On May 3d 2011, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) through Resolution A/RES/65/276, granted the European Union (EU) the right to participate, as observer, in the sessions and work of the General Assembly (GA). Practically, this means that the members of the European Council (EC) can take part in the GA’s general debates and present proposals.

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In this resolution of 5 July 2018, the European Parliament requests the EC to bring to the table of the UNGA’s 73rd session to of September 2018, the European concerns about the legal problems of armed drone usage. Notwithstanding the EU’s own inability to develop a common position on rules governing the use of armed drones, the EC is specifically asked to push for the establishment of an UN-based legal framework which strictly stipulates that the use of armed drones has to respect international humanitarian and human rights law. Furthermore, the EC is asked to negotiate the prohibition of the deployment of armed drones (and armed robots) without human intervention which arguably may render the so called “signature strikes” illegal.