A3-0109/94

Resolution on the development of a common security and defence policy for the European Union - objectives, instruments and procedures

The European Parliament,

-having regard to the motion for a resolution tabled by Mr Balfe and others on the development of a European Union common security and defence policy, and the aims, instruments and procedures thereof (B3-1548/92),

-having regard to its resolution of 10 June 1991 on the outlook for a European security policy: the significance of a European security policy and its institutional implications for European Political Union,

-having regard to its resolution of 11 July 1991 on the CSCE,

-having regard to its resolution of 24 October 1991 on the Intergovernmental Conference on a common foreign and security policy,

-having regard to its resolution of 17 September 1992 on the Community's role in the supervision of arms exports and the armaments industry,

-having regard to its resolution of 17 September 1992 on the final declaration on the Helsinki II Summit,

-having regard to its resolution of 18 December 1992 on the establishment of the European Community's common foreign policy,

-having regard to its resolution of 20 January 1993 on the structure and strategy for the European Union with regard to its enlargement and the creation of a Europe-wide order,

-having regard to its resolution of 9 February 1993 on disarmament, energy and development,

-having regard to its resolution of 27 May 1993 on developments in East-West relations in Europe and their impact on European security,

-having regard to its resolution of 24 February 1990 on the future relations between the European Community, WEU and the Atlantic Alliance,

-having regard to its resolutions of 24 March 1994 on

(a)enlargement and neutrality and

(b)disarmament, arms export controls and the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,

-having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Security (A3-0109/94),

A.mindful of the provisions of the Treaty on European Union concerning the common foreign and security policy,

B.mindful of the WEU Member States' declaration on Western European Union in the Final Act of the Treaty on European Union,

C.mindful of the Petersberg Declaration of 19 June 1992 by the WEU Council of Ministers and the Rome Declaration of 19 March 1993 by the WEU Council of Ministers,

D.mindful of the New Strategic Concept of the Alliance agreed by the Heads of State or Government of the NATO member countries on 8 November 1991 and the Rome Declaration on peace and cooperation,

E.mindful of Article J.10 of the Treaty on European Union, which requires that the provisions of the Treaty relating to security policy be reviewed at a new intergovernmental conference,

F.whereas in the current world political situation, which is characterized by profound changes, a growing need for international action to resolve conflicts and a shift from a bipolar to a multipolar balance of power, the need for the European Union to have a common foreign, security and defence policy has become far more topical,

G.whereas the provisions of the Treaty on European Union concerning the common foreign and security policy, though pointing in the right direction, do not suffice in many respects to give the Union the desired identity in this field,

H.whereas the results of recent opinion polls make it clear that the majority of Union citizens in all Member States (a total of 70%) want a common security and defence policy, the transfer of responsibility for these policies to the Community thus having broad approval,

I.whereas the European Union has a duty to help to alleviate poverty and underdevelopment, to ensure respect for human and civil rights, to maintain peace through preventive diplomacy and to contain conflicts throughout the world; whereas a common security policy is necessary if it is to discharge this duty effectively,

J.whereas a common security and defence policy must not be based solely on an analysis of current circumstances, but must take account of potential political changes, the possibility of new trouble spots emerging and the danger of conflicts spreading to neighbouring regions and continents,

1.Regards the following as the overriding objectives of a common security and defence policy to whose implementation the European Union is to contribute in and outside Europe:

(a)to promote a policy of progressive disarmament and reestablishment of the political, social, economic and ecological balance in order to reduce and eliminate sources of tension and conflict,

(b)to strengthen the security and territorial integrity of the European Union and its Member States in all its forms and to protect its legitimate interests,

(c)to preserve peace and to strengthen international security in accordance with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, the Helsinki Final Act and the objectives of the Paris Charter,

(d)to ensure respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and to promote democracy and the rule of law,

(e)to preclude military conflicts through preventive diplomacy, introduce and promote a peacekeeping and peacemaking policy based principally on non-military means and provide the wherewithal to this end,

(f)to contain military conflicts in accordance with the provisions of Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations;

2.Is convinced that a common security and defence policy must be based primarily on preventive action at political, diplomatic, social, economic and legal level and efforts to resolve conflicts peacefully, with the use of military means considered only as a last resort, and that it must be guided by the economic, social, ecological, cultural and other aspects of the co-existence of societies and states;

3.Regrets that the provisions of the Treaty on European Union concerning the common foreign and security policy (CFSP) are based on an intergovernmental approach, which reduces the European Parliament's involvement to the mere right to be heard and informed and to the possibility of making non-binding recommendations to the Council, provides for unanimous decision-making and excludes the CFSP from the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice;

4.Regrets that the authors of the Treaty on European Union preferred to entrust defence policy to a separate body, the WEU, instead of integrating it fully into the Union;

5.Calls on the Council to make vigorous use of the new Treaty instrument of 'joint action' referred to Articles J.1(3) and J.3 of the Treaty on European Union and in the Council's decisions of 26 October 1993 with a view to contributing to security and stability in Europe and the rest of the world through preventive and peacekeeping measures;

6.Hopes that at the intergovernmental conference scheduled for 1996 to review the CFSP provisions it will be decided that the intergovernmental procedures should gradually be replaced with Community procedures based primarily on majority voting (by a particular qualified majority) in the Council, the legally binding nature of Council decisions and an accurately defined role for the European Parliament in the exercise of control rights;

7.Considers it essential for the European Union to act as such in international bodies such as the UN and its Security Council, the CSCE and the Council of Europe and to be vested with adequate political powers and the necessary legal personality to this end;

8.Advocates the continuation of the arms control and disarmament process in the chemical, bacteriological, conventional and nuclear spheres and in respect of the relevant technology and hopes that the European Union as such will participate in relevant negotiations with the unanimous backing of its members;

9.Hopes that the European Union will perform to the full its security and defence role in the framework of the Atlantic Alliance by joining NATO as a 'collective member', so that the Alliance may rest on two pillars of equal value;

10.Welcomes the thought being given on both sides of the Atlantic to the possibility of anchoring all political, economic and defence policy relations between the European Union and the United States and Canada in a comprehensive treaty;

11.Advocates that it be decided at the review conference scheduled for 1996 that Western European Union (WEU), including the provisions of the Treaty on which it is based, should be absorbed into the European Union, preferably in 1998, when after 50 years the WEU Treaty can be terminated;

12.Considers it fitting that the presidencies of the European Union and WEU should be coordinated at the earliest opportunity by having the two Councils chaired by the same country in each case, with an appropriate special arrangement for Member States of the Union that are not full members of the WEU;

13.Advocates that all Member States of the European Union become full members of WEU in an appropriate manner in order to improve the Union's capacity for action in the area of security and defence policy and to strengthen its cohesion;

14.Advocates the expansion of WEU's operational role, especially through the establishment of a WEU planning staff and cooperation at the level of the chiefs of general staff, with the long-term goal of developing a joint military command structure for the Union, and through closer military cooperation, especially in the areas of logistics, training, air defence, manoeuvres and transport;

15.Advocates that military units of the WEU Member States which are under WEU command also be deployed for the purposes of deterrence and on humanitarian, rescue, peacekeeping and peace-making missions;

16.Advocates that the conference held to review the CFSP provisions decide that military missions to be undertaken by WEU require the approval of the European Parliament, acting by a majority of its Members, and the approval of the parliaments of the Member States participating in such missions;

17.Advocates the progressive development of the Franco-German-Belgian corps, which will shortly be joined by Spain, into an operational military organizational structure which is open to all Member States of the Union, is composed of various multinational units and may be deployed pursuant to Article 51 of Charter of the United Nations on behalf of the European Union if the Council so decides and after the European Parliament has given its approval;

18.Sees the EUROCORPS as a basic structure for joint armed forces of the European Union, which should be placed under the Union's future common military command structure and might, if necessary, be deployed in close coordination with the authorities of the Atlantic Alliance, the CSCE and the UN;

19.Considers it necessary for sufficient resources to be set aside in the European Union's budget for joint actions and unforeseeable CFSP measures;

20.Advocates, against the background of the goal of Union citizenship and on the basis of the principle of equal treatment, that steps be taken to harmonize the legislation on military and alternative civilian service in those of the Union's Member States which have compulsory military service, with due regard for the legal and constitutional status and traditions of the Member States;

21.Advocates that the right to refuse to fight on grounds of conscience become a constitutional principle of the Union;

22.Advocates the early establishment of a European Armaments Agency to act as the framework for measures to increase cooperation among the Member States of the European Union in arms production and the conversion of armaments industries to civilian production; welcomes the Commission's initiatives in this context, and especially the CONVER programme and the new 'Objective 4' of the Social Fund, and calls for these initiatives to be continued and developed further;

23.Calls on the Commission in particular to consider in the near future a separate budget entry for CONVER not subject to the restrictive Structural Fund eligibility criteria; advocates that the funds available for CONVER be increased;

24.Draws attention to the fact that it is technically feasible to locate and destroy millions of landmines using microwaves and calls on the European Union to take appropriate action;

25.Considers it appropriate and in the interests of the Member States for the armaments sector to be integrated into the internal market and accordingly calls for the deletion or amendment of Article 223 of the EC Treaty at the next intergovernmental conference;

26.Maintains that the development of military intelligence instruments and technologies in the context of the European Union should be deferred until the political conditions therefor have been clearly established;

27.Considers there is an urgent need for joint research and cleaning-up operations in the areas of the former CIS contaminated by radiation, in cooperation with the republics concerned;

28.Calls for common rules for a restrictive arms export policy of the European Union based on a binding list of criteria, strict control mechanisms and a Community policy with regard to the COCOM provisions, which remain in force;

29.Believes that the European Union's security and defence policy should have a pan-European perspective which takes due account of the security policy interests of the countries of central, eastern, north-eastern and south-eastern and Mediterranean Europe, including Russia, and that a preferred forum for this should be the CSCE, in which the European Union acts jointly;

30.Endorses the development of organic relations between the institutions of the European Union and WEU and between the Union/WEU and the countries with which accession negotiations are currently being conducted and the countries with which Europe Agreements are being concluded in order to prepare for their gradual and full involvement in all the European Union's activities and which satisfy all the provisions of the United Nations Charter, the Final Act of Helsinki and the provisions of the Charter of Paris concerning Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, democracy and the rule of law;

31.Emphasizes, however, that relations between the Union/WEU and countries with which accession negotiations are now under way or with which Europe Agreements are planned should be conducted in such a way that these countries are made fully aware that membership of the WEU as a military alliance is not an essential condition for accession to the European Union;

32.Considers it necessary for a full committee on security and defence to be set up immediately after the elections to the new Parliament to ensure compliance with the provisions of Title V of the Treaty on European Union;

33.Believes that, in view of the greater and growing importance of security and defence questions as a subject for consideration by the European Union, the European Parliament must be equipped with appropriate administrative infrastructure for this sector;

34.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the governments and parliaments of the Member States of the Union, the governments and parliaments of applicant countries and the Secretaries-General of WEU, NATO, the CSCE and the United Nations.