98/197/CFSP: Common Position of 4 March 1998 defined by the Council on the basis of Article J.2 of the Treaty on European Union, relating to progress towards a legally binding Protocol to strengthen compliance with the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) and the intensification of work in the Ad Hoc Group to that end
Date: 1998-03-04
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Treaty on European Union, biological weapon, common position, non-proliferation of arms, weapon of mass destruction

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Official Journal of the European Communities

12.3.98

COMMON POSITION

of 4 March 1998

defined by the Council on the basis of Article J.2 of the Treaty on European Union, relating to
progress towards a legally binding Protocol to strengthen compliance with the Biological and
Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) and the intensification of work in the Ad Hoc Group to
that end

(98/197/CFSP)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in
particular Article J.2 thereof,

Whereas the Council defined on 25 June 1996 Common
Position 96/408/CFSP relating to the preparation of the
Fourth Review Conference of
the Convention on
the development, production and
the prohibition of
(biological) and toxin
stockpiling of bacteriological
weapons and on their destruction (BTWC) (1),

HAS DEFINED THIS COMMON POSITION:

measures, including verification measures, which are both
central and essential to an effective Protocol to strengthen
compliance with the BTWC:

— declarations of a range of facilities and activities of
potential relevance under the Convention, inter alia so
as to enhance transparency,

— provision for visits to facilities in order to promote
accurate and complete declarations and thus further
enhance transparency and confidence,

— provision for rapid and effective investigations into
concerns over non-compliance, including both facility
and field investigations,

Article 1

— a

cost-effective

and

independent

including
implementing the Protocol effectively.

small permanent

a

staff,

organisation,
capable of

this Common Position shall be to
The objective of
the
promote the early and successful conclusion of
negotiations,
in the BTWC Ad Hoc Group, on a
legally binding Protocol establishing a verification and
compliance regime which will effectively strengthen the
Convention.

4. Member States shall also continue to promote the
universality of the Convention.

Article 2

Article 3

1.
For the purposes laid down in Article 1, Member
States consider that the negotiations on a Protocol to the
BTWC should be a high priority for the international
community in 1998, and shall actively promote decisive
progress in the work of the Ad Hoc Group, with a view to
concluding the substantive negotiations by the end of
1998, so that the Protocol can be adopted by a Special
Conference of States Parties early in 1999.

The action taken in support of the objectives set out in
Articles 1 and 2 shall include:

— the pursuit by Member States of joint positions in the
negotiations, including where appropriate the tabling
of specific papers and proposals for submission in the
ad hoc Group, in particular on the central areas and
elements identified in Article 2(3),

2. Member States consider it essential that the necessary
time should be allocated to the negotiations of the Ad Hoc
Group, so as to allow their early conclusion. Member
States will press in the Ad Hoc Group for sufficient time
to be allocated.

— de´marches by the Presidency, under the conditions laid
down in Article J.5(3) of the Treaty, with regard to
States Parties, in order to urge their support for the
objectives in Article 2 of this common position,

3. Member States shall, in particular, work together to
promote agreement in the negotiations on the following

(1) OJ L 168, 6.7.1996, p. 3.

— de´marches by the Presidency, under the conditions laid
down in Article J.5(3) of the Treaty, with regard to
States which have not yet signed, and States which
have signed but not yet ratified, the BTWC, in order
to promote the universality of the Convention,

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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— contacts between the Governments of Member States,
including seminars,
furthering understanding between
and those

the Commission and industry,
with the aim of
representatives of European industry
involved in the negotiations in the Ad Hoc Group.

Article 5

This Common Position shall be published in the Official
Journal.

Article 4

Done at Brussels, 4 March 1998.

This Common Position shall enter into force on the date
of its adoption.

For the Council

The President

G. BROWN