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Supporting the Hague Code of Conduct

an FRS project funded by the European Union

Security, Technology, and Cooperation: The Future of the HCoC

5 December 2025

Geneva

 

 

This event explored how the Hague Code of Conduct can continue to curb ballistic missile proliferation amid new geopolitical and technological challenges. 

OVERVIEW

The seminar, Held in Geneva on 5 December 2025, successfully convened international experts and diplomats to address the evolving relevance of the Hague Code of Conduct (HCoC) after more than two decades. While ballistic proliferation remains a global phenomenon, the HCoC has long served to create restraint in WMD-able ballistic missile transfers and testing; however, new developments in geopolitics and technology create additional challenges and opportunities for the Code.

The event navigated the complex intersection of rising geopolitical tensions and rapid technological advancements, with high-level panels assessing the role the HCoC can play in the current context and in the future.

Featuring key figures such as HCoC Chair Amb. Alejandro Garofali and EU Special Envoy Amb. Stefan Klement, participants explored how the Code can adapt to new security realities, ultimately reinforcing its critical status as a flexible yet essential instrument for transparency and restraint.

First Session: Role of the HCoC in a tense international environment

 MODERATOR:

  • Mr Alexandre Houdayer, Secretary General, FRS


PANELLISTS:

  • Amb. Alejandro Garofali, Representative of Uruguay to the United Nations (Vienna), Chair of the HCoC (2025-2026)

  • Amb. Stefan Klement, EU Special Envoy for Non-proliferation and Disarmament, EEAS

  • Mr Andrey Baklitskiy, Senior Researcher, UNIDIR

  • Amb. George-Wilhelm Gallhofer, Director for Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, MFA, Austria (Executive Secretariat of the HCoC)

 

Second Session: The HCoC and the evolution of missile and launcher technologies

  • Mr Etienne Marcuz,  Associate Fellow, FRS

  • Dr Laetitia Cesari,  Consultant, UNIDIR

  • Ms Emmanuelle Maitre, Senior Research Fellow, FRS
October
2022
Research Papers

Origins and Development of the Hague Code of Conduct  

This paper recalls the state of ballistic missile proliferation at the time of the adoption of the Code, before delving into the genesis of the Code and especially the various reports and meetings that promoted the adoption of a supply-side multilateral instrument. It describes the conferences and diplomatic efforts that led to the Code in 2002. It also explains why the Code ended up the way it is today with modest ambitions but concrete outcomes.

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