It's not so much a local legislative. This was an EU directive by origin, mainly meant for military equipment exportation, and it tracks back to The Wassenaar Arrangement, even within the European Parliament this has had its share of confusion.
For example, taken from Parliamentary questions to The Commission in 2013:
There seems to be some uncertainty in the German-speaking Member States about the interpretation of Note 4 on sub-item ML1.d. of the annex to Directive 2009/43/EC. In Germany, the legislation implementing the directive makes optical weapon sights not designed for military purposes generally exempt from classification as defence-related products. By contrast, in the corresponding legislation in Austria this section of the directive has been interpreted so as to exempt from classification as defence-related products only ‘optical weapon sights without electronic image processing, with a magnification of 4 times or less, provided they are not specially designed or modified for military use’. These differences of interpretation create considerable legal uncertainty and could potentially distort competition.
What is the correct interpretation of Note 4 on sub-item ML1.d. of the annex to Directive 2009/43/EC?
Answer given by Mr Tajani on behalf of the Commission
The Commission is investigating the issue of differences of interpretation of the content of the list of defence-related products set out in the annex to the Directive 2009/43/EC regarding the inclusion of optical weapon sights. The question shall also feature on the agenda of the 28 June meeting of the Committee established under Directive 2009/43 EC where all Member States are represented.
The Commission would like however to stress that the list in the annex to the directive is based on the Common Military List of the European Union which is, in turn, regularly updated in the context of the Wassenaar Arrangement. Therefore, the Commission will also be in contact with the secretariat of the Wassenaar Arrangement in order to clarify this question.
