Enforcing European Union Law On Exports Of Dual Use Goods

This report identifies and assesses the role that national law enforcement actors and public prosecutors in the EU member states play in helping prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) by stopping the illicit trade in dual-use items. In the 1980s and 1990s, some EU member states discovered cases of illegal trade in sensitive items for use in, for example, the Pakistani nuclear weapon programme. The report discusses how these cases were dealt with in these countries, using a case study model. Acknowledging that dual-use goods are subject to the free movement of goods within the EU, the report emphasizes the importance of coordinating customs and licensing standards among the EU member states to prevent abuse of the EU market for 'licence shopping'. It also presents the argument for the coordination of prosecution and penalties for offenders. In order to show the level of coordination that is required, the report provides an overview of both the international, EU and national legal frameworks for control of the export of dual-use goods.

The importance of export control laws and regulations in international trade continues to grow, not only because of the increase in world trade and technology dispersion, but also due to concerns surrounding national and regional stability and the risk of terrorism. Accordingly, familiarity with export control laws and regulations around the world has become extremely important for those involved in the international trade of dual-use or military goods, technology, and services. In this preeminent handbook, now in its third edition, two experienced professionals have gathered contributions from expert practitioners and academics. The third edition adds three new country chapters (Brazil, Israel, and Sweden) and a new separate chapter on sanctions and embargoes. In addition to chapters on the international regime in general, the book provides a practical overview of the export/import control regimes covering defence and dual-use goods and services in fourteen key jurisdictions. Country reports each follow the same structure for easy comparison. Issues and topics covered include the following and much more: • import/export legal and regulatory requirements for controlled goods and services; • sanctions for breach of such requirements (civil, administrative, or criminal); • licence application processes; • arms, dual-use and other products embargo (including chemical and biological materials and technology); and • enforcement measures. The Handbook also makes available, through an online application, all important standard export control–related forms, templates, and other related documents, all of which readers can use to draft their own documents. The Handbook is invaluable to any professional (such as lawyers, compliance key players, procurement, logistics, finance and customs practitioners) working in relation to an organisation with a need to know the specific requirements to be followed for the efficient - and legally compliant - import or export of controlled military or dual-use goods, technologies or services.

This book examines how the increasing interdependence between trade and foreign policy can be managed within the legal framework of the European Union. In the context of the legally distinct characteristics of the European Community and the Common Foreign and Security Policy, it analyses the problems underpinning the regulation of three areas: sanctions against third countries, armaments, and exports of dual-use goods. The focus is on whether the constitutional order of the European Union may address these problems while performing a variety of functions: ensuring the consistency and coherence of its external relations, preserving the acquis communautaire and respecting the right of the Member States to conduct their foreign policy as fully sovereign subjects of international law. The book concludes that the interactions between trade and foreign policy may be regulated in a legally sensible and realistic way within the current structure of the European Union. The recent developments regarding the defense and security identity of the European Union and the debate over the nature of an enlarged Union make this book all the more topical.

This study analyses the reasons for and the broad implications of the post-cold war reforms of arms and dual-use export controls within the European Union. It conceptualizes the arms export policy process as a policy system, involving the interaction of three basic elements-the policy environment, policy stakeholders and public policies. Three national case studies (the UK, Germany and Sweden) explore the major problems and paradoxes of practical regulatory activity. The differences in their approaches, including variations in the export control criteria, controlled goods, decision-making bodies, licensing decisions and enforcement procedures, are rooted in each state's unique historical normative framework. Evidence is also presented of policy convergence within the EU as a whole. While COCOM was the main instrument of convergence during the cold war, the most significant instrument of convergence in the 1990s was EU integration. The main conclusions are that the process of European integration in the 1990s led to a significant but incomplete convergence of the three states' arms and dual-use export controls; convergence has gone further for dual-use technologies than for military goods; convergence accelerated during the late 1990s as a result of the introduction of the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports and common measures to combat illicit trafficking in small arms; convergence is more advanced for policy-making structures than for policy-execution structures; andfurther convergence can be expected in the next decade.

Export controls definitively impact international cooperation in outer space. Civil and commercial space actors that engage in international endeavors must comply with space technology export controls. In the general discourse, members of the civil and commercial space community have an understanding of their domestic export control regime. However, a careful reading of the literature on space technology export controls reveals that certain questions relevant to international engagements have not been identified or answered. What is the legal-political origin of space technology export controls? How do they relate to the current international legal structure? What steps can be taken to evolve our current unilateral paradigm of space technology within the context of peaceful exploration and use of outer space? In this book, these and other relevant questions on space technology export controls are identified and assessed through an insightful case-study of the U.S. commercial communication export control regime. The findings of this case-study are used in an international legal-political analysis of international space law, public international law, and international cooperation. Breaking new ground in international legal theory, a self-justified security dilemma that is manifest in international law is identified and explained as the origin for the current paradigm of space technology export controls.