within the internal market and, at the same time, in ensuring a high level of security for EU citizens. Yet, some difficulties became apparent, notably as concerns the security aspects of the Directive. The 2008 revision intervened mainly on this front, also requiring the Commission to issue guidelines on deactivation standards 'to ensure that deactivated firearms are rendered irreversibly inoperable.’ The current proposal for an amending directive again aims at reinforcing security aspects of the Directive, in view mainly of the findings of the evaluation study and feedback from Member States. The Commission announced the adoption of the implementing regulation establishing common guidelines on deactivation standards and techniques only seven years later, on 18 November 2015, together with its proposal for amending the Firearms Directive.As regards procedural aspects, it is to be noted that no impact assessment accompanied the Commission proposal, which would appear to constitute a departure from the Commission's Better Regulation Guidelines. It is worth noting that, at the time of writing, there is an on-going public consultation (invitation to provide feedback) launched by the Commission on its proposal, which remains open until 1 February 2016.