On Tuesday July 1st 2008 12:00 noon at the EP in Brussels a cross-party group representing 69 Members of the European Parliament from 19 EU member states launched a "Parliamentary declaration in support of the Nuclear Weapons Convention". Their support marked the 40th anniversary of the nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), and the unfulfilled promise of the official Nuclear Weapon States to move towards total elimination of their nuclear arsenals.

The appeal calls for multilateral negotiations to prevent proliferation and achieve non-discriminatory nuclear disarmament through a Nuclear
Weapons Convention. The parliamentary statement was drafted and agreed by the cross-party group of Deputy Chairs of the European Parliament
section of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (PNND): Ms. Ana Gomes (PSE - Portugal) and Mr. Girts Kristovskis (UEN - Latvia), both vice-chairs of the EP Security and Defense subcommittee; Ms. Annemie Neyts (ALDE - Belgium); Ms. Angelika
Beer (Greens - ALE - Germany) and Mr. Andre Brie (GUE/NGL - Germany).


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1st July 2008 International Conference marking 40th anniversary NPT at the European Parliament, Brussels

"NUCLEAR ARSENAL IN THE EU AND ITS SECURITY"

Register

Organisers:
EP section of PNND (Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament), Belgian PNND, Mayors for Peace, Abolition 2000 Europe, Abolition 2000 Belgium, International Physicians for Prevention of Nuclear War, Greenpeace and CNAPD

Please find here more details of the "Parliamentary endorsement of the Nuclear Weapons Convention".

H.E. the Ambassador of Costa Rica has been invited as a guest. Costa Rica submitted the Nuclear Weapons Convention at the UN General Assembly in December 2007

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The following Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have agreed to sign the "Endorsement of the Nuclear Weapon Convention" on 1st July 2008, to mark the 40th anniversary of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

We are well underway and here are the countries where we have initial support. Support in Belgium and Luxembourg is already significant.

Text of the endorsement

Briefing on the Nuclear Weapons Convention

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Monday, June 30th, 7:00pm-10:00pm
At the EU Parliament, Room A1G-2

Registration form

See also: Conference in EP to mark 40 Years NPT, 1st July

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The Kuhne Report on European Security and Defence Policy and European Security Strategy was adopted on June 5th in the EP Foreign Affairs Committee. This report on the evolution of the European Security and Defence Policy and the European Security Strategy is produced annually. This year it included (in paragraph 26) specific wording calling for a nuclear weapon convention.

Full text of the report

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Conference report: "Good Faith, International Law, and the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons: The Once and Future Contributions of the International Court of Justice"

1 May, Warwick Hotel, Geneva.

Good Faith: A Fundamental Principle of International Law
John Burroughs, Lawyers' Committee on Nuclear Policy

"Good faith is a fundamental principle of international law, without which all international law would collapse," declared Judge Mohammed Bedjaoui during the first week of the PrepCom. Bedjaoui was President of the International Court of Justice when it gave its 1996 advisory opinion on nuclear weapons, and more recently, Algerian Foreign Minister. He delivered the keynote address to a conference, "Good Faith, International Law, and the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons: The Once and Future Contributions of the International Court of Justice," held on 1 May at the Warwick Hotel in Geneva.

A major portion of Judge Bedjaoui's address was devoted to the legal significance of the addition of the phrase ?good faith? to NPT Article VI, which requires each state party to ?pursue in good faith negotiations on effective measures ? relating to nuclear disarmament?. The phrase also figures in the Court?s unanimous formulation of the obligation, based on NPT Article VI, ?to pursue in good faith and bring to a conclusion negotiations on nuclear disarmament in all its aspects.? He explained that general legal principles governing good faith negotiation as applied in the NPT context include:

? sustained upkeep of the negotiation; awareness of the interests of the other party; and a persevering quest for an acceptable compromise, with a willingness to contemplate modification of one?s own position

? refraining from acts incompatible with the object and purpose of the NPT; proscription of every initiative the effect of which would be to render impossible the conclusion of the contemplated disarmament treaty

? respect for the integrity of the NPT; no selectivity regarding which provisions to implement

? a general obligation of information and communication

? prohibition of abuse of process such as fraud or deceit

? prohibition of unjustified termination of negotiations

In related observations regarding ?building confidence,? Judge Bedjaoui stated: ?Today more than ever, it is important to attribute a more decisive role to the UN in the coherent, democratic conduct of an integrated process of nuclear disarmament, with a realistic and reasonable schedule.?

Judge Bedjaoui also offered some fascinating comments on the 1996 opinion?s treatment of the question of legality of threat or use of nuclear weapons. He noted the ?radical incompatibility existing in principle between the use of nuclear weapons and respect for international humanitarian law? reflected in the opinion. And he attributed the Court?s failure to advise that threat or use is illegal in all circumstances to the inability of some judges to ignore the ?pseudo-scientific chiaroscuro? of a ?clean? nuclear bomb raised by some states and referred to in paragraph 95 of the opinion.

One of the conference panels considered the strategy of returning to the International Court of Justice to seek its advice on the legal consequences of the disarmament obligation. Phon van den Biesen, an Amsterdam-based lawyer, advocate before the Court, and vice president of the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA), observed that the nuclear weapon states ?pretend there are no specific obligations? flowing from the Court?s 1996 opinion. He said it is time for civil society to rally as it did in supporting the request for the first opinion, and for the UN General Assembly to ?break the stalemate and ask the Court to remind the world that international law is not just text on paper,

but agreed norms and obligations.? Representatives of organizations sponsoring the conference explained the emerging ?good faith? campaign. Among them was John Loretz, program director of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW). He said that the initiative to return to the Court and the International Campaign for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) complement each other.

Other speakers addressing the conference were international lawyers and law professors and NGO analysts. Peter Weiss, vice president of IALANA and of the F?d?ration Internationale des Droits de l?Homme, called the U.S. retrogression from the 13 practical steps for nuclear disarmament agreed at the 2000 NPT conference a ?clear violation? of good faith. Professor Marcelo Kohen of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, defended the Court?s holding in the 1996 opinion that states are required to ?conclude? negotiations on nuclear disarmament. While that term is not found in Article VI, it is implied by the mandate to achieve the object and purpose of the NPT.

Professor Karima Bennoune of Rutgers Law School, USA, surveyed the human rights critique of nuclear weapons, which she said has been underutilized in both the human rights and disarmament fields. She commented: ?As in the area of nuclear disarmament, in the world of human rights, all too often we see clear and repeated violations of Article 26 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties which stipulates that ?Every treaty in force is binding upon the parties to it and must be performed by them in good faith.? States are rarely held accountable for these abuses.? She concluded: ?Ultimately, I think that human rights and nuclear disarmament advocates should see a common interest in a vigorous defense of the principle of good faith in international legal process?as it is central to both our sets of projects.?

Ambassador Jaap Ramaker, drawing on his experience as chair of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) negotiations in 1996 when the treaty was adopted, identified political and legal conditions that support successful negotiations. Among them are: prior commitments to negotiation of a treaty (both the Partial Test Ban Treaty and the NPT identify the CTBT as an objective); commitments regarding completion of negotiation (the NPT 1995 Principles and Objectives specified 1996); establishment of a proper negotiating mechanism; and clear circumscription of the scope of the negotiations.

Speaking for the New York-based Lawyers? Committee on Nuclear Policy, I outlined the lack of compliance with the disarmament obligation in the last decade. There have been no negotiations, bilateral, plurilateral, or multilateral, on the reduction and elimination of nuclear arsenals. The only arguable exception, the two-page 2002 U.S.-Russian agreement, was more of a confidence-building measure, lacking provisions on verification or irreversibility.

Jacqueline Cabasso, executive director of the California-based Western States Legal Foundation, characterized the policy of the nuclear weapon states, in particular the USA, UK, and France, as ?fewer but newer,? and increasingly ?capacity- based.? These states, she said, cling to the notion of ?deterrence? while the ?threat? they seek to deter is an unknown and uncertain future. They are modernizing and qualitatively improving their ?enduring? nuclear arsenals, both warheads and delivery systems.

The day-long conference attracted 90 NGOs, students, and diplomats. It was sponsored by the World Court Project to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, a civil society coalition formed by IALANA, IPPNW, International Peace Bureau, World Court Project UK, International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility, Mayors for Peace, and other groups, and by the World Federation of United Nations Associations, the Simons Foundation, and the Stiftung Europ?ische Friedenspolitik. A report and speakers? papers will be available on www.lcnp.org. ?

John Burroughs is executive director of the Lawyers? Committee on Nuclear Policy and author of The Legality of Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons: A Guide to the Historic Opinion of the International Court of Justice (1997).

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During the meeting of the NPT Preparatory Committee (28 April - 9 May 2008 at the UN in Geneva), Abolition 2000 Europe and Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign organise a conference on "The European Union and the Nuclear Weapon Convention".

When: 1:15-2:45pm , Monday, 28 April 2008
Where: NGO room
Contact: Dominique Lalanne, Abolition 2000-Europe; co-sponsored by Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign
e-mail :
Website: abolition2000europe.org

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The Scottish government has set up an expert group to investigate how best to get rid of nuclear weapons, the Sunday Herald can reveal.

The group, to be chaired by Bruce Crawford MSP, the minister for parliamentary business, is seen by many as a crucial step towards making Scotland a nuclear-free nation - and could trigger a confrontation with Westminster.

The group - which includes religious leaders, academics, activists, a lawyer and a trade unionist - has been given the task of finding legal, planning, regulatory and diplomatic ways to block the plan to replace the Trident nuclear weapons system on the Clyde.

(From: The Sunday Herald)

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The following speech at the Munich Security Conference by the German minister of Foreign Affairs Steinmeier is a clear appeal to put disarmament again on the NATO agenda and follows his initiative together with the Norwegian minister at the NATO summit in December.
It is a quite positive sign, but it was a lone voice between the wolves. The debate is anyway going on inside NATO and it is up to us to create pressure to support this initiative. Please make sure that in as much parliaments as possible of NATO countries questions get tabled on how your government reacts to this intiative.

http://www.securityconference.de/konferenzen/rede.php?menu_2008=&menu_konferenzen=&sprache=en&id=208&

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Toward a Nuclear-Free World
By GEORGE P. SHULTZ, WILLIAM J. PERRY, HENRY A.
KISSINGER and SAM NUNN
January 15, 2008

The accelerating spread of nuclear weapons, nuclear know-how and nuclear material has brought us to a nuclear tipping point. We face a very real possibility that the deadliest weapons ever invented could fall into dangerous hands.

The steps we are taking now to address these threats are not adequate to the danger. With nuclear weapons more widely available, deterrence is decreasingly effective and increasingly hazardous.

(From: The Wall Street Journal) (More)

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German Foreign Minister Steinmeier and his Norwegian counterpart St?re have called on NATO countries to do more for disarmament. This call comes at a time when important international control regimes such as the CFE Treaty and the Non-Proliferation Treaty are at risk of coming unravelled. The Ministers discussed the proposal Friday (7 December) in Brussels with the other NATO Foreign Ministers. The goal is to identify areas in which NATO can better define its profile on disarmament, arms control and nuclear non-proliferation.

(From: Auswaertiges Amt)

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During the negotiations for a new federal government the flemish Christian-Democratic party CD&V tried to include the withdrawal of US nuclear weapons in the government agreement. This has been refused by the liberals, although it is unclear if it was by the flemish liberal party VLD (with foreign minister De Gucht) or by the french-speaking liberal party MR (which has a narrow relation with nuclear France).

So even when this gave no result, it is important to see that the change in position by the CD&V was real and not just election talk. It means that CD&V sees the withdrawal of US nuclear weapons as a realistic aim and that important steps are possible in the coming term. CD&V is the most atlantist party in the Belgian political landscape with a lot of connections in the Belgian diplomacy. Both the current NATO-ambassador and the diplomat dealing with non-proliferation and disarmament issues are known as christian democrats, even when the former government was one without christian democrats.

The proposal for the government agreement (based on the earlier parlementary resolutions):
- to propose initiatives in NATO concerning the review of strategic doctrines and the gradual withdrawal of the American tactical nuclear weapons from Europe as fulfillment of Article 6 of the NPT (my unofficial translation).
Dutch original:
- bij de NAVO initiatieven ter sprake te brengen in verband met de herziening van de strategische doctrines en de graduele terugtrekking van de Amerikaanse tactische kernwapens uit Europa met het oog op het realiseren van artikel 6 van het NPT.

Meanwhile the negotiations for a new government have led to a deadlock. It is at the moment unclear how the negotiations will continue and which parties in the end will form the government.

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On 1 October 200 people gathered on the main square of the Italian town Ghedi, to launch a new campaign to declare Italy a NWFZ through a legal initiative. The Mayors of Aviano, Castenedolo and Ghedi were the first to sign the new law proposal declaring Italy a nuclear-weapon-free country. A very significant event, as Aviano and Ghedi are the two Italian cities where US nuclear weapons are stationed. (More)

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Speech by Jonas Gahr Støre (Norwegian Foreign Minister) at the Civil Society Conference at the 10th Anniversary of the Mine Ban Treaty, Towards Human Security, Oslo, Norwegian Red Cross, 17 September 2007.

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Thursday 19 April 2007
European Parliament, Brussels
Organised by Abolition 2000 Europe, ISIS Europe, Mayors for Peace, Olof Palme International Center and the Parliamentary Network for Nuclear Disarmament

On Thursday April 19th, members of the European Parliament from across the political spectrum joined with disarmament experts, political leaders and civil society representatives in a conference "A Comprehensive approach towards nuclear disarmament".
The conference explored the possibilities and opportunities for the European Union to become increasingly involved in promoting non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament. This conference was very timely in as it took place during the run-up to the next Non-Proliferation Treaty Preparatory Committee from April 30 to May 11 2007.

(download the full report)

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In July 2006 legal experts and civil society representatives met in Brussels to examine the legality of nuclear weapons in depth. The occasion was the tenth anniversary of the Advisory Opinion of International Court of Justice (ICJ), the World Court, on the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons. The conference developed proposals for action by citizens to uphold the law, calling on diplomats and politicians to honour their Good Faith obligations. Freedom from Nuclear Weapons records their conclusions and outlines a way forward.

Download order form/flier (.doc)

Download complete text (.pdf)

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The following is the text (just a quick translation from the Italian) of the Appeal launching a national campaign in Italy to declare "the Republic of Italy a Nuclear Weapon Free Zone". The campaign will use the Italian Constitution provision permitting citizens to write legislation and to submit it to Parliament for acceptance. Italian law requires us to collect at least 50.000 signatures of electors, each one witnessed by a public officer (Mayors, Chairman of City Council, Notary Public, etc.) within a period of 6 months from the date the signature collections begins. (More)

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PRESS RELEASE

LUISA MORGANTINI
Vice President of the European parliament

(GUE/NGL)

STOP TO THE NUCLEAR WEAPONS: THE WORLD SHOULD LISTEN TO PUGWASH’S WORDS ABOUT DISARMEMENT AND PEACE (More)

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The following motion was approved by the Scottish Parliament:

"That the Parliament congratulates the majority of Scottish MPs for voting on 14 March 2007 to reject the replacement of Trident, recognises that decisions on matters of defence are matters within the responsibility of the UK Government and Parliament and calls on the UK Government not to go ahead at this time with the proposal in the White Paper, The Future of the United Kingdom's Nuclear Deterrent."

71 Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) voted for this motion, 16 against and 39 abstained.

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The two major metalworkers trade unions in Italy (FIM-CISL and FIOM-CGIL), who are members of the Italian Disarmament Network, are pleased to inform nuclear abolitionists that the following amendment was presented by the Italian trade union confederation to the Seville Conference of ETUC. The amendment, which reads as follows, was adopted.


"The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) calls on the European Union to work to achieve a world free of weapons of mass destruction within the shortest possible time and, with the aim to convert war economies into peace economies, calls for major reductions in military expenditure which diverts resources from urgent development needs, and for new initiatives to regulate and control world arms production and trade."

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A draft briefing paper by the Parliamentary Network for Nuclear Disarmament and the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War – Austrian and Swiss Affiliates.

Over the years there have been a number of proposals to establish nuclear weapon free zones (NWFZs) in Europe. However, due to Cold War
politics none of these were successful. There are a number of recent developments that are making the prospect of a NWFZ in Europe both more pressing and more possible. (More)

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Final conclusions

"A Comprehensive Approach towards nuclear disarmament"
Conference organized by Abolition 2000 Europe, ISIS Europe, Mayors for Peace, Olof Palme International
Center and Parliamentary Network for Nuclear Disarmament.

European Parliament April 19th 2007 Brussels
During this conference we explored the possibilities and opportunities for the EU to become increasingly involved in promoting non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament. This conference was very timely in the run-up to the next Non-Proliferation
Treaty PrepCom from April 30 to May 11 2007.

High-resolution pictures of the conference can be found on
http://fme.sincerethought.org/gallery/v/2007/EP

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Abolition 2000 Europe is co-organising a Conference in the European Parliament on Thursday April 19th:

"A comprehensive approach towards nuclear disarmament"

The aim of the conference is to:

• Bring Compliance with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Art. VI and bring the need for a "nuclear weapons convention" (2020 Vision of Mayors for Peace) to the forefront of EU Foreign policy
• Address use of double standards; including the 2 Nuclear Weapon States within the EU & the membership of many EU member states of NATO's Nuclear Planning Group.
• Influence critical EU and NATO members states: Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, Sweden & Turkey
• Promote withdrawal of U.S. nuclear weapons from Europe and the creation of a new Nuclear Weapons Free Zone

The conference is organised by: Parliamentary Network on Nuclear Disarmament – Mayors for Peace - ISIS Europe – Abolition 2000 Europe – Olof Palme International Center

We will also have the Abolition 2000 Europe network meeting coinciding with this conference.

Programme

Online regsitration form

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AN SNP-LED Executive would put itself on a collision course with the UK government by criminalising ministers and civil servants who prepare the groundwork for using nuclear weapons based in Scotland.

Nationalist leader Alex Salmond has said he will back a bill as first minister which would thwart the renewal of the Trident missile system. He believes the measure will help make Holyrood the political centre for ridding Scotland of weapons of mass destruction.

(from: Sunday Herald)

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An update on parliamentary work on nuclear weapons in Belgium.

Compiled by Hans Lammerant

Bombspotting - Vredesactie
www.bombspotting.be - www.vredesactie.be

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The UN press release concerning General Assembly votes on resolutions on disamament and security on December 6, based on recommendations from the First Committee, is at:
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/ga10547.doc.htm

For a commentary by Michael Spies on the US votes, see
http://www.lcnp.org/disarmament/unga2006.htm

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THE government will signal within the next two to three weeks that it wants to continue with the submarine-based Trident missile system as the UK's nuclear deterrent, according to Whitehall sources, writes Michael Smith.

Tony Blair has promised MPs a full debate on the issue and reportedly told a cabinet meeting last week that he wants the debate to begin quickly "because a decision needs to be made".

The Sunday Times November 19, 2006
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Article by the Foreign Ministers of Germany and Norway,
Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Jonas Gahr-Støre
published on Friday, November 10, 2006
Unofficial English version

The security situation in Europe has changed dramatically over the last 20 years. The threat of nuclear annihilation, which dominated strategic thinking throughout the Cold War, has abated - fortunately. Unfortunately, the momentum for arms control and disarmament seems to have followed suit, and we are faced with a different – more complex and less predictable – set of challenges to the international non-proliferation and disarmament regime (More)

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This is a list of the MEPs who signed the European Parliament Written Declaration on US nukes in Europe.

More info on the declaration

Find contact details for your MEP:
www.europarl.europa.eu/members/public.do?language=en

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MEPs heard on Thursday from a variety of experts, EU officials
and civil society representatives on the threats facing the nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The public hearing, organised by the
Subcommittee on Security and Defence, addressed both the general
prospects for non-proliferation as well as the specific threat to the
NPT regime by Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Speeches (.doc or .pdf files):
Janet Bloomfield, Annalisa Giannella, Dr. Pierre Goldschmidt, Dr Bernd
W. Kubbig, Lars-Erik Lundin, Prof. William C. Potter, Dr Stephen Pullinger, Dr Bruno Tertrais

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SEMIPALATINSK, Kazakhstan (Reuters) - The five ex-Soviet republics of Central Asia signed a treaty on Friday declaring a "nuclear-weapon-free zone" but the world's Western nuclear powers declined to lend their weight to it. (More)

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Two Green women Members of the European Parliament, Caroline Lucas (UK) and Angelika Beer (Germany) have submitted an excellent Written Declaration on the Withdrawal of US nuclear weapons from European territory before the end of 2006.

The Written Declaration 0047/2006 has been translated into all of the languages of the EU, can be downloaded here:

Czech, Danish, German, Greek, English, Spanish, Estonian, Finnish, French, Hungarian, Italian, Lithuanian, Latvian, Dutch, Polish, Portugal, Slovakian, Slovenian, Swedish (.doc files, 30k)

You can also download a standard letter, that Greenpeace is sending to all MEPs in the NATO nuclear sharing countries, and other offices where they have a presence.
However, the call needs to be much much broader than from just Greenpeace, and we really hope you can help to contact your MEP!

Download the standard letter here.

The timing of this is important, as Written Declarations are "live" for only 3 months and require half of the MEPs to sign on before they become an official resolution. The declaration will expire at the end of the
European Parliament's Plenary Session on 11 and 12 October.

Find contact details for your MEP:
www.europarl.europa.eu/members/public.do?language=en

List of MEPS who already signed (More)

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The German Social Democrats SPD (who are in the government coalition) have held a conference on 26th, which was called “Peace through Disarmament. International Law and Non-proliferation�. Speakers were Dr. ElBaradei from the IAEA, Kurt Beck (Head of the SPD Party), and Frank-Walter Steinmeier, German Foreign Minister.

After Steinmeier’s comments to the journal Spiegel recently, saying more or less directly that a Germany could give a good example to be serious about the nuclear disarmament duty in the NPT, by renouncing from the nuclear sharing with Tornado bombers, let me translate two central sentences of the speech of Kurt Beck at the conference:

“Next year Germany will have the G8 Presidency and in the second half of the year the EU-Presidency. We will press for the topic disarmament to be put on the agenda by Germany’s presidencies.�

Referring to the World Court opinion of 1996, he says: “We have no understanding for single states thinking aloud about using nuclear weapons tactically and supposedly `limited`�

The conference is documented at: http://www.spd.de/servlet/PB/menu/1053429/f1676216-e1678702.html (in German)
English translations of the speeches of: Kurt Beck and Frank-Walter Steinmeier

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The following is a speech given by Kurt Beck, (the Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany and Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate) during the conference on "Peace through Disarmament: International Law and Nuclear Non-Proliferation", 26th June 2006 (More)

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The following is a speech made by German Federal Minister Steinmeier at an SPD conference on "Peace through Disarmament: International Law and Nuclear Non-Proliferation", June 26th 2006

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Germany called on Saturday for the world's leading nuclear powers to reduce their atomic arsenals as they press Iran to curb its nuclear program.

Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier urged the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France -- to make concessions in the context of the Iran dispute, Spiegel magazine reported.

(From: Reuters)

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On 4th May, there was a debate on the replacement of Trident (British nuclear weapon system) in the Scottish Parliament.

Note: the Scottish Parliament does not have responsibility for Defence or Foreign affairs, it is a "reserved" issue, meaning that the British Parliament retains responisbility.

(Full text of the debate, Scottish Parliament website)
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A new report on The Legal Framework for Non-Use and Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, by John Burroughs of Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy

Download the report (.pdf, 150kb)
Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy

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"I hereby call on the governments of Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands,
Turkey and the United Kingdom to:
a.) begin negotiations for the withdrawal of US nuclear weapons from Europe, and
b.) end nuclear sharing."

Signatories
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A resolution introduced in the German Parliament last week calls for the withdrawal of U.S. nuclear weapons from Germany. The resolution, which was submitted by nine parliamentarians from the newly formed party Die Linken, also calls for the German Air Force to end its controversial NATO mission to deliver U.S.
nuclear bombs in times of war.
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The 60th General Assembly heard much talk of old and new dangers facing the world — especially the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the possibility of terrorist use of weapons of mass destruction — but States remained divided on what to do on key issues. Of the 55 resolutions that emerged from Assembly’s First Committee (Disarmament and International Security), 29 had to be voted upon. See this page for votes of members of the Conference on Disarmament. As in past years, nuclear issues proved the most controversial, accounting for nearly a third of the voted resolutions. Also in keeping with tradition, not a single resolution dealt with the arms industry which profits from global instability and conflict.

From: Disarmament Times, 2005/4 pages 1-5

View the voting record for all members of the Conference on Disarmament

Reaching Critical Will explanation of the resolutions and voting

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Members of the EP Subcommittee on Security and Defence with their contact details. (More)

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This resolution was passed by the European Parliament on 24th February 2004, before the NPT PrepCom (New York, 26 April - 7 May 2004) (More)

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Signed at Washington, London, and Moscow July 1, 1968 (More)

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This Declaration was agreed by the EU Heads of State, during the Thessaloniki European Council, 19-20 June 2003  (More)

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This resolution was passed by the European Parliament in 1995, before the NPT Review Conference.

EP Resolution on the Conference on the Extension of the Nuclear Non­Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in New York from 17 April to 12 May 1995

A4-0054/1995

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The European parliament has adopted a text on the non-proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction.
This is a very long resolution, even by EU standards.
Click here for a summary and commentary on selected items
Read the full text of the resolution
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Senator Jack Reed and Senator John D. Rockefeller have introduced an amendment to the US Defense Spending bill concerning the US nuclear weapons in Europe.
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Text as adopted:EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 2004-2009 Session document

European Parliament resolution on the Non-Proliferation Treaty 2005 Review Conference – Nuclear arms in North Korea and Iran

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Every five years the NPT states meet at the UN in New York for a Review Conference.
The next one will take place in 2010. In the intervening years there are Preparatory Committee Meetings(PrepComs).

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Three of the world's five official nuclear weapon states (Britain , China, France, Russia and U.S.) are European.

Moreover several European nations have US tactical nuclear weapons deployed on their territory: Belgium, Britain, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and Turkey . According to the nov-dec. 2004 issue of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist the U.S. has 480 nuclear warheads deployed in these countries (1)

However compared to the unilateral policies of Washington, Europe recently played a major role in the multilateral arena. Remember the positive role of Europe for the establisment of the International Criminal Court, for the Landmines Treaty, the Kyoto protocol, the EU embargo on GMO's, a more balanced position towards the Middle East, this to name just some. Also in the field of nuclear disarmament European capitals often take a more progressive approach.

Especially EU member states Ireland and Sweden have taken a leading role within the UN outlining a New Agenda for Nuclear Disarmament. Together with Brazil, Egypt, Mexico, New Zealand and South Africa this New Agenda Coalition(NAC) aims to built a bridge between the NAM countries -overwhelmingly in favor of nuclear disarmament- and the Western countries which often oppose steps towards nuclear disarmament as dictated by the U.S.

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The Belgian House of Representatives has adopted a resolution on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, calling for the withdrawal of the US nuclear weapons based in Europe. They also ask to exclude nuclear weapons from the common EU security policy. This is the second time that a parliamentary assembly in Europe demands the withdrawal of U.S. nuclear weapons. The Belgian Senate approved a similar resolution last April 21st 2005, just prior to the NPT Review Conference in New York which ended in failure. An estimated 480 U.S. tactical nuclear weapons are suspected to be based in Belgium, Germany, England, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey. The United States is currently the only country to have nuclear weapons stationed on the territory of other countries. (More)

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The Belgian Senate has this evening passed a resolution on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, calling for the withdrawal of the 480 US nuclear weapons based in Europe.
This is the first time that a parliament in Europe has demanded the withdrawal of these nuclear weapons that are currently based in Belgium, Germany, England, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey. The United States is currently the only country to have nuclear weapons stationed on the territory of other countries.

Text of the resolution (.pdf)
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