European Commission Issues Guidelines for Collection of Export License Data

The European Commission on Jan. 25 issued new guidelines for how member states and the commission collect and share export licensing data as the EU prepares its annual export control report (see 2301270011). The new rules “for the first time” state that the annual report “should include relevant information on the licensing and enforcement” of export controls, the guidelines said, “with due respect to the need to ensure the protection of the confidentiality of certain data.”

The commission said the guidelines will better allow it to report on “detailed licensing information,” including approvals and denials for dual-use export license applications such as authorisations for dual-use exports as well as denied transactions. “Such Guidelines will provide exporters, civil society organisations and the public at large with a more complete set of information on the control of dual-use exports, and a comprehensive picture of the implementation of export controls in the EU,” the commission said.

The EU said this “new approach will be taken up in the next annual report later this year.” The bloc issued its most recent report on export control data in October, which included licensing statistics for 2021 (see 2310200038).