WRITTEN QUESTION P-0552/01 by Ioannis Souladakis (PSE) to the Council. United States missile defence.
Date: 2001-02-20
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: ABM Agreement, United States, anti-missile defence, common foreign and security policy, international security, non-proliferation of arms

C 340 E/46

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

4.12.2001

Legislation on BSE is agreed at Community level and enforced by Member State authorities. In the case of
the feed ban that forms the basis of the Portuguese and United Kingdom derogations, it would be difficult
to envisage how such a measure could be enforced and assessed at anything less than a national level.

(1) OJ L 84, 23.3.2001.

(2001/C 340 E/052)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0552/01

by Ioannis Souladakis (PSE) to the Council

(20 February 2001)

Subject: United States missile defence

In a recent
interview published on 6 February 2001 in the International Herald Tribune, George
Robertson, NATO Secretary-General, said that NATO was the most suitable institution to discuss the
development of the missile defence system which George Bush, the newly-elected President of the USA,
has brought back into the news with plans for its development.

In view of both the extreme importance of this issue for European countries and the creation of the CFSP
within the European Union framework:

1. Does the Council not consider that limiting discussions on this subject exclusively to the NATO
the Union(cid:146)s participation at a time when the EU is

setting will produce conclusions without
establishing the CFSP?

2.

Is the Council examining the possibility of bringing the subject up for discussion within the European
Union to determine the Member States(cid:146) common positions on this issue?

3. What is the Council(cid:146)s position on the topic, in view of the objections to the US leadership(cid:146)s intentions

from a number of EU Member States, NATO and other countries?

Reply

(10 July 2001)

There is so far no Council position on the National Missile Defence System. But as the Honourable
Member stated, several Member States have expressed their national views on the US plans. It should be
also recalled that according to Article 22 of the Treaty on European Union, any Member State may refer to
the Council any question relating to the common foreign and security policy.

The subject of NMD has been raised on several occasions during discussions between the Secretary
the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Mr Solana, and his
General/High Representative for
US counterparts. The Secretary General/High Representative has echoed the views expressed by a number
of Member States on the importance of maintaining global stability through an agreed security framework.
He has also underlined the need for full and transparent consultations between the US and its European
allies on this issue.

Furthermore at the 2000 Non-proliferation Treaty Review Conference, the EU reaffirmed the importance
of the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty signed in 1972 by the US and the Soviet Union as one of the
pillars of strategic stability. The EU also stated that it wishes to see that Treaty preserved.