RESOLUTION A3-0379/92

Resolution on disarmament, energy and development

The European Parliament,

-having regard to the motion for a resolution by Mr Goria and Mr Guidolin on disarmament, energy and development (B3-0846/90),

-having regard to the Treaty on European Union,

-having regard to the Paris Charter on a New Europe, the Treaty on the Reduction of Conventional Arms in Europe and the text of the final decision of Helsinki '92 "The Challenges of Change",

-having regard to the Rome declaration on peace and disarmament (8 November 1991), the new directions of the Alliance's strategic policy and the Joint Declaration of Brussels on the future of the Atlantic Alliance (10 March 1992),

-having regard to the communications from the Commission to the Council and Parliament on export controls on dual-use goods and technologies and the completion of the internal market (SEC(92)0085) and on the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (SEC(91)2145),

-having regard to its resolutions of:

-14 March 1989 on the security of Western Europe

-13 July 1990 on disarmament, the conversion of defence industries and arms exports

-9 October 1990 on the CSCE (Helsinki II Conference)

-12 December 1990 on the situation in the Gulf

-17 May 1991 on the role of Europe in relation to security in the Mediterranean

-12 July 1991 on a European Energy Charter

-12 September 1991 on reductions in arms spending and troop withdrawals, and the impact of these developments on employment in the hardest regions of the Community

-11 March 1992 on the danger of nuclear proliferation due to the flight of 'nuclear mercenaries' from the former USSR

-17 September 1992 on the Community's role in supervision of arms exports and the armaments industry,

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Security and the opinion of the Committee on Energy, Research and Technology (A3-0379/92),

A.whereas the process of disarmament in Europe is based on two main principles: the need to convert and reorientate the arms industry and the need to use all the categories of military material withdrawn from circulation as part of this process for purposes and applications which meet energy requirements and promote development in the Community and in the rest of Europe,

B.whereas a basic precondition for implementing programmes to convert and restructure the arms industry both in the Community and - especially - in the states of Central and Eastern Europe and in the Commonwealth of Independent States is the introduction of comprehensive controls on the trade in - and export of - the arms and arms systems withdrawn from circulation, through institutionalized procedures, either at CSCE or Community level,

C.stressing that the military material, installations and expertise thus made redundant can be converted and bring enormous non-military benefits - especially in the field of energy - both in the states of Europe and in the developing countries of the South,

1.Considers that the Treaty of Paris on the reduction of conventional forces in Europe, the previous Treaties on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons (TNP) and intermediate range nuclear forces (INF) and the statements by the USA and Russia announcing further reductions in their nuclear arsenals, along with the START agreement reached in Moscow on 31 July 1991 and the Bush-Yeltsin agreement signed in Washington on 16 June 1992, under which the size of the American and Russian nuclear arsenals will be cut to around 3 500 warheads each, have set the scene for a new phase of general disarmament;

2.Considers, however, that the vast accumulation of arms and arms systems of all categories poses a constant threat to the entire continent of Europe even in times of peace, has caused extremely grave environmental damage in Eastern Europe, countries of the former Soviet Union and in the Arctic, the Baltic and the Black Sea, and increases tension in regions which are the theatre of - or are threatened by - clashes and confrontations, typical examples being the former Yugoslavia and certain republics of the former USSR;

3.Is therefore concerned at the security problems posed by the production and stockpiling of weapons and weapon systems - particularly nuclear ones - the difficulties of imposing centralized controls and the flight of nuclear mercenaries from the CIS Republics to third countries;

4.Considers that, to fill the political, economic and development vacuum opening up in the states of Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS Republics following the collapse of Socialism, the Community must take fresh measures to see it through a transitional period which poses a variety of threats to the entire continent of Europe as a whole;

5.Notes that the arms industry is concentrating on restructuring and reorganizing production so that it can more rapidly meet the new demands emerging both nationally and internationally;

6.Notes the increasing tendency among Member States - and also in other European states - to reduce their involvement in the arms industry, thereby releasing resources for other, non-military purposes;

7.Stresses the importance of the energy sector in the process of converting the arms industry both at the production stage and when arms and arms systems are being withdrawn and converted;

8.Considers that conversion should cover not only arms production but also weapons and weapon systems that are withdrawn from circulation, since the technology is available both in the West and in Eastern Europe to convert these weapons into non-military products;

