Source: European Parliament
The Union’s security and defence capabilities are top priorities of this Commission. For this reason, military and security uses of lead ammunition are outside of the scope of this restriction dossier.
In addition, the Commission has ensured that the proposed restriction will not affect (i) the ability of the European industry to produce ammunition at the required scale for military purposes, (ii) the economic viability of shooting ranges and (iii) military preparedness and national security training.
This was done by proposing a permanent derogation that does not require the installation of additional risk management measures for the use of lead bullets in civilian shooting ranges.
According to the European Chemicals Agency, the market for lead ammunition is mostly driven by bullets for sport shooting (42 000 tonnes of lead bullets are used annually for sports shooting, compared with only 134 tonnes for hunting).
The proposed derogation for the use of lead bullets in sports shooting ranges will ensure that the demand, and therefore the production of lead bullets, will remain at pre-restriction levels.
Consequently, civilian production lines for lead bullets are expected to remain economically viable and available should there be a need to scale up production for military uses.
Since the derogation for the use of lead bullets in civilian shooting ranges does not require the installation of new risks management measures, the economic viability of those ranges and their continued availability for the voluntary military training of reservists is guaranteed.