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AT 325

SA (00) 17





NATO Parliamentary Assembly

POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS



FORTY-SIXTH ANNUAL SESSION - BERLIN - NOVEMBER 2000

International Secretariat November 2000



Assembly documents are available on its website, http://www.nato-pa.int


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page


Resolutions
296 on Reinforcing the European Union’s Capacity to Contribute to Euro-Atlantic 1

Security and Stability


297 on Belarus 3
298 on the European Security and Defence Identity 5
299 on Defence Resources for a new Millennium 8
300 on Furthering Stability, Peace and Prosperity in South-Eastern Europe 10
301 on NATO Enlargement 13
302 on Energy 15
303 on Small Arms Control 17
304 on Ballistic Missile Defence 19

RESOLUTION 296

on


REINFORCING THE EUROPEAN UNION’S CAPACITY TO CONTRIBUTE TO

EURO-ATLANTIC SECURITY AND STABILITY
The Assembly,
1. Believing that the European Union should remain faithful to the goals of its founding fathers to create an area of peace and prosperity based on economic integration and political co-operation among its members;
2. Asserting that these goals must now be pursued with a view to encompassing the entire European continent;
3. Noting that making the EU an engine for peace, stability and integration in Europe has implications for the EU’s enlargement, partnership, and crisis management policies;
4. Hailing the decisions of the EU Council in Helsinki and Feira to build up instruments and capabilities at the service of an enhanced Common European Security and Defence Policy (CESDP), and applauding the progress made in the last twelve months in implementing those decisions;
5. Stressing that non-military crisis management is an integral part of the development of the CESDP and a requirement for the EU to tackle conflicts in a comprehensive manner;
6. Recalling that the development of the CESDP is part of a process of gradual political union and that it is essential for the EU to become fully capable of international action;
7. Stressing that the development of the CESDP is essential to all NATO Allies including the six NATO European non-EU member states;
8. Convinced that the EU’s current efforts will make the European members of NATO capable of assuming greater responsibility for the security of the European continent and thereby reinforce the transatlantic Alliance;
9. Emphasising that, among external actors, the EU has the prime responsibility for supporting the reconstruction and democratisation of South-Eastern Europe, with a view to the future integration of the countries concerned into its own structures;
10. Applauding the political changes in Croatia that have fostered its integration into Euro‑Atlantic structures, and welcoming the momentous political events in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia which make possible its involvement in the process of European integration;
11. URGES EU member state parliaments and governments:

  1. to adopt the bold reforms necessary in the 2000 intergovernmental conference and beyond, in the institutional, political and economic domains, to permit the accession of new countries in a way that will preserve the EU’s ability to act and ensure the equal sharing of benefits among all its member countries;

b. to approach EU membership negotiations in a comprehensive manner, taking into account that the adoption of the EU’s acquis by the candidate countries, in particular in the field of justice and home affairs, has implications on their human, economic and political relations with their neighbours;
c. to develop mechanisms for the association of candidate countries in the development and implementation of the CESDP, building on the experience of the reinforced political dialogue on the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP); and for the participation of non-EU members of the Alliance, building on the mechanisms existing between NATO and the WEU;
d. to provide all candidate countries equal access to information and equal rights to participate in the non-military aspects of the CESDP;
e. to pursue with determination the implementation of the Feira Council objective to constitute a police force of 5,000 members which will be capable of rapid deployment and effective action in crisis operations;
f. similarly, to continue efforts to build up capacities in the field of judicial personnel and civil administration so as to permit early and effective action in these domains in post-conflict situations;
g. to identify, and if necessary build up, national capacities that will be put at the service of EU non-military crisis management, so that the burden of common action is shared fairly among member countries;
h. in parallel with the development of the Military Staff, to set up adequate structures for the planning of the non-military components of crisis management, with primary attention given to the planning of police operations;
i. to sustain their efforts in the political, military and economic fields to promote economic reform and democratization in the countries of South-Eastern Europe, taking into account in particular the need to integrate Serbia in the ongoing process of change and co-operation in the region;
j. to support the efforts led by External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten to streamline the EU’s external assistance mechanisms and make them more effective;
k. to fully co-operate with Commissioner Patten and High Representative for the CFSP Javier Solana in their efforts to make EU’s external action and that of member governments more cohesive;
12. REMINDS the political leaders and populations of EU partners and candidate countries that:
a. EU membership is not only a matter of legislative adaptation but also of adhesion to a set of values that requires deep changes in domestic practices in almost all domains of political and economic action, and the development of a positive attitude to co-operation with neighbours;
b. they will only be able to count on the EU’s support as long as they demonstrate the sustained political will to set up democratic structures of government and economic systems based on sound management principles and full accountability.

RESOLUTION 297

on

BELARUS


The Assembly,





  1. Convinced that Belarus has a vocation to join the family of European democracies and regretting that the policies of the current Belarussian Government are an obstacle to the realisation of that objective;

  2. Condemning the intimidation, harassing, arbitrary arrest and imprisonment of members of the political opposition and the failure of the Government to account for the disappearance of several opposition leaders;

  3. Concerned with the continued restrictions on freedom of the press and constant threats to non-state newspapers as well as the denial of any meaningful access by the opposition to the state audio visual mass media;

  4. Deeply regretting that the 15 and 29 October parliamentary elections have failed to meet international standards for a free, fair, accountable and transparent poll;

  5. Supporting the constructive role played by international organisations, among others the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the European Parliament with a view to assisting Belarus to resolve its deep constitutional, political and economic crisis;



  1. URGES the member governments and parliaments of the North Atlantic Alliance:

    1. to step up initiatives to impart to the Belarussian authorities that they are expected to meet all their OSCE commitments in the spheres of human rights and democracy;

    2. to support independent initiatives in view of reinforcing civil society and the NGO sector;

    3. to second the message addressed by the OSCE, the Council of Europe, and the European Parliament to the current political leadership for it to engage into a real and meaningful dialogue with the opposition, with a view to resolving the current crisis;

    4. to seek the active support of the Russian Government and Parliament in pressing the Belarussian authorities to put their laws and practices in agreement with OSCE standards;



  1. URGES President Lukashenko and the Government of Belarus:

    1. to restore democracy and the rule of law, as well as to ensure the protection of human rights, the independence of the judiciary, freedom of the mass media, and freedom of economic activity;

    2. to engage the opposition in a meaningful political dialogue;

    3. to immediately release all political prisoners and undertake inquiries to clarify the fate of disappeared persons;

    4. to accept and respect a basic set of criteria for free and democratic elections, including among other factors:

      1. the possibility for all parties to campaign without fear of obstruction or harassment of candidates or their supporters;

      2. the establishment of a democratic electoral code, guaranteeing full transparency of the electoral process and a balanced composition of electoral commissions at local, district and national level;

      3. satisfactory procedures for the access of all political parties to state-controlled media, especially the electronic media;

    1. to agree to substantial improvements in the functions of the parliament in order to give it the nature and character of a democratic institution, able to exercise legislative authority and political control over the government, based on the principle of separation of powers;

    2. to clear the way for the organisation of future elections according to democratic standards;

    3. to improve cooperation with the AMG (Advisory and Monitoring Group) of the OSCE in Minsk and to make full use of its good services.

8. DECLARES its support for the Belarus democratic opposition, COMMENDS the efforts of the opposition to boycott the illegitimate parliamentary elections, and EXPRESSES its hopes that the citizens of Belarus will soon benefit from true freedom and democracy.



RESOLUTION 298
on

THE EUROPEAN SECURITY AND DEFENCE IDENTITY


The Assembly,


  1. Affirming that NATO remains the primary institution for guaranteeing the defence and security of the democracies in the Euro-Atlantic region;

  2. Asserting that defence and security policy ultimately remains a matter to be determined by democratically elected national governments and parliaments, because only officials elected by the people have the legitimacy to send their citizens into harm’s way;

  3. Noting that NATO since 1993 has repeatedly endorsed the establishment of a strong European Security and Defence Identity within the Alliance;

  4. Recognising that the European Union has set an ambitious Headline Goal that the EU countries shall by 2003 be able to deploy a military force of up to 15 brigades within 60 days to a crisis zone and sustain them for at least one year, with appropriate air and naval elements;

  5. Emphasising that fulfilling the European Union’s Headline Goal is not a substitute for fulfilling NATO force goals and commitments which thus far have not been met by members of the Alliance;

  6. Praising the EU’s efforts to integrate civilian police, economic, and political components into a comprehensive crisis management capability;

  7. Recalling that the EU’s new European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) is limited to the Petersberg tasks – including conflict prevention, forced separation of belligerents, humanitarian aid, and civilian evacuation – and that ESDP in no way replaces NATO’s role in collective defence;

  8. Realising that the North American Allies may not wish to contribute to all crisis management operations in Europe;

9. Restating that the six European Allies that are not EU members should be allowed to participate fully in EU-led military operations, including their upstream planning and preparations and in decision-making processes for the operations in which they participate;

10. Declaring that the problem of including the non-EU European Allies in ESDP can be greatly ameliorated by prompt admission into the EU of all Allies seeking membership;

11. Knowing that the main obstacles to an effective ESDP lie in the areas of political decision‑making and command-and-control procedures, not in a lack of military assets;

12. Reasserting the NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s concern with the European Union’s delay in forging a broad array of linkages with the North Atlantic Alliance so that the institutions associated with the ESDP evolve in a manner that benefits to the maximum extent possible the transatlantic relationship;

13. Remarking upon the positive steps that some European Allies have made toward restructuring their forces to carry out NