After some political back and forth, the new European Commission was able to take up its work on December 1st, 2024. This means that the regular legislative machine is starting to run again in Brussels as proposals for EU laws may only be made by the Commission. The AECAC used the occasion to hold various talks in Brussels.
In the next five years, there will be a number of European policy issues for the arms trade and the owners of civilian firearms. With the official adoption of the EU Firearms Regulation imminent, there will be new rules for international trade. And very importantly, we must expect new proposals for the EU Firearms Directive by 2026 at the latest.
Verene Mertens (MEP) and Peter Brass
Moritz Körner (MEP) and Peter Brass
For this reason, our Secretary-General Peter Brass met with various MEPs. Verena Mertens, EPP-MEP from Germany, has been a member of parliament since the European elections in June 2024. Mertens, with a professional background as police officer, sits on the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.
MEP Moritz Körner has been a member of the European Parliament for Renew Europe since 2019. He, too, works in the “Committee on Internal Affairs”, which is so important to the firearms sector. In general, he hopes, the new EU Commission will weaken the well-known Brussels approach of “regulating as much as possible as precisely as possible”.
The AECAC can only agree with this!