On September 16, 2019, the EU issued a council decision amending the Common Position 2008/944/CFSP and defining the common rules governing control of exports of military technology and equipment. Key amendments include a requirement for verification of criteria listed in Article 2 to extend to government-to-government transfers and a reconsideration of an export license where new, relevant information is available, even where one has already been granted. The amendments also include international “commitments” in addition to international “obligations” for certain licensing criteria. Additional criteria for authorities to consider before granting an export authorization include:

• The international obligations of member states under the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons and the relevant protocols annexed thereto
• The international obligations of member states under the Arms Trade Treaty
• The commitments of member states under the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in all its Aspects Article 7 is modified to  include the type of information member states should exchange, including information on denial notifications and arms export policies, as well as identifying possible measures to further increase convergence.