Weapons
The abolition of controls on the possession of weapons at intra-Community frontiers made it necessary to adopt rules enabling controls to be carried out within the Member States. To this end, the Directive defines rules on the acquisition and possession of firearms, on the one hand, and on the transfer of firearms to another Member State, on the other.
Directive 91/477/EEC as a measure in support of internal market policy
Directive 91/477/EEC of 18 June 1991 
was adopted as an accompanying measure to the abolition of controls at internal Community frontiers on 1 January 1993. As regards the acquisition and possession of firearms, the laws of the Member States must impose at least the requirements laid down in the Directive, but Member States are entitled to take more stringent measures than those provided for by the Directive.
The Directive provides for a procedure based on the issue of a licence for definitive transfers of firearms to a Member State . The Directive also requires an authorisation for travel between Member States in possession of a firearm. However, more flexible rules are provided in respect of hunting and target shooting in order to avoid impeding the free movement of persons more than is necessary. For this purpose in particular, the Directive introduced the European firearms pass , a document which is issued on request by the authorities of a Member State to a person lawfully entering into possession of and using a firearm. The firearms pass was updated by a recommendation published in January 2005 
[262 KB] .
Developments: reports of the Commission and complementary Directive
Pursuant to Article 17 of the Directive, the Commission adopted in 2000 a report to the European Parliament and to the Council [133 KB] on the application of this Directive. This reviews the working of the Directive and sets out guidelines for future developments of the Directive.
In March 2006, the Commission adopted a proposal to strengthen the security aspects of the Directive, allowing a partial alignment with the UN Firearms Protocol against transnational organized crime. The new legislative instrument stemming from this proposal is Directive 2008/51/CE of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2008 [62 KB] amending Council Directive 91/477/EEC on control of the acquisition and possession of weapons. It was published in the Official Journal of the European Union L 179/5 of the 8.7.2008 and prescribes, in particular, the complete marking of firearms as well as computerized record keeping systems for firearms for not less than twenty years.
On 27 July 2010 the European Commission adopted a report on the placing on the market of replica firearms [54 KB] . This report to the European Parliament and the Council, as set out by Directive 2008/51/EC amending Directive 91/477/ EEC, analyses if it would be both possible and desirable to include replica firearms within the scope of this Directive.
Directive 91/477/EEC and the national classification of weapons
It is important to remember that Directive 91/477/EEC is a minimum harmonisation directive, i.e. it allows all the Member States to adopt stricter measures, provided of course they comply with the rules of the Treaty, in particular the principles of proportionality and subsidiarity.
As regards the minimum classification of weapons contained in Annex I to the Directive, this means that all Member States can "upgrade" a weapon in their internal legislation, in other words they can raise it from category C (subject to declaration) to category B (subject to authorisation), or from category B to category A (prohibited weapons). It also means that if a Member State subjects all weapons to authorisation internally, it also has the right to subject to authorisation any weapon that enters its territory, even one which is simply subject to declaration under the rules of the country of origin.
The Commission has never obstructed the adoption of stricter classifications and at present some Member States, such as Spain, the Netherlands, Latvia and Hungary, have opted for classification based on two categories: prohibited weapons and weapons subject to authorisation. Other Member States, such as Sweden, Finland and Cyprus subject the acquisition of any weapon to authorisation, whilst also abiding, of course, by the general principle of prohibiting category A weapons laid down in the Directive.
Some Member States, such as Belgium, have recently opted for a system similar to the two-category system (weapons prohibited or subject to authorisation) but include under their laws a third category subject to declaration, which covers in particular hunting permit holders. In Portugal possession of a hunting permit is also a pre-requirement for acquiring category C and D weapons.
Other Member States, such as Germany, provide for a mixed system of authorisation (when the weapon is not prohibited of course) and declaration. A person who already holds an arms possession card (Waffenbesitzkarte) simply has to declare the acquisition of a weapon falling under category C or D (of the Directive) within a period of 15 days of its purchase, but authorisation is still required for the acquisition of a category B weapon. UK legislation provides for three categories of firearm (prohibited, subject to special authorisation or subject to a simple declaration to the police for authorised purchasers or possessors, on the general basis of a "shotgun").
Member States such as France have adopted a system of weapons categorisation which of course complies with the Directive's classification, but contains more specific, detailed categories regarding the type of weapons subject to declaration, authorisation or prohibition. Austria for its part makes distinctions very close to the Directive's four categories. The Czech Republic also uses the Directive's classification, but makes category C subject to prior authorisation.
Such diversity - whilst relative - reflects the Member States' undeniable concern about security as much as their slightly different preferences regarding State administrative action and their traditions in terms of controlling hunting activities. The classification into four categories also provides a common reference for the level of danger posed by weapons, which is also useful and applicable in other aspects of the Directive.
It must be nevertheless mentioned that the new Directive 2008/51/EC [62 KB] stipulates, in its first article, paragraph 12 that "the Commission shall, by 28 July 2012, carry out research and submit a report to the European Parliament and the Council on the possible advantages and disadvantages of a reduction to two categories of firearms (prohibited or authorised) with a view to the better functioning of the internal market for the products in question by means of possible simplification".
Finally, it should be remembered that Directive 91/477/EEC - which "does not affect the right of Member States to take measures to prevent illegal trade in weapons", as the final recital states - is considered to have been largely satisfactory in practice (see the Commission's Report - COM(2000) 837 final [133 KB] - to the European Parliament and the Council of 15 December 2000).
The transformation of a directive which supports the Internal Market (Article 114 TFEU) into a total harmonisation directive, which would allow Member States absolutely no flexibility, does not therefore appear justified for the time being. Of course this does not prevent other legal instruments from being implemented either at inter-governmental level or even at Union level, as the following relevant initiatives, such as the prevention of illicit firearms trafficking, demonstrate.
Contact