9.Calls, therefore, on the governments of the Member States and the Commission to consider the economic and technical possibilities of conversion and the scope for cooperation with the states of Eastern Europe, including the republics of the former Soviet Union, especially Russia and the Ukraine;

10.Takes the view that particular importance must be attached to environmental protection in the process of conversion and that no environmental damage (in the form of industrial waste and dumping of radioactive materials or chemical substances) should result from the new industrial installations and their products, the recycling of military materials withdrawn from circulation and the conversion process itself;

11.Notes that, as far as the Community is concerned, the process of converting the arms industry is perhaps the only solution for the regions where such plants are situated which face economic stagnation, high unemployment and the prospect of becoming an industrial wasteland;

12.Considers that the measures proposed by the Commission do not sufficiently address the adverse consequences for employment and that it should therefore plan and implement special programmes with strict time limits in favour of regions which are affected or are about to be affected by unemployment, owing to the dismantling of arms industry plants; recalls, in this connection, paragraph 2(c) of its resolution of 9 April 1992 on the guidelines for the preparation of the 1993 budget, in which it called for the creation of a new Community programme for conversion of the armaments industry in order to resolve the labour market problems resulting from the process of disarmament;

13.Calls on the Commission, in this context, to draw up a new regulation by 1993 which will ensure further funding for the PERIFRA II Programme and define the legal basis for the programme and the Commission's new initiatives (CONVER Programme, etc.);

14.Considers that the means are available to convert industrial plants producing components of chemical weapons and calls on those Member States which have such plants on their territory to collaborate with the Commission and examine the possibility of converting them for non-military applications such as pharmaceutical and agri-chemical uses;

15.Is convinced that nuclear weapons present the most serious problems in this connection; believes that a policy of converting nuclear plants, using the installations, expertise and materials for non-military purposes, could be a subject for research and dialogue within the Community;

16.Considers that after the Commission has promoted the Energy Charter and made realistic choices over the Community's future as regards energy, the Member States must work together in the field of nuclear energy so as to phase out the autonomy at present enjoyed by individual States in this area; considers that in this process serious consideration must be given to the environment and the highest possible technical safety standards must be observed in the production process and at plants;

17.Takes the view that as regards nuclear convertibility the Commission should extend its cooperation with the CIS Republics to cover the following areas:

-vocational and technical retraining of scientific and technical staff;

-cooperation with research centres and the university institutes;

-the provision of incentives for research in the field of renewable sources of energy;

18.Stresses in this connection that if nuclear weapons are to be effectively reduced there must also be a reduction in the use of fissile materials from warheads as primary products in the production of energy, especially in the CIS Republics;

19.Supports fully the proposal by European Political Cooperation that an international science and technology centre should be set up in Moscow to offer employment to nuclear scientists who have been made redundant and to promote research in this sector;

20.Considers that the European Community should play a more active role in financing this centre - the sum of ECU 50 million may be regarded as purely symbolic - and act as a driving force behind measures of this kind which also concern other States;

21.Considers that in view of the fact that many Member States attach particular importance to dual-use products which they protect and give priority funding to as part of their research and technology policies, the Commission should examine the possibility of imposing genuine controls on the production and movement of these products as well as the scope for using them for non-military purposes;

22.Calls on the next Intergovernmental Conference to reexamine the contents of Article 223 of the EEC Treaty not only from the point of view of competition and the free movement of goods but also in the light of new information emerging today on the production and use of these products and particularly the new need to cooperate with the former COMECON states;

23.Calls on the Community and the Member States to ensure that the new economic, commercial and technical agreements that have been concluded or are about to be concluded with the states of Eastern Europe and the CIS do not further undermine the privileged relations the Community enjoys with the developing states in the Third World;

24.Insists on the duty of the Community and its Member States to do all in their power to prevent the further development of arms races in Africa, Asia and Latin America with a view to reducing the burden of armaments on many of the poorest peoples in the world;

25.Urges the Member States of the Community and the Commission to channel the resources released due to arms reductions towards development activities in Third World and ACP countries, especially such activities as promote their long-term economic and technical development;

26.Considers that the Community should consider and regulate the sectoral conversion of the arms industry for non-military uses and applications; believes that the Commission should consider the possibility of doing so before the forthcoming review of the Maastricht Treaty in the light of the new information which will emerge at both geostrategic and industrial levels;

27.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, European Political Cooperation, the governments of the Member States, the relevant CSCE services and the UN Secretary-General.