EVALUATION / FITNESS CHECK ROADMAP

Roadmaps aim to inform citizens and stakeholders about the Commission's work to allow them to provide feedback and to participate effectively in future consultation activities. Citizens and stakeholders are in particular invited to provide views on the Commission's understanding of the problem and possible solutions and to share any relevant information that they may have.

Title of the evaluation

Review of the EU ‘Anti- Torture’ Regulation

Lead DG – responsible unit

Service for Foreign Policy Instruments

Indicative Planning

(planned start date and completion date)

Planned start date: Q3 2019

Completion date: by Q2 2020

additional information

https://ec.europa.eu/fpi/what-we-do/anti-torture-measures_en

The Roadmap is provided for information purposes only. It does not prejudge the final decision of the Commission on whether this initiative will be pursued or on its final content. All elements of the initiative described by the document, including its timing, are subject to change.

A. Context, purpose and scope of the evaluation

Context [max 15 lines]

The EU is firmly committed to the absolute prohibition of capital punishment, torture or other cruel inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment. The prevention and eradication of all such treatment or punishment worldwide is at the heart of the European Union’s human rights policy and is enshrined in core UN human rights conventions, as well as at the EU level in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

As regards the EU’s international trade, the EU’s commitment to the eradication of torture and capital punishment is translated in practical terms into Regulation (EU) 2019/125 of 16 January 2019 (here in after refer to as the ‘Regulation’) 1 . The EU Regulation, prohibits exports and imports of goods specifically designed for capital punishment, for torture or for cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. It also requires that exports of goods which could be used for torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, be subject to a prior export authorization issued by the competent authorities of the EU Member States. It also regulates supplies to third countries of some services related to such trade like technical assistance and brokering services.

The lists of prohibited and controlled goods are set out in the Annexes of the Regulation.

Inspired by the Regulation, the Global Alliance for Torture Free Trade, promoted by the European Union and co-sponsored by Argentina and Mongolia, was established on 18 September 2017. The purpose of the Alliance is to make it significantly more difficult to trade in goods that are intended to be or may be used for capital punishment and torture at an international level. By joining the Alliance, countries commit themselves, inter alia, to take effective measures for restriction of trade in goods used for torture and death penalty through domestic legislation and efficient enforcement.

Purpose and scope [max 15 lines]

The Regulation concerning trade in certain goods which could be used for capital punishment, torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, foresees a review report by July 2020.

In line with the requirements of the Regulation (Article 32), the report will also present a comprehensive implementation and impact assessment of the implementation of the Regulation, which may include proposals for its amendment. The review will assess the need to include the activities of Union nationals abroad. It will deal with the activities of the Anti-Torture Coordination Group (established in its Article 31) and will provide information on the rules on penalties applicable to infringements laid down by the Member States.

The review report will also provide information on relevance, EU added value, coherence and complementarity, effectiveness, efficiency.

The review/evaluation will cover the period from December 2016, when the last substantial change to the Regulation was adopted to mid-2020 and will include the activities of all EU Member States.

The review report presenting the final results/findings of the evaluation process will draw on work conducted by external contractors (via one or more study reports) and/or the Commission services.

Where available, further existing contributions/studies/assessments and reports from specialised organisations may be used to feed into the evaluation process.

B. Better regulation

Consultation of citizens and stakeholders [max 10 lines]

A public consultation will be conducted as part of the evaluation process. The consultation to gather views from the public will be launched in Q3 2019 and it will run for a period of twelve weeks. It will entail an internet-based consultation with a questionnaire and/or ‘free’ direct contributions/submission/views from the respondents. It will be accessed via the Commission's central public consultations page (add link).

This public consultation may be complemented by targeted consultations with specific stakeholders.

Potentially interested stakeholders would be civil society actors advocating against torture and death penalty, international organizations and/or UN agencies, industrial and commercial actors relevant to the trade in goods used for torture and other ill-treatment and the death penalty as well as customs experts.

A synopsis report summarising all consultation activities' results will be published on the consultation page once all consultation activities are closed. A workshop may also be organized upon conclusion of the consultation phase.

Data collection and methodology [max 10 lines]

Data will be collected from different sources, in particular:

-Reports by the competent national EU authorities on the implementation of the Regulation;

-Report on the activities of the Anti-Torture Coordination Group comprising of representatives of the EU Member States;

-Contributions/studies/assessments and reports prepared by specialised organisations and stakeholders.