The present study is structured into three main sections which are further split into thematic chapters.

The first (framework) section highlights some of the most relevant political aspects of the Code in a historical survey.

Section two evaluates official conferences and workshops organised on the Code with a special focus on the past three years.

Section three assesses major trends and technical challenges of the exchange of information with a special focus on the new elements of the reporting period of 2003-2005 compared with the preliminary one of 1999-2002.

The study concludes with a stock-taking of relevant implementation trends and challenges of democratic control of armed forces in the OSCE region and considered from the perspective of the Code's lessons learned.