(1)

Chapter 3 of Directive 91/477/EEC lays down formalities for the transfer of firearms from one Member State to another and requires Member States to exchange relevant information relating to such transfers.

(2)

Paragraph 5 of Article 13 of Directive 91/477/EEC requires the Commission to provide for a system for the systematic exchange of information mentioned in that Article. The competent authorities of Member States currently exchange this information by email or fax

(3)

The Internal Market Information System (‘IMI’) established by Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2) could be an effective tool in implementing the administrative cooperation provisions set out in Article 13 of Directive 91/477/EEC, in particular those provisions relating to the transfer of firearms from one Member State to another. Accordingly, Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/689 (3) has been adopted to make those provisions relating to the transfer of firearms subject to a pilot project under Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012. It is therefore appropriate to identify IMI as the system to be used by the competent authorities of the Member States for the purposes of the exchange of information relating to the transfer of firearms, and to lay down the detailed arrangements for such exchanges.

(4)

In accordance with Article 13(3) of Directive 91/477/EEC, Member States may have more than one national authority responsible for transmitting and receiving information falling within the scope of this Regulation. In order to facilitate the efficient and effective flow of information between Member States, each Member State with more than one such national authority should be required to designate one of its national authorities as a central authority, to act as a single point of contact for receiving and transmitting information exchanged via IMI in accordance with this Regulation. The central authority may also be empowered by the Member State to transmit information from its national authorities to another Member State via IMI.

(5)

In accordance with Article 11 of Directive 91/477/EEC, the transfer of firearms from one Member State to another requires an authorisation from the Member State where the firearm is situated (‘the Member State of dispatch’). Moreover, each Member State must supply the other Member States with a list of firearms, the transfer of which to its territory may be authorised without its prior consent. This means that, for firearms not included on a Member State's list, the Member State of dispatch is supposed to check to see that prior consent has been given before it proceeds to authorise transfer of the firearm to that Member State. Currently, however, the prior consent document is only presented by the seller to the Member State of dispatch at the time when the seller requests the transfer authorisation or, in a case falling within Article 11(3) of Directive 91/477/EEC, when the dealer communicates particulars of the transfer to the Member State of dispatch. In order to ensure that transfer authorisations are not issued on the basis of fraudulent documentation, the Member State to whose territory a firearm is to be transferred (‘the Member State of destination’) should be required to transmit information relating to the prior consent to the Member State of dispatch via IMI no later than 7 calendar days after it has issued its prior consent. In addition, in order to guarantee greater traceability and security with respect to the transfer of firearms within the Union, a copy of the prior consent document should also be uploaded onto IMI at the same time as that information is dispatched via IMI.

(6)

The specific information that Member States should be required to transmit individually via IMI, in addition to uploading a copy of the relevant document, should be confined to the information necessary to enable the relevant national authorities to easily identify and retrieve information concerning a particular transfer, including in particular information identifying the seller and the buyer or owner (whether a dealer or another person).

(7)

In the interests of transparency and security, each Member State should upload onto IMI the list of firearms, the transfer of which to its territory may be authorised without its prior consent. If there are no such firearms, in other words if its prior consent is needed for the transfer of all firearms, the Member State will be able to indicate that fact in the relevant repository in IMI.

(8)

The measures provided for in this Regulation were discussed with an expert group on exchange of information, consisting of experts from Member States,

(a)

information mentioned in paragraph 2 of that Article as regards the transfer of firearms;

(b)

information mentioned in paragraph 4 of that Article, excluding information with regard to refusals to grant authorisations as provided in Articles 6 and 7 of that Directive.