Since the end of the Cold War, the nature and origins of threats on Europe have changed. This evolution of repartition of powers in the world led some countries to develop their defence and military capabilities, whether it concerns missiles, biological or chemical weapons, or the ultimate military achievement, nuclear weapons. These countries are considered proliferant, although the definition of proliferation remains different from one country to another. We consider in this paper, that proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) consists in the acquisition of ballistic missiles (by purchasing or developing them), the establishment of nuclear programmes for military purposes, and the development of biological and chemical weapons. To what extent is European Union concerned? What are the tools at the disposal of the EU, and especially the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)? The territorial security, and specially, when it comes to military matters, is primarily a state concern. But in the European Union, member states have pooled their powers and concerns, which allow not only common actions but also common worries.
[...] After a Common Position of the Council of Ministers on universalisation and reinforcement of multilateral agreements in November, a major step was finally taken in December 2003, not only for non proliferation policy, but also for the CFSP in general : the adoption of the EU Strategy against the proliferation of WMD which is both a culmination and the start of a cohesive strategy, and the adoption of the European Security Strategy The strategy on WMD has three chapters : one assessing the threats, the second prescribing a multilaterist response, and the last one giving all instruments that must be used, among which developing the necessary structures within the Union Indeed a strategy is nothing without concrete measures. [...]
[...] Second, the EU, which relies on multi- This arms embargo on China was imposed after the Tiananmen massacre in 1989, and will be abolished only when China moves toward EU human rights norms EU-US Summit Declaration on enhancing cooperation in the field of non proliferation and the fight against terrorism, Joint Programme of work on the non proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, June lateral agreements, has difficulties to deal with the Iranian claim of the inalienable right of any state to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes Today according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran possesses all the technologies required to develop nuclear weapons, despite all EU efforts of negotiations, the sanctions imposed by the United Nations since December 2006 and the Resolution 1747 adopted by the Security Council last 24 March. [...]
[...] With the evolution of war technologies and at the same time the lower risk of direct conflict than in the past, nowadays the expression of security dilemma is for some states to proliferate, and for some others (including the EU) to fight against proliferation by different means. How efficient is this fight ? What are the tools available ? What is the strategy of the CFSP ? It must be stated as a first step what the threats on the European continent really are in order to evaluate how the states proliferate in the world, in what manner and to what extend, and in order to evaluate the security dilemma that the EU is facing nowadays. [...]
[...] In December 2003 a European Security Strategy was adopted by the European Council, together with a specific EU Strategy adressing the problem of WMD proliferation and in which we shall look more deeply further. In the European Security Strategy, also named A Secure Europe in a Better World three points can be stressed. First, the first words are Europe has never been ( ) so secure With this statement, the EU wants to reassure about the security dilemma and the threats that are being faced. [...]
[...] This is a problem since the CFSP faces a big challenge : the status of France and UK at the Security Council must not be a hurdle to common European foreign positions. A second point of disagreement put France against the rest of the member states and the European Parliament last January3, concerning the adoption by all the member states of an EU code on arms exports drafted in 2005. France is the biggest arms exporter among the European countries, and certainly 3 Article from EUobserver, France blocking plan for EU code on arms exports Janu- ary 2007. [...]
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