A4-0162/97

Resolution on the formulation of perspectives for the common security policy of the European Union

The European Parliament,

- having regard to Rule 148 of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to its resolution of 18 May 1995 on progress in implementing the common foreign and security policy (November 1993 - December 1994) ((OJ C 151, 19.6.1995, p. 223.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 18 July 1996 on progress in implementing the common foreign and security policy (January-December 1995) ((OJ C 261, 9.9.1996, p. 154.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 14 June 1995 on the establishment of a European Union Analysis Centre for Active Crisis Prevention ((OJ C 166, 3.7.1995, p. 59.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 13 March 1996 embodying (i) Parliament's opinion on the convening of the Intergovernmental Conference and (ii) an evaluation of the work of the Reflection Group and definition of the political priorities of the European Parliament with a view to the Intergovernmental Conference ((OJ C 96, 1.4.1996, p. 77.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 16 January 1997 on the general outline for a draft revision of the Treaties ((OJ C 33, 3.2.1997, p. 66.)),

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Security and Defence Policy and the opinion of the Committee on Institutional Affairs (A4- 0162/97),

A. whereas the European Union, as a community with a shared destiny, must be capable of ensuring the protection of its citizens, of contributing to the stability of the European continent and neighbouring areas, including the Baltic Sea region and the Mediterranean basin, the Near and Middle East and the Black Sea region, and of contributing to the preservation of peace and international security in accordance with the principles of the United Nations Charter and the objectives of the CFSP,

B. whereas the European Union has not yet exploited the full potential of the Treaty on European Union in order to formulate a genuine common security policy; whereas, at the same time, the scope of such a policy could be better defined at the Intergovernmental Conference,

C. whereas the present CFSP should give rise to proper application of a common foreign policy in which the EU speaks with one voice in international organizations; whereas the political importance and responsibility of the 15 should match their real political and economic weight in the world,

D. whereas the security policy should be based on the concept of a global and humane, common security achieved through collaboration founded on the principles of fairness, justice and reciprocity and involving cooperation, confidence-building measures, transparency, progressive disarmament, conversion and demilitarization as well as deliverance from chronic threats such as hunger, disease and repression,

E. whereas the CFSP should concentrate on developing capabilities to enable the EU to prevent conflicts and settle them by peaceful means,

F. whereas, despite the continuing differences of opinion among the Member States regarding the need to integrate the WEU into the EU's structure, a consensus is emerging on the need to give the Union the power and the necessary resources to carry out peace-keeping and peace-restoring missions,

G. whereas the Treaty should indeed contain a definition of the concept of common security based on the Union's capacity to anticipate and confront the threats to the Union's common values, fundamental interests, territorial integrity and independence and to help to preserve peace and strengthen international security by developing political interdependence, including financial solidarity,

H. whereas security also implies that the European Union should be capable, where necessary, of taking part in joint operations decided on in the context of the UN and the OSCE to protect its interests and values and of accepting its international responsibilities, in particular in the context of Petersberg missions assigned to the Western European Union, possibly in cooperation with NATO,

I. whereas the European Union does not at present possess its own analysis and evaluation capacity; whereas this is detrimental to the pursuit of an effective common foreign and security policy, whilst the Member States and the WEU possess intelligence capacities and diplomatic networks which should be placed at the disposal of the CFSP,

J. whereas the formulation of the common security policy constitutes an essential stage in the eventual framing of a common defence policy which might in time lead to a common defence,

A security policy for the European Union

1. Points out that the Lisbon European Council identified four areas relating to the 'security' dimension which can be the subject of joint actions, namely:

- the CSCE (OSCE since the Budapest Summit) process,

- the policy of disarmament and arms control in Europe, including confidence- building measures,

- nuclear non-proliferation issues,

- the economic aspects of security, in particular control of the transfer of military technology to third countries and control of arms exports;

2. Takes the view that the areas thus defined, which constitute essential components of a European Union security policy, should be extended to cover all the matters specified below;

3. Proposes therefore that security should be defined so as to make a distinction between external security, which comes under the European Union's external activities, as indicated in Article C of the EU Treaty, and internal security, which comes under the third pillar;

(a) The European Union's external security covers matters relating to:

- the territorial integrity of the Union and its Member States and the protection of its citizens,

- the control of armaments, whether they be conventional or nuclear, including proliferation issues and matters relating to the quantitative limitation, restricted use or prohibition of armaments,

- the existence of frontier problems, unresolved minority problems or inter-ethnic rivalries which are liable to spread and ultimately threaten the Member States of the Union, and the political turmoil and instability in certain countries bordering the Community territory,

- the glaring inequalities between the rich and the poor countries, with all the consequences which they imply, particularly for migratory flows,

- protection of the environment, in so far as environmental imbalances represent a threat to peace, and the threats posed by antiquated nuclear plants, nuclear waste and the storage of radioactive matter,

(b) The European Union's internal security covers matters relating to:

- the threats represented by terrorism and the activities of organized crime such as trafficking in weapons and drugs, money laundering and prostitution,

- the economic and social crisis in European societies which is leading to a weakening of the social consensus, and is focusing popular discontent on foreigners, giving rise to acts of racism and xenophobia;

4. Notes therefore that security can be safeguarded:

(a) externally, by means of conventional or preventive diplomacy or confidence-building measures in the military field and by means of economic aid, development aid, peace-keeping or peace-making missions and all forms of interstate, bilateral or multilateral cooperation such as the promotion of democracy and media pluralism,

(b) internally, by means of economic and social measures, measures in the field of culture and education in order to combat all forms of racial or xenophobic prejudice, and by further developing Europol and improving cooperation between national police, judicial and administrative authorities through minimum standards to be adopted using the Community method, and by communitizing some fields;

5. Strongly urges the Member States to make use of the Intergovernmental Conference to intensify the debate on European security and to reach an agreement so as to provide the European Union with the instruments necessary to implement a credible security policy in accordance with the letter and spirit of the Treaty on European Union;

6. Calls, therefore, on the Commission and the Council promptly to carry out a feasibility study into setting up a European corps consisting of civilian and military units responsible for keeping and restoring peace;

7. Believes that affirmation of the natural solidarity between the Member States in itself constitutes an important factor of security in as much as it acts in synergy with the security guarantees provided under the WEU and NATO;

8. Considers, further, that the inclusion of an economic security clause in the Treaties would give the European Union the means to act when the security of its communications and its supplies is threatened;

9. Affirms, lastly, that under a common security policy the European Union must be able to contribute to world peace and a stable world order, primarily in the areas located on its land and sea borders, and that, in this context, the armed forces of the Member States of the European Union might be deployed under a mandate issued by the UN or the OSCE, initially for Petersberg missions;

10. Calls therefore on the IGC, with a view to the affirmation of a common security policy, to provide for:

(a) the incorporation in the Treaties of a political solidarity clause and the addition of the principle of the integrity of the frontiers of the European Union and of its Member States, as features of the natural solidarity between the states of the Union,

(b) the inclusion in the Treaties of Petersberg missions which should take the form of joint actions pursuant to Article J.3 of the Treaty on European Union and in which all the Member States of the Union should take part physically and/or financially as an expression of their natural solidarity,

(c) the setting up, as previously called for in Parliament's resolution of 14 June 1995 and reiterated in that of 16 January 1997, of an analysis, early-warning and policy-planning centre under the joint responsibility of the Council and the Commission and with support from the WEU, for the purpose of providing, at the appropriate time, the necessary information to enable trouble spots to be detected and security-related EU positions and joint actions to be defined;

11. Requests that, with a view to the formulation of a common security policy and the implementation of Petersberg missions, the present cooperation between the European Union and WEU should gradually be strengthened;

12. Calls for the WEU's operational structures to be strengthened, without this leading to the duplication of NATO structures;

Regional aspects of common security

Relations with the states located to the east of the Union's borders

13. Notes that the OSCE is a very important component of pan-European security as a forum for dialogue and an instrument of preventive diplomacy; calls for it to be strengthened, provided that the security structures in which the majority of the Member States of the European Union participate are not thereby weakened;

14. Notes as well that the Council of Europe has an important role to play in promoting democracy and respect for human rights, both of which are essential components of security in Europe;

15. Emphasizes the positive role played by the Stability Pact in Europe as preventive diplomatic action by the European Union in relation to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and hence as a plank of a European Union security policy;

16. Takes note of the desire of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe to be integrated in the Western security structures, beginning with NATO, and affirms that this is a matter to be decided solely by the sovereign states concerned and by the Member States of the Atlantic Alliance;

17. Stresses also that an enlargement of the Atlantic Alliance must not signify a new division within the European continent or result in the creation of categories among the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and that its purpose is rather to extend stability eastwards and strengthen democracy there;

