WRITTEN QUESTION E-4063/96 by Peter Crampton (PSE) to the Council (22 January 1997)

Subject: Council working groups on security issues

Can the Council provide a complete list of the names, functions and regularity of meetings of all the Council working groups in the fields of security, defence, disarmament and arms control?

Can the Council also provide details of the work in progress in those working groups?

Answer (16 May 1997)

The areas mentioned by the Honourable Member fall within the competence of seven Council Working Groups: the Working Groups on Security, OSCE, Global Disarmament and Arms Control, Non-Proliferation, Conventional Arms Exports, which operate within the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), and the ad hoc Working Parties on a European Armaments Policy and on Dual-Use Goods, which cover both EC and CFSP issues.

Each Working Group meets, as a minimum, three times per Presidency. Additional meetings are scheduled according to need either in Brussels or in the margins of sessions of international disarmament fora. Work in these meetings is prepared or finalized by frequent written communications through the Cortesy system, notably regarding decisions on demarches, Union statements in international fora, or Union declarations. The Troikas of the CFSP Working Groups also hold regular meetings with the associated countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the associated country Cyprus, with the EFTA countries members of the EEA (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) and with the USA. The Troika of the Security and of the OSCE Working Groups also hold meetings with Russia and with Turkey and will, in the future, according to the action plan recently adopted by the Council, meet Ukrainian experts on an ad hoc basis.

The Security Working Group exercises a role of horizontal coordination and initiative in this area, in order to make the most effective use of the expertise of the CFSP working groups dealing with specific aspects of security. Its own agenda covers the broad range of issues relating to EU security policy, including the monitoring of the evolution of the European Security Architecture, the development of EU policy reference points in relation to this evolution, relations between the EU and the WEU (pursuant to Article J.4(2) of the Treaty on European Union) and security aspects of EU regional initiatives.

The OSCE Working Group is more specifically tasked with the coordination of EU Member States' positions in connection with work carried out in that organization.

Ad hoc meetings on the OSCE security model bring together, as needed, both the OSCE and security experts.

The Working Group on Global Disarmament and Arms Control deals with disarmament issues handled in multilateral fora, such as the UN First Committee, the Conference on Disarmament and the UN Disarmament Commission. Significant elements in its current work programme include the implementation of the joint action on anti-personnel landmines adopted by the Council on 1 October 1996, preparation for the imminent entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention, work towards the establishment of a vertification Protocol for the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) following the 4th BTWC Review Conference, the follow-up to the completion last year of negotiations on a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), the forthcoming review of the UN Register of Conventional Arms and issues related to the Conference on Disarmament.

The Working Group on Non-Proliferation deals with issues related to the non-proliferation of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons. Such issues include EU coordination in relation to the implementation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and the work of international organizations and export control regimes such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), the Australia Group and the Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG). Other issues on which the Group has recently focused have included EU participation in the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organisation (KEDO). The future work programme will also cover preparation for the NPT Review Conference which is scheduled to take place in the year 2000 and meetings of the Preparatory Committee of that Conference.

The Working Group on Conventional Arms Exports is charged with:

- providing for information and consultation on matters of arms export policy of general interest, in close cooperation with the geographical Working Groups;

- giving particular attention to the implementation of the eight criteria, approved by the European Council in Luxembourg in June 1991 and in Lisbon in June 1992, which EU Member States have agreed to apply to arms exports, with a view to reaching a common interpretation thereof on the basis of the CFSP, where appropriate in cooperation with and on the basis of approved findings of the relevant geographical Working Groups.

To this end, the Group engages in an ongoing exchange of views on the interpretation and implementation of the Luxembourg and Lisbon criteria and on developments in national policies on arms exports licensing. It also provides the EU Member States with the possibility of programming the work of the Wassenaar Arrangement, the multilateral forum which aims to contribute to regional and international security and stability by promoting transparency and greater responsibility in transfers of conventional arms, thus preventing destablizing accumulations.

The ad hoc Working Party on a European Armaments Policy was established in July 1995, with instructions to:

- analyse the report drawn up by the informal Group of Experts responsible for studying the options for a European Armaments Policy (this informal Group composed of governmental experts of WEU/WEAG and EU Member States was established in autumn 1994);

- identify the points in the report which warrant further examination within the European Union framework;

- make recommendations for further action within the Community framework or within the framework of Title V of the Treaty on European Union and, if appropriate, list suggestions for specific measures, without prejudice to the Commission's right of initiative under the Treaty on the European Community.

The Commission communication of 24 January 1996 on "The Challenges facing the European defence-related industry¨ has also served as a basis for the Working Party's deliberations. In the ongoing pursuit of its mandate, the Working Party has to date focused on issues relating to the definition of characteristics specific to the defence-related sector, the possibility of simplifying controls governing intra-EU transfers of armaments (and other defence-related products) and the opening up of public procurement in the arms sector.

The ad hoc Working Party on Dual-Use Goods is responsible for the implementation of the integrated EU system for the control of exports of dual-use goods (i.e. goods which can be used for both civil and military purposes). This integrated system was established in December 1997 through the adoption of two instruments completing each other: a Council Regulation and a joint action. In particular, the Working Party keeps under constant review the common list of dual-use goods which are subject to control when exported from the European Community. This list implements internationally agreed dual-use controls, including those agreed in the Wassenaar Agreement, MTCR, NSG and the Australia Group. The list requires continuous updating in order to keep pace with the evolution of these regimes.