B4-0582, 0596, 0602, 0613, 0629, 0646 and 0656/96

Resolution on the failure of the Conference on anti-personnel mines

The European Parliament,

- having regard to its previous resolutions on this subject, in particular those of 29 June 1995 ((OJ C 183, 17.7.1995, p. 44.)), 16 November 1995 ((OJ C 323, 4.12.1995, p. 118.)) and 14 March 1996 ((OJ C 96, 1.4.1996, p. 292.)),

A. whereas the conference revising the 1980 landmine protocol of the UN Conventional Weapons Convention was concluded in Geneva 3 May 1996,

B. deploring that the Conference failed to reach an agreement banning anti- personnel (AP) mines altogether and only resulted in an agreement, recommending that mines be made more easily detectable, self-destructing and self-deactivating,

C. alarmed at the absence of an efficient and binding international verification mechanism and at the possibility that implementation of the agreement might be delayed,

D. noting with satisfaction, however, that the revised protocol also applies to internal conflicts, in which such mines are used most frequently,

E. reminding that mines are easy to lay but difficult and expensive to remove and that landmines kill around 400 people a month and maim an estimated 1200,

F. whereas so far 39 countries have expressed their support for a ban on the use of anti-personnel mines, 16 have renounced their use by their own armed forces, 4 have suspended their use and 5 have started to destroy their stocks,

G. whereas all Member States have announced bans or moratoria on exports of anti-personnel mines,

H. whereas the Council has restated in its Declaration of 13 May 1996 its aim to eliminate completely all anti-personnel mines,

I. welcoming the announcement by Canada that it will hold an international conference on anti-personnel mines in Ottawa in September 1996,

J. taking note of the decision of President Clinton to ban dumb mines and to restrict the use of smart mines,

1. Regrets the weak provisions of the new second protocol on landmines, in particular the vague definition of anti-personnel mines, the virtual absence of transfer barriers, the long and meaningless transitional periods and the non-existence of any efficient system of verification;

2. Calls on the Council to adopt a strengthened joint action in order

- to achieve a total ban of AP mines;

- to continue working at international level for a ban, supporting the Canadian idea aiming at an anti-personnel mine-free zone amongst the countries that support a ban in September 1996 and a total ban amongst the CCW-countries at the earliest possible moment;

- to develop an EU-policy to convince countries that stayed outside the CCW-convention so far to participate in the process as soon as possible;

- to develop a compensation scheme for those developing countries that decide to offer their AP mines for destruction;

3. Calls on all the Member States of the Union to unilaterally ban the production and use of AP mines and to destroy existing stocks;

4. Calls on the Union and its Member States to take every opportunity to campaign for a worldwide ban on these mines and, in particular, to put to the Ottawa Conference a practical proposal for locating and destroying them and to consider the prospects for conducting specific mine-clearance operations, as envisaged by the Commission and Council, which will require the cooperation of the WEU in drawing and carrying out such operations;

5. Calls on the Commission to draw up a blacklist of countries which produce and export such weapons;

6. Calls on the Council and the Commission to enter into dialogue with the US government in an attempt to convince it of the need for a more far-reaching ban;

7. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Secretary-General of the Western European Union and the Canadian Government.