18. Is aware, however, of the apprehensions expressed in Russia about the prospect of former Warsaw Pact countries joining NATO and emphasizes that they could be allayed if a strategic security partnership were established, concomitantly with the enlargement of NATO, between the USA, the European Union, Russia and the other interested CIS states;

19. Considers that this strategic security partnership must stipulate the rights and obligations of the partners and that these obligations should include the principle of the territorial integrity and the inviolability of the borders of European states;

Relations with the Balkans

20. Notes that the Balkans still constitute the principal zone of instability in Europe and that, for this reason, it is important to facilitate the rapprochement of the countries in that region with European structures;

21. Therefore commits the European Union to supporting the democratic forces in that region, encouraging the countries in question to share its values by offering them prospects for cooperation, assisting them economically and financially with the aim of stabilizing them and, finally, promoting regional cooperation within the area;

Relations with the Baltic states

22. Draws attention to its resolution of 14 July 1995 on the orientations for a Union approach towards the Baltic Sea Region ((OJ C 249, 25.9.1995, p. 215.));

23. Points out that, following the latest accessions to the European Union and with future accessions, the Baltic will increasingly become an 'internal' sea and should develop into an area of cooperation between all the states bordering on it, including Russia and its Kaliningrad exclave;

24. Points out that the Barents Euro-Arctic Region is an integral part of Northern Europe, partly overlapping with the Baltic Sea Region, where cooperation should be developed as part of the comprehensive northern regions policies of the European Union;

25. Accordingly requests the Council of the European Union to use all the instruments at its disposal under the CFSP to lessen the ever-present threat of tension in the region and to reactivate the Baltic round-table talks which were set up as part of the negotiations on the Stability Pact in Europe and turn them into a forum for regular dialogue with the Baltic States which are not member countries of the European Union;

Relations with the states bordering on the Mediterranean and the Black Sea and those of the Near and Middle East

26. Underlines the importance of the Mediterranean for the security of the European Union as reaffirmed at the Barcelona Conference; points out that, despite the association agreements which they have concluded with the European Union, southern Mediterranean countries are vulnerable to political instability, terrorism or human rights violations on account of economic imbalances and the obstacles standing in the way of the Middle East peace process;

27. Is of the opinion that cooperative security structures should be set up in the Mediterranean to supplement the policy of Euro-Mediterranean partnership agreements pursued by the European Union;

28. Reaffirms that the differences of opinion existing between states bordering the Mediterranean must be settled in keeping with international law and the relevant UN resolutions, referring them where necessary, to the International Court of Justice;

29. Stresses the need to ensure the complementarity and transparency of the EU's dialogue with the countries of the Mediterranean in relation to corresponding dialogues started by other international organizations (the WEU, NATO and the OSCE);

30. Affirms that a Mediterranean security policy must be based above all on the improvement of economic and social conditions in the countries on the Mediterranean, particularly those on the southern coastline, and on controlling the flow of migrants and the networks used for arms trafficking;

31. Underlines the importance for European security of the Black Sea which borders, notably, on Transcaucasia, and calls therefore on the European Union to involve itself more fully in the economic cooperation zone of the Black Sea;

32. Notes also the importance of the Near and Middle East for international security, partly on account of the presence of vast oil resources, and urges the Council to develop the CFSP with the countries in that region;

33. Hopes also that the European Union will play a more active political role in the Middle East peace process, a process to which it has given a vital political impetus since the Venice Declaration of 1980;

Other considerations

34. Believes that it would be helpful, in the interests of the coherence and development of the CFSP, if joint Council meetings were to be convened, where necessary, of the foreign ministers and defence ministers of the Member States, in particular when it is necessary to instruct WEU to carry out Petersberg missions;

35. Affirms that a common security policy cannot in itself render the European Union immune to every conceivable threat and that the Union will inevitably have to broach the issue of defence;

36. Considers that a wider definition of a common security policy in Europe means that stronger emphasis must be placed on questions such as disarmament, conflict prevention and confidence building;

37. Recalls that, according to the Treaty on European Union, the CFSP includes the eventual framing of a common defence policy, which might in time lead to a common defence;

38. Considers that the European Union should adapt its present structures to bring them more closely into line with developments in security and, at a later stage, in defence, and also establish closer contact with the organizations responsible for implementing policy in these areas;

39. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the Intergovernmental Conference, the WEU, NATO, the OSCE, the UN, and the parliaments of the Member States and of the applicant countries.