Paris, 3 December 2002 – The WEU Assembly, on Tuesday, looked for stronger cooperation between the EU and NATO as a means of squaring up to the challenges arising out of their respective enlargements and the widening gap between European and United States interests.

In a report on “The enlargement of NATO and the EU”, submitted on behalf of the Political Committee, Mr Marco Zacchera (Italy, Fed.) felt that it was of the utmost importance that, once enlarged, “the EU and NATO should reach agreement on arrangements for two-way cooperation and task-sharing in a spirit of mutual understanding”. This was the more necessary, in his view, since “WEU no longer acts as a pivot between the two organisations”. He stressed the risk of growing Euro-American differences in regard to security and defence policy. In his view “the current enlargement process served to show that Europe’s and America’s geopolitical interests were no longer the same” and that Washington might be expected to further extend its leading role in NATO.

The Assembly therefore wanted to see “a thorough review of NATO’s future role in the light of the reunification of the continent of Europe” that would include definition both of the part Europeans’ were to play in an enlarged Alliance and the United States role in Europe’s security and defence. It also supported moves towards securing a firm, unambiguous common defence commitment, before enlargement was completed.

The Assembly finally advocated keeping WEU and its Assembly as a wider forum for strategic reflection able to accommodate parliamentary delegations from all the NATO and EU accession countries concerned.

The full text of the Assembly’s recommendation and report can be downloaded from the Assembly’s website at: