Brussels, 27 October 2004. – Last week’s celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the modification of the Brussels Treaty were preceded on 20 October by the biannual meeting of leading parliamentarians from the Assembly with the WEU Permanent Council.

The membership of the WEU Council is virtually the same as that of the EU Political and Security Committee (PSC). All EU members, with the exception of Cyprus and Malta, and all European NATO members are represented on the WEU Permanent Council. The national parliamentarians from the 28 WEU nations used the opportunity to meet their countries’ governmental representatives.

The PSC Chairman, Ambassador Alphons C.M. Hamer, representing the Dutch EU/WEU-Presidency, briefed parliamentarians about the latest ESDP developments and replied to their questions. The Chairman of the Council’s Politico-Military Group, Dick Zandee, and Jon Jansen, representing the Dutch WEAG Presidency, were also available for questions.

Assembly Rapporteur Bart van Winsen (Netherlands, Federated Group) asked whether the Council thought it necessary, in view of the higher risks EU member states would be prepared to take when participating in military crisis management operations, to offer them the protection of the modified Brussels Treaty. Ambassador Hamer replied that any country interested in acceding to the Treaty should make representations to the Council for that purpose. The Council would then give full consideration to its request. Finn Kristian Marthinsen (Norway, Federated group) asked when a formal EU Council of Defence Ministers would be set up. Ambassador Hamer replied that the current practice was for the Defence Ministers to meet in the EU Council’s General Affairs and External Relations formation and said the next such meeting was scheduled for November when the PSC would be reporting to the Council on capability issues. Guiseppe Gaburro (Italy, Federated Group) asked how the EU Security Strategy was to be implemented. Ambassador Hamer explained that the PSC was currently developing a strategy to respond to the challenges presented by priority areas such as the wider Middle East including northern Africa. A comprehensive strategy was also being developed for Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the EU would soon be able to use the full range of its instruments including a military operation (Althea). The EU Special Representative, Lord Ashdown, would be responsible for coordination of the various EU instruments. The EU would also attach great importance to effective multilateralism, which could only work if the United Nations functioned well. Cooperation with regional organisations including the OSCE and the African Union was being intensified. A further area in which the Security Strategy was being translated into action was the capability improvement process.

Mike Hancock (United Kingdom, Chairman of the Liberal Group) did not think the British public would trust a European executive to use the possibilities the new Constitutional Treaty offered unless there was provision for proper collective scrutiny by national parliamentarians. He was also convinced that the Constitution would not be ratified unless collective parliamentary oversight by national parliamentarians was established. Ambassador Hamer said the decision to send national forces into an EU crisis management operation would continue to be taken at national level with the involvement of national parliaments. As national parliamentarians, members of the Assembly had the power to decide at national level whether and where to deploy troops. The difficulty lay in finding a formula for the European level. Stef Goris (Belgium, Liberal Group) said that if parliamentary scrutiny in the EU was confined to the national level, this would fall short of what had been achieved in WEU. He asked about forthcoming EU operations in Africa and in particular in Kinshasa (Congo). Ambassador Hamer replied that the PSC had recently concentrated on Darfur (Sudan) and discussed how the EU could support the African Union’s efforts to deal with the situation. The AU Secretary-General had made a presentation to the PSC and the decision had been taken to make substantial funding available. With regard to Kinshasa, the PSC was working on the transformation of a European Commission operation involving police training into a more comprehensive ESDP operation.

Christina Lucyga (Germany, Socialist Group) pointed out that a common security and defence policy required agreement on the way ahead in respect of issues such as Iraq, counter-terrorism and organised crime, but there seemed to be a lot of division. Ambassador Hamer replied that terrorism was a tremendous threat. The PSC would be conducting a regular review of threat analysis and translating it into various regional policies including technical counter-terrorist assistance to third countries. ESDP could do more in the area of counter-terrorism and that was why the PSC was working on a fundamental conceptual framework for it. Edward O’Hara (United Kingdom, Socialist Group) enquired about the programme of work of the European Defence Agency on armament procurement cooperation. Dick Zandee, the Chairman of the Council’s Politico-Military Group, replied that the working programme for 2005 was currently being drawn up. Marco Zacchera (Italy, Federated Group) asked for the PSC’s assessment of the situation in the Caucasus region and about a possible role of the EU as a guarantor. Ambassador Hamer said the PSC had discussed the situation in the Caucasus in general terms and in close cooperation with the EU Special Representative for the Southern Caucasus, Ambassador Heikki Talvitie. The very first EU rule-of-law mission (Themis) had been launched in Georgia. The key to success for Georgia was to divert attention away from internal conflicts and focus on reform. After the initial ESDP presence had been established through the rule-of-law mission, the question of sending observers could be considered. Kevin McNamara (United Kingdom, Socialist Group) asked for more details about PSC activities in connection with the wider Middle East, a region he felt was vital when dealing with terrorism. Ambassador Hamer explained that a number of initiatives were under way to make ESDP more visible in the region, including an invitation to Mediterranean countries to appoint a contact person in the EU.

- Javier Solana submits annual report – WEU mandate extended

WEU Secretary-General Javier Solana has forwarded the first part of the annual report of the Council to the Assembly on the Council’s activities for the first half of 2004. Unlike the previous annual report, this latest document does not contain an evaluation by WEU of recent developments under the ESDP. However, in Brussels the Dutch Presidency of the Council briefed parliamentarians extensively on recent ESDP developments (see above).

Javier Solana’s mandate as Secretary-General of WEU has been extended by the member states until November 2007 (with the possibility of a further two-year extension thereafter). President Glesener congratulated Secretary-General Solana on his reappointment and stated that, in accordance with its Charter, the Assembly would continue actively to support the development of ESDP. The Assembly was an invaluable forum in which the EU executive could present its policies to members of national parliaments who specialised in security and defence issues.