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Process Status
Below is a schedule of the next steps of the process, with a first estimate of the related timing.
• December 2015 – discussion of the proposal at a meeting of the Council of the EU
• January 2016 – discussion of the proposal within the Parliamentary commission
• February 2016 – presentation and analysis of amendments
• March 2016 – negotiations at all levels
• April 2016 - voting of the Parliamentary commission
• May 2016 – final discussion at the Council
• June 2016 - foreseen approval by Council and Parliament
Main threats for the Industry
The text presented by the Commission includes proposals that, if approved, could create serious problems to the industry.
• The main concerns are related to the introduction of new types of firearms in the list of prohibited products (Category A), namely demilitarized semi-automatic firearms and those resembling automatic weapons.
• Furthermore, alarm and signal weapons, as well as replicas and blank firearms are added to Category B, which requires specific authorization instead of a simple declaration.
• The requests regarding the marking of essential parts and the deactivation procedure could create misunderstandings and must be further defined and specified in order to be realistically applied.
Furthermore, the general risk is that any decision taken on the basis of emotions and under the pressure of the public opinion will disproportionately damage our business.
Position of the Industry
A Position Paper of the European Industry has been agreed among the Associations of our field and is being used as common reference for the ongoing actions in defence of our field. To read the position paper, please click here.
In the meantime, all the other European Associations (users, distributors, collectors) have taken a strong stand against the proposal with reference to the points specifically penalising the activities and interests of their members.
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