On 28 September 2016, the European Commission published its proposal to “modernise and strengthen” the EU’s dual-use export control regime as laid out by Regulation (EC) No. 428/2009. Now that the commissioner’s proposal has been published, it must be examined by the council and the European Parliament. All three must agree in order to adopt the proposal and the legislative process is likely to take at least a year. The proposal, which is a regulation, is set to apply on the 19th day following publication in the Official Journal.

However, this implementation is likely to occur before spring 2018. In addition to the initial consultation period, which started in 2011 and ended with the publication of the draft regulation, the legislative process will provide opportunities for interested representatives to discuss the impact of the proposal on their sector(s), either in meetings or in writing, to all three institutions.

In its capacity as co-legislator, the European Parliament is preparing a position on the proposal. The Committee for International Trade (INTA) is responsible for drafting the European Parliament’s position and it has nominated Klaus Buchner as rapporteur. A first exchange of views is expected to take place on 27-28 February 2017, with a public hearing to follow later.