Strasbourg, 3 June – On Tuesday, the WEU Assembly adopted a resolution complementing and clarifying the provisions envisaged by the Convention on the Future of Europe in the fields of collective defence, enhanced cooperation and participation by national parliaments in the common foreign, security and defence policy.

On the basis of the two reports submitted by Mr Antonio Nazaré Pereira (Portugal, PSD) on behalf  of the Political Committee, the Assembly noted in particular the importance of including all European countries with an interest in the defence of the continent as a whole. The Assembly thus drew the attention of the Convention to the “geographical scope of the mutual defence clause” which “needs to be no less than the phrase ‘in Europe’ used in Article V of the modified Brussels Treaty”.

The Assembly also wants clarification on the “arrangements for participation in mutual defence” and in particular as to “whether or not the participating countries must be members of NATO and (…) what kind of military obligations arise out of such participation”. In the Assembly’s view, “in order to observe the principle of inclusivity”, tasks outside the European Union “should be open to non-EU European NATO Member States and to other interested European countries”.

The Assembly was highly critical of the Convention’s proposal to limit “the participation of national parliaments in the EU’s foreign, security and defence policy” to a body like COSAC with no binding powers. This proposal, in the Assembly’s eyes was an inappropriate and unacceptable step backwards.

Within the context of the same debate, the Assembly further adopted an order offering parliamentary delegations from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, FYROM and Serbia and Montenegro the opportunity to take part, as observers, in the work of the WEU Assembly.  The Assembly also hoped that appropriate arrangements could be reached to enable the Ukraine parliament to participate more fully in its activities.