Commission Recommendation

of 28 December 2004

complementary to Recommendation 96/129/EC on the European firearms pass

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2005/11/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular the second indent of Article 211,

Whereas:

(1) Council Directive 91/477/EEC of 18 June 1991 on control of the acquisition and possession of weapons [1] provides for the introduction of a European firearms pass.

(2) In Commission Recommendation 93/216/EEC of 25 February 1993 on the European firearms pass [2] and in Commission Recommendation 96/129/EC of 12 January 1996 supplementing Recommendation 93/216/EEC on the European firearms pass [3], the Commission invited the Member States to introduce this document in accordance with a model annexed to the Recommendations.

(3) This model for the European firearms pass needs to be modified to take account of the accession of the new Member States,

HEREBY RECOMMENDS:

Article 1

The Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic shall introduce the European firearms pass in accordance with the model annexed to this Recommendation.

Article 2

The other Member States, which issue the European firearms pass in accordance with the model annexed to Recommendation 96/129/EC, shall gradually introduce the pass in accordance with the model annexed to the present Recommendation as the stocks of the old pass are exhausted and by 1 May 2006 at the latest.

Done at Brussels, 28 December 2004.

For the Commission

G眉nter Verheugen

Vice-President

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[1] OJ L 256, 13.9.1991, p. 51.

[2] OJ L 93, 17.4.1993, p. 39.

[3] OJ L 30, 8.2.1996, p. 47.

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