FOU, Alm.del - 2011-12 - Bilag 4: Regeringens høringssvar til Kommissionens grønbog om eksportkontrol med produkter med dobbelt anvendelse, fra erhvervs- og vækstministeren

Comments from the Danish Governmentto the Commission’s Green Paperon the dual-use export control system of the European UnionIntroductionThis paper presents the views and reflections of the Danish Government on theCommission’s Green Paper and the questions herein. The Danish Government willprimarily comment on general matters of principle. Stakeholders in the Danish dual-use industry, authorities and NGOs have been heard during the drafting of this paper.The objective of export controls is to prevent potential proliferators from acquiringsensitive dual-use items and to ensure international peace and stability withouthampering legitimate trade. In this respect, export controls exist in a narrow balancebetween security policy considerations and commercial interests.With the current EU dual-use export control system as set out in Regulation No.428/2009, Member States together with the Commission have tried to strike the rightbalance between security policy considerations and commercial interests. Despitethese efforts the need for continued work towards further simplification,harmonisation and coordination remains a challenge.Therefore, Denmark welcomes the Commission’s efforts to further improve EUexport controls by enhancing the industry’s competitiveness and establishing a levelplaying field for all EU exporters while at the same time ensuring a high level ofsecurity and full compliance of international obligations.Globalisation of trade and fast-growing technological development representsignificant challenges to export controls in order to avoid that the system hamperslegitimate trade.A level playing field for EU exportersA series of peer visits took place in 2010 and 2011 in order to allow experts fromMember States to exchange practical experiences and best practices on theimplementation of the dual-use Regulation. The rationale behind the peer visits is that

the system is only as strong as its weakest link since illicit exports are likely to exitthe EU by whichever route offers the best chance of ‘success’.The peer visits revealed a number of discrepancies among national dual-use systems.For example, Member States have various interpretations of measures that must betaken into consideration when deciding whether or not to grant an exportauthorisation. These discrepancies compromise the overall effectiveness of EU exportcontrols and create distortions of trade.The Danish Government holds the opinion that it is desirable to achieve uniform andconsistent application of controls throughout the Union in order to avoid unfaircompetition among EU exporters and to ensure efficiency and effectiveness of thesecurity controls in the European Union.Distortions of trade can only be avoided through intensive cooperation and exchangeof information among EU Member States.Improving consistency of implementation measures across the EUDual-use export control policy has undergone significant development at EU levelover the last few years. This has been largely due to important EU-wide initiativessuch as the setting up of the EU Denials Database, the adoption of the recast dual-useRegulation and the negotiations on new EU General Export Authorisations.Notwithstanding the significant progress made in several other areas of work, it is theDanish view that the practical implementation of export control measures deservesfurther attention.Regulation No. 428/2009 sets out the framework for dual-use export controls withinthe European Union. This framework includes issues such as the types ofauthorisations that can be issued, the use of catch-all controls, cooperation andinformation exchange among Member States, and various consultation procedures.Practical experience has shown that there is an increasing need for more detailedexplanations of how certain provisions of the dual-use framework should beimplemented.In this regard, Denmark welcomes the Commission’s efforts on improving theconsistency of implementation measures taken across the EU by drafting agreedguidelines that should become available toward the end of 2011. These guidelinescould, hopefully, improve certain provisions of the dual-use Regulation and provideguidance on implementation issues. Furthermore, the guidelines could assist industryas well as public authorities with the interpretation of the dual-use Regulation. As an

example, a guideline on the General Note 2 in Annex I of the dual-use Regulationwould be useful as a common EU understanding of the Note 2 is currently lacking.Another welcomed initiative from the Commission is the strengthening of the EU-wide Pool of Technical Experts. From the perspective of a small Member State withlimited resources strengthening the Pool of Experts seems to be not only a logicalnext step but also a necessary step in order to ensure the effectiveness of the overallEU export control system. In this regard, the Danish Government supports the aim ofproviding homogeneous access to technical advice through the strengthening of theEU-wide Pool of Experts. A more structured Pool of Experts could hopefully helpcreate a level playing field by adding to the harmonisation of technical assessments.Risk-driven model for EU export controlsIt is the point of view of the Danish Government that the EU should strengthen theefforts in facilitating trade to close partners and allies. This could be done by eithercreating new EU General Export Authorisations or by widening the scope anddestinations of the existing ones. Another suggestion for simplification should be toreduce the intra-EU transfer controls.By facilitating trade to close partners and allies, Member States can better focus theirresources ensuring the most sensitive items do not end up where they should not. Onthis basis, Denmark is in favour of working towards a more risk-driven model for EUexport controls, where limited resources are invested into controlling the highest-risktransactions in order to keep the most sensitive goods out of the most dangeroushands. Such a risk-driven model will be fully in line with the latest U.S. ExportControl Reform Initiative which aims to build higher fences around a core set ofitems whose misuse can pose a national security threat.Regarding information exchange between licensing authorities it is important tostrike the right balance between information overload and relevant information.Therefore, the degree of detail needs further clarification.It could be useful to explore the possibilities of creating an EU-wide catch-all control,whilst fully respecting Member States’ national security prerogatives. Theresponsibility for deciding on export authorisations should remain with the MemberStates.The aim of the future EU export control framework must be to strengthen Europeansecurity and European competitiveness by focusing on current threats and adapting tothe changing economic and technological landscape.