Western European Union

Western European Union Union de l'Europe occidentale Defensive alliance 1954–2010 → Flag Members • Associate members • Observers • Associate partners Capital Brussels Political structure International organisation Historical era Cold War  - Treaty of Brussels 17 March 1948  - London and Paris Accords 21 October 1954  - Treaty of Lisbon 1 December 2009  - Abolition 31 March 2010

History of the European Union
This article is part of a series
Timeline Pre-1945 ideas 1945–1957 1958–1972 1973–1993 1993–2004 2004–present
Organisation European Communities (1958-2009) European Coal and Steel Community (1952-2002) European Economic Community (1958-1993) European Atomic Energy Community (1958-present) European Community (1993-2009) Justice and Home Affairs (1993-2003) Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters (2003-2009) Common Foreign and Security Policy pillar (1993-2009) Western European Union (1954-2010)
Treaties Treaty of Paris Treaty of Rome Merger Treaty Single European Act Treaty of Maastricht Treaty of Amsterdam Treaty of Nice Treaty of Lisbon
Commissions Hallstein Commission 1958 Rey Commission 1967 Malfatti Commission 1970 Mansholt Commission 1972 Ortoli Commission 1973 Jenkins Commission 1977 Thorn Commission 1981 Delors Commission 1985 Santer Commission 1994 Prodi Commission 1999 Barroso Commission 2004
Topics History of Europe History of the euro History of enlargement (1995 - 2004 - 2007) List of presidents
European Union Portal

The Western European Union (WEU; French: Union de l'Europe occidentale, UEO) is an international organisation tasked with implementing the Treaty of Brussels (1948), a defence agreement among Western European nations during the Cold War. Since the end of the Cold War, the European Union (EU) has been taking on a greater defence role and WEU tasks and institutions have been transferred to the EU.

In 2009, the Treaty of Lisbon took over the WEU's mutual defense clause and as a result, as of 31 March 2010, the treaty was terminated and the WEU's activities are due to cease by July 2011.^[1]

Participating states

The Western European Union had 10 member countries, 6 associate member countries, 5 observer countries and 7 associate partner countries. On 14 June 2001, then-WEU President Solana stated that there was no foreseeable reason to change the status of the non member countries in the organisation.

History

Treaty of Brussels

The Treaty of Brussels was signed by the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands on 17 March 1948. It was a mutual intergovernmental self defence treaty which also promoted economic, cultural and social collaboration. As a result of the failure of the European Defence Community on 23 October 1954 the WEU was established by the Paris Agreements with the incorporation of the then West Germany and Italy. The signatories of the Paris Agreements clearly stated their three main objectives in the preamble to the modified Brussels Treaty:

• To create in Western Europe a firm basis for European economic recovery;
• To afford assistance to each other in resisting any policy of aggression;
• To promote the unity and encourage the progressive integration of Europe.

The defence efforts resulting from the Brussels Treaty took form as the Western Union Defence Organisation (see below).

The Brussels Pact had cultural and social clauses, concepts for the setting up of a 'Consultative Council'. The basis for this was that a cooperation between Western nations would help stop the spread of Communism. The Treaty of Brussels was amended by the Protocol signed in Paris at the conclusion of the London and Paris Conferences on 23 October 1954, which added West Germany and Italy to the Western Union. On this occasion it was renamed the Western European Union.

Signed In force Document

1948 1948 Brussels Treaty

1951 1952 Paris Treaty

1954 1955 Modified Brussels Treaty

1957 1958 Rome Treaties

1965 1967 Merger Treaty

1975 N/A European Council conclusion

1986 1987 Single European Act

1992 1993 Maastricht Treaty

1997 1999 Amsterdam Treaty

2001 2003 Nice Treaty

2007 2009 Lisbon Treaty

Three pillars of the European Union:

European Communities:

European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM)

European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC)

Treaty expired in 2002

European Union (EU)

European Economic Community (EEC)

European Community (EC)

TREVI

Justice and Home Affairs (JHA)

Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters (PJCC)

European Political Cooperation (EPC)

Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)

Unconsolidated bodies

Western European Union (WEU)

Treaty terminated in 2010

Western Union Defence Organization

Transfers to the EU

Originally, under the Amsterdam Treaty, the WEU was given an integral role in giving the EU an independent defence capability, playing a major role in the Petersberg tasks; however that situation is changing. On 13 November 2000, WEU Ministers met in Marseille and agreed to begin transferring the organisation's capabilities and functions to the European Union, under its developing Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP)^[2].

For example, on 1 January 2002, the WEU's Security Studies Institute and the Satellite Centre were transferred to the EU and became the European Union Institute for Security Studies and the European Union Satellite Centre. Notably, the role given to the WEU in the Amsterdam Treaty, was removed by the Nice Treaty. The European Constitution was giving the role of collective defence to NATO. The Treaty of Lisbon has provisions for cooperation between the EU and both NATO (including the Berlin Plus agreement) and the WEU.^[3][4] However the defence commitment, of Article 4 of the Brussels Treaty, has not been subsumed^[5]. Article 42(7) of the Treaty of the European Union, as amended by the Treaty of Lisbon, could be viewed as incorporating that defence commitment into the EU framework.^[6]

A summary of some of the moves towards a merger of the WEU into the EU:

• On 20 November 1999, Javier Solana, who is the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) of the EU, was also appointed Secretary-General of the WEU. His being head of both organisations permits him to oversee the ongoing transfer of functions from the WEU to the EU.
• The Petersberg tasks, declared by the WEU in 1992, were incorporated in 1997 into the treaty of Amsterdam of the EU, forming the basis of the European Security and Defence Policy which frames a common policy to deal with humanitarian and rescue, peacekeeping and tasks of combat forces in crisis management, including peacemaking.
• The European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) and European Union Satellite Centre (EUSC), both established to function under the EU's CFSP pillar, are replacements to the Western European Union Institute for Security Studies and the Western Union Satellite Centre which had been established to function in connection to the WEU.

With the transfer of responsibilities, the WEU's Parliamentary assembly was urged to dissolve itself, as it had a mandate to supervise WEU politics, not the EU's ESDP politics. But the Assembly saw itself as playing an important role, particularly with greater right of scrutiny, membership, experience and expertise in defence policy. Therefore, it renamed itself the "Interim European Security and Defence Assembly" and urged the European Convention to include it as a second chamber within the EU's institutional framework. Hence it argued it could effectively scrutinise the ESDP, help improve EU-NATO relations and be more suited, being composed of national parliamentarians, to the intergovernmental style of the ESDP.

However with the European Constitution aiming to streamline and simplify the EU's foreign policy, for example combining the two main foreign policy posts, it was not seen as wise to then create a separate double legislature for the CFSP, instead, the European Parliament was granted greater scrutiny over foreign policy.^[7]

Abolition

In 2009, the Treaty of Lisbon took over the WEU's mutual defence clause.^[1] There was much discussion about what to do with the WEU following the introduction of Lisbon, including plans to scrap it.^[8] On 30 March 2010 in a Written Ministerial Statement UK's Foreign Office Minister Chris Bryant gave notice that the UK intended to withdraw from the Western European Union within a year.^[9] On 31 March 2010 the German Foreign Affairs Ministry announced Germany's intention to withdraw from the Modified Brussels Treaty.^[10] During the Spanish Presidency of the WEU, on behalf of the 10 Member States of the Modified Brussels Treaty announced the collective decision to withdraw from the Treaty and to close the WEU organisation by June 2011.^[11] The WEU's activities are due to cease by July 2011.^[1]

Organisation

The WEU is headquartered in Brussels, with a staff of 65 and an annual budget of €13.4 million.^[8] It is composed of the Council of the WEU (the Council) and the Assembly of the WEU (the Assembly).

The WEU is led by a Council of Ministers, assisted by a Permanent Representatives Council on ambassadorial level. Social and cultural aspects of the Brussels Treaty were handed to the Council of Europe to avoid duplication of responsibilities within Europe.^[12]

A Parliamentary Assembly (composed of the delegations of the member states to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe) supervise the work of the Council, but it does not have any obligations on the Council. The Assembly of WEU is a consultative institution.

Western European Armaments Group (WEAG) was established as a forum for armaments cooperation in 1976 with the aim of creating a European Armaments Agency. Its membership reached 19 in 2000: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United Kingdom. The body closed on 23 May 2005.^[13] Western European Armaments Organisation (WEAO) was intended as an Armaments Agency but operations were limited to a research cell. It provided support services in defence research and technology. It was created in 1996, and closed in August 2006.^[14] These agencies were taken over by the European Defence Agency. Other transferred bodies include the Institute for Security Studies and the Satellite Centre.

Eurofor

On 15 May 1995, the Council of Ministers of the WEU met in Lisbon. Declaration of Eurofor's (European Operational Rapid Force) creation was made by France, Italy, Spain and Portugal. Eurofor became operational in June 1998 as a task force of the Western European Union.^[15]

See also

• List of Secretaries General of the Western European Union
• List of military alliances
• Collective defence
• Collective security
• Exercise Verity
• Flag of the Western European Union
• European Defence Agency
• Western Europe

References

External links

• WEU official web site
• Assembly of the Western European Union; Assembly of the Western European Union
• History of NATO – the Atlantic Alliance - UK Government site
• the Western European Union European NAvigator
• WEU evolution: The presentation of the Eurocorps-Foreign Legion concept at the European Parliament in June 2003

Western European Union topics Flag · Assembly · Secretary-General · Treaty of Brussels