Briefing
Paper - The EU and the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)
Contents:
Brief
Background on the NPT
Challenges
facing the NPT
EU
activities
Supporting
the Mayors for Peace and the 20:20 vision
Proposals
for action by the European Parliament
Definitions
Brief
Background on the NPT
The
NPT is a landmark international treaty whose objective is to prevent
the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote co-operation
in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of
achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament.
The Treaty represents the only binding commitment in a multilateral
treaty to the goal of disarmament by the nuclear-weapon States. Opened
for signature in 1968, the Treaty entered into force in 1970. A total
of 187 parties have joined the Treaty, including the five nuclear-weapon
States. More countries have ratified the NPT than any other arms limitation
and disarmament agreement, a testament to the Treaty's significance.
To
further the goal of non-proliferation and as a confidence-building
measure between States parties, the Treaty establishes a safeguards
system under the responsibility of the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA). Safeguards are used to verify compliance with the
Treaty through inspections conducted by the IAEA. The Treaty promotes
co-operation in the field of peaceful nuclear technology and equal
access to this technology for all States parties, while safeguards
prevent the diversion of fissile material for weapons use.
(http://www.un.org/Depts/dda/WMD/treaty/)
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Challenges
facing the NPT
Currently
a crisis of confidence in NPT regime for 2 main reasons: 1)
Failure of NPT signatories to meet obligations The
5 ( Britain , France , USA , China and Russia ) ‘official’
nuclear weapon states have failed to make progress to move away
from a nuclear weapons capability and make an effort to disarm.
They have continually treated their disarmament obligations as second
class commitments, to be pursued at their own time and pace and
only if completely convenient. Key
issues: ·
Failure to rule out first use- The
UK , USA and NATO have all failed to rule out first use of nuclear
weapons in a conflict situation (even when the opposition does not
possess nuclear capabilities). ·
USA policy- The
USA has failed to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and has
been hostile to international multilateral efforts to solve crises
and has pursued an aggressive unilateralist stance in its Foreign
Policy. The
current American foreign policy, especially the doctrine of ‘pre-emptive
war’, is provocative towards other states and encourages a
new arms race as States seek to protect themselves from US military
aggression. ·
Moves away from ‘deterrence’ and towards ‘theatre
use’ of nuclear weapons- The
Bush administration’s Nuclear Posture review calls for a shift
away from a nuclear deterrence and argues that nuclear weapons should
become practical weapons to be used in conflicts. The
double standard of these States in retaining and developing a nuclear
capability while objecting to other states developing nuclear technology
undermines the credibility of the NPT as no progress is made in
the area of disarmament. 2)
Non-signatories undertaking nuclear activities Israel
, India and Pakistan have developed nuclear weapons capabilities
and are not interested in joining. North Korea has withdrawn from
the NPT. States
developing nuclear technology outside of the framework of the NPT
undermines the effectiveness of the non-proliferation regime and
the IAEA to regulate the spread of nuclear technology. As
the UN High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change reported
in early December 2004: “The
nuclear non proliferation regime is now at risk because of lack
of compliance with existing commitments, withdrawl or threat of
withdrawl from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
to escape those commitments, a changing international security environment
and the diffusion of technology. We are approaching a point at which
the erosion of the non-proliferation regime could become irreversible
and result in a cascade of proliferation” (http://www.un.org/secureworld) Return
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EU
activities
The EU has a significant role to play as all EU Member States are
signed up to the NPT and Britain and France are nuclear weapons states.
The
EU Strategy against the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction As
part of implementing the European Security, adopted by the European
Council in December 2003, the Council also adopted an EU Strategy
against the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction to address
the threat posed by WMD. One
of the key measures of this EU WMD Strategy is firm engagement to
promote the universalisation and reinforcement of multilateral agreements
to prevent the proliferation of WMD and their means of delivery. The
other key measures of the EU WMD Strategy are the reinforcement
of export controls, within and outside the EU, and the criminalisation
of activities which contribute to the proliferation of WMD and WMD-related
materials (a declaration has been adopted by the European Council). The
EU Strategy against the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction
can be found at: http://www.sipri.org/contents/expcon/eu_wmdstrategy.pdf European
Parliament Resolution on Nuclear Disarmament (February 2004) In
its Plenary Session on Thursday the 26th February 2004 the Parliament
adopted a resolution on Nuclear Disarmament (European Parliament
resolution on nuclear disarmament: Non-proliferation Treaty Review
Conference in 2005 – EU preparation of third NPT PrepCom (New
York, 26 April – 7 May 2004). The
text: “Recalls
that the EU's objective is the complete elimination of nuclear weapons
and expects the declared and undeclared nuclear weapon states to
engage actively with this issue and to make further progress towards
reducing and eliminating nuclear weapons;” and “Calls
upon the EU and its Member States - in a spirit of 'effective multilateralism'
and solidarity and in pursuit of the EU Strategy Against the Proliferation
of Weapons of Mass Destruction - to form a common front at the NPT
PrepCom and the NPT Review Conference in 2005, and make a positive
contribution to the discussions; urges that their statements attach
special importance to new initiatives on nuclear disarmament and
the revitalisation of the UN Conference on Disarmament” Resolution
text can be found at: http://www.abolition2000.org/resources/docs/EP_Resolution_on_Nuclear_Disarmament.doc Return
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Supporting
the Mayors for Peace and the 20:20 vision
The Mayors
for Peace Emergency Campaign calls for the full implementation of
the NPT through a Nuclear Weapons Convention (NWC) by 2020. A model
of this treaty is already available in draft form (available online
at http://www.lcnp.org/mnwc/index.htm).
The
timetable for this vision (as outlined in “As Time Goes By”
– An Annual Assessment of Our Nuclear World, 2004, online
at http://www.atomicmirror.org/cards.htm)
is as follows: 2005:
Agree to open negotiations on a NWC 2008:
Complete negotiations on a NWC 2009:
Parliaments, congresses and diets ratify the NWC in country capitals
around the world with appropriate ceremonies 2010:
NWC enters into force, becoming the law of the planet 2011-2020:
Begin and complete the elimination of nuclear weapons, which includes
the following steps: make public declarations of all nuclear weapons,
material, facilities, and delivery vehicles; remove targeting coordinates
and navigational information from all nuclear weapon delivery systems;
disable and dealert all nuclear weapons and delivery vehicles; designate
for decommissioning and closure or conversion all nuclear weapons
testing, research, and production facilities; stop producing proscribed
nuclear material; stop all nuclear activities; stop producing nuclear
weapon components and equipment; stop funding for nuclear weapons
research; submit plans for fully implementing all obligations of
the NWC. As
the Mayor of Hiroshima said in his testimony to the Foreign Policy
Committee: “Europe
has an historic role to play in leading humanity toward a nuclear-weapon-free
future.” “Ideally,
European nations or the European Union as a whole could do at the
multilateral and international level what Mayors for Peace is doing
at the city and national level, recruiting and campaigning actively
to achieve that goal by 2020.” Return
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Proposals
for action by the European Parliament
Work
towards the EU and its Member States presenting a united multilateral
and pro-disarmament position at the upcoming NPT Review Conference
by; -
Reinforcing the Resolution adopted by the Parliament in February
2004 supporting the NPT and the elimination of nuclear weapons. - Putting
forward a resolution in support of the creation and adoption of
a Nuclear Weapons Convention by all countries. Return
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Definitions
‘Vertical
proliferation’ – the technological development
of nuclear weapons technology ‘Horizontal
proliferation’ – the spread of nuclear weapons
technology to other actors (state and non-state)
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