A3-0111/94

Resolution on disarmament, arms export controls and the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction

The European Parliament,

-having regard to the motion for a resolution by Mr Poettering and others on disarmament, arms export controls and the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (B3-1549/92),

-having regard to its resolution of 14 March 1989 on European arms exports,

-having regard to its resolution of 18 April 1991 on the arms trade,

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

-having regard to its resolution of 9 February 1993 on disarmament, enerqy 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 15 July 1993 on the conversion of the arms industry and military sites,

-having regard to the European Council's declaration of June 1991 which expressed alarm about the stockpiling of conventional weapons in certain regions of the world and led to the embracing of eight criteria on which to base arms export control policies,

-having regard to the statement of 21 February 1994 by the representatives of the Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant Churches of Great Britain, France and Germany calling for the control of exports of arms and dual-use goods from the European Union,

-having regard to the Commission's proposal for a Council regulation on the control of exports of certain dual-use goods and technologies' (COM(92)0370) which, in the light of the proliferation risks presented by the single market, refers to the need for clear criteria to govern exports of dual-use goods,

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

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Security (A3-0111/94),

A.whereas approximately 40 000 000 people, over 75% civilians, died as a result of civil and international wars fought with conventional weapons during the 45 years of the Cold War and many more were maimed,

B.whereas recent transformations in factors affecting global security have provided the possibility of rapid disarmament,

C.whereas the end of the Cold War has greatly accelerated the disarmament process first begun in 1968 with the signing of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and resulted in the recent signing of major disarmament agreements (START, CFE and unilateral nuclear disarmament initiatives),

D.whereas war and excessive military spending continue to exact a terrible human and economic price across the world and to undermine the European Union's own policies to promote development in poor countries,

E.whereas deepening recession throughout Europe has aggravated the prospects for redeploying workers in the military sector to areas of civilian production,

F.whereas the level of defence expenditure in Eastern Europe and NATO is only justified by the need for defence against another super-power with nuclear arms,

G.whereas in its resolution of 17 September 1992 Parliament pointed out that it was impossible for the East European arms industries to be converted without substantial and unconditional help from the G7 countries,

H.noting that it is also difficult for Western arms industries to be converted without alternative employment,

I.noting that the proposals contained in its abovementioned resolution of 27 May 1993 for mutual East/West arms conversion programmes is to provide alternative employment,

J.whereas without political intervention uncontrolled market forces will devastate regions previously dependent on the military sector,

K.whereas the Treaty on European Union provides the legal basis for a common foreign and security policy and whereas the arms industry remains outside the jurisdiction of the EU,

L.whereas European Union initiatives in this area are paramount and, without them control of the arms-export industry is unrealistic,

M.concerned by the lack of a common export policy for dual-use goods and technologies which can be put to military use,

N.whereas the past twelve months have witnessed paralysis in EC foreign affairs policy with regard to the former Yugoslavia, and whereas arms have continued to find their way into the conflict zone,

O.whereas the international arms trade fuels militarization and the risks and impact of war, carrying heavy costs for the European Union's economy through disruption of export markets, larger military budgets and spending on emergency relief to war affected regions,

P.whereas significant amounts of taxpayers' money is used to promote and finance the sale of conventional weapons,

Q.having regard to the hazardous situation of nuclear stockpiles in the former Soviet Union and the signing of the Lisbon Accord in May 1992 by the Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus,

R.deeply concerned by the North Korean Government's statements that its country may withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, alarmed by the possibility that North Korea may already be in a position to produce nuclear weapons at the two plants in Yongbyon, and aware that this state of affairs highlights the dangers stemming from the fact that proper international supervision of the production of nuclear devices is impossible,

S.having regard to the agreement reached between Russia and the Ukraine on 4 September 1993, still pending ratification in both states, providing for Ukrainian nuclear arms to be returned to Russia and for the Ukrain to sign the START 1 and NPT treaties,

T.having regard to the recent signing of the 'Moscow Declaration' by Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin under the terms of which the targets of the 3500 remaining Russian and US nuclear warheads have been changed, and having regard to the agreement signed on 14 January 1994 by Mr Clinton, Mr Yeltsin and the President of the Ukraine, Mr Kravchuk, on the dismantling of the Ukraine's entire nuclear arsenal,

U.having regard to the uncertainties surrounding the undertakings given or signed by many of the leaders of the states of the former Soviet Union with regard to disarmament,

V.whereas the cost of dismantling nuclear arsenals in the former Soviet Union is preventing disarmament,

W.whereas the political, economic, social and moral collapse affecting large sections of the armed forces of the former Communist countries are making those forces extremely susceptible to the temptations of money, nationalism and political intervention,

X.whereas safeguards previously taken to keep track of nuclear weapons in the former Soviet Union are now dangerously lax,

Y.whereas the transfer of Russian nuclear scientists to those countries wanting to gain nuclear technology poses a grave threat to the security of the West,

Z.having regard to the establishment, funded by the West, of the International Science and Technology Centre to provide work and money for unemployed nuclear scientists in Russia,

1.Takes the view that the European Union must be in a position to deal with the new challenges posed by the changes to the international political status quo, employing a security model geared to the prevention and peaceful settlement of armed conflicts, a model which pays particular attention to the problems of ethnic minorities and new nationalist movements and to the safeguarding of security in the global sense of ecological, social and economic balance; with that aim in view, the European Union must commit itself to cooperation under the auspices of the CSCE and the United Nations, whilst military action not solely for peace-keeping purposes must be regarded as a last resort;

2.Urges that European security policy be explicitly linked to the conversion to civilian purposes of the arms industry;

3.Welcomes the Commission's 130 m ECU KONVER programme, which in addition to the practical aid for areas facing defence cuts, also reaffirms the political responsibility to these regions first acknowledged in the PERIFRA programme;

4.Recognises the need for EU programmes to help convert the Eastern and Central European defence industries and reaffirms its above-mentioned resolution of 17 May 1993 calling for USD 5 billion for a programme of East/West joint ventures;

5.Calls on the Commission, however, to put forward proposals in the near future for the creation of a separate budget heading for the KONVER programme, thereby removing the restrictions imposed by the Structural Fund eligibility criteria; calls, further, for the funding earmarked for the KONVER programme to be increased to ECU 300 m;

6.Calls for all redundant human resource skills within the defence sector to be transferred to the new high-tech industry Europe must constantly develop if it is to compete with Japan and the United States;

7.Reaffirms its rejection of attempts by arms manufacturers to offset cuts in national defence spending by an export drive and calls on Member State governments to refrain from encouraging this;

8.Calls for the arms industry to be brought within the scope of the EU through the deletion of Article 223 of the EC Treaty;

9.Urges in the short term an interpretation of Article 223 which would not hinder the creation of an internal market in the defence sector;

10.Stresses the importance of having a clear division of responsibilities in each Member State between departments dealing with the licensing and promotion of military and dual use exports;

11.Stresses, however, the need to prevent the internal market reducing EU controls on arms exports, as a result of the inadequate or laissez-faire laws of its 'weakest links';

12.Urges the Council to adopt a common arms procurement policy so that the European market can sustain a restructured European defence industry;

13.Calls on the German Government to refrain from relaxing the guidelines governing the export practices of private companies taking part in coproduction arrangements, and to play a leadership role during their Presidency to ensure that harmonization of arms export policy takes place at the higher levels of control;

14.Welcomes the success of the European Council in drawing up common criteria to apply to military exports from the Member States of the Union and urges the Union to now define and implement its own Code of Conduct with regard to such exports, based on the higher levels of existing controls;

15.Calls on the Council, therefore, to:

(i)agree a common interpretation of the European Council's criteria laid down in June 1991 governing arms and dual-use export controls based on the highest levels of existing controls, and to draw up a list of countries to which arms exports will be controlled, restricted or prohibited;

(ii)devote greater efforts to verifying the final destination and end use of exported arms and dual-use goods involving the importing country's customs authorities authenticating the arrival of goods and checking the utilization of goods through embassy or consular staff;

(iii)introduce a procedure of prior notification between Member States of all exports of major conventional weapons in order that they can establish whether or not the criteria for exports have been breached;

(iv)harmonize the system of penalties so that fraudulent exports are rendered economically unviable;

(v)take account of the UN General Assembly's resolution of 16 December 1993 which calls on all states to institute export moratoria on anti-personnel mines which pose grave dangers and to put it into effect through national moratoria;

(vi)ensure that all decisions of principle concerning exports of arms and dual-use goods are publicly disclosed to the national and European Parliaments;

16.Believes that the EU must initiate a global debate on the need sharply to reduce arms exports to the Third World;

17.Stresses that a restrictive and controlled arms export policy (including dual-use goods) exercised by the EC must be made part of a world-wide agreement to ensure that other international suppliers do not exploit restrictions on Community exports to increase their own exports;

18.Calls on the Council and Commission to draw up a comprehensive proposal - to be submitted also to international political and financial institutions, such as the UN, the IMF and the World Bank - to reward individual countries which take steps to cut back or do away with their weapons of mass destruction by reducing and/or cancelling their foreign debt through the granting of loans on particularly advantageous terms;

19.Calls for a proactive and coercive approach towards nonproliferation, particularly with regard to the NPT Extension and Review Conference to be held in 1995;

20.Calls on France, the United Kingdom, the United States and Russia to observe the current moratoriums on nuclear testing and to exert strong diplomatic pressure on China to give an undertaking to the other powers not to carry out nuclear tests, bearing in mind that a moratorium is the essential first step towards a complete ban on nuclear testing (which the European Parliament has already advocated on two occasions) and the success of the fifth NPT Review and Extension Conference to be held in 1995;

21.Welcomes the foreseen ratification of the NPT by all the republics of the former Soviet Union;

22.Welcomes the recent agreement reached in Kiev between President Yeltsin, President Clinton and President Kravchuk on the dismantling of the Ukrainian nuclear arsenal;

23.Calls for the establishment of regional security fora in all proliferation prone regions to identify and address those security concerns driving states to acquire nuclear weapons;

24.Calls upon the Community to provide non-proliferation expertise in countries where this is lacking, e.g. the Ukraine, India, Pakistan and North Korea, and to threaten economic sanctions against proliferators;

25.Urges the UN Security Council to take steps to ensure that the International Atomic Energy Agency can obtain authorization as soon as possible to inspect North Korea's nuclear sites;

26.Instructs it President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the UN Secretary-General, the CSCE Secretariat and the governments of the United States, Russia, China and North Korea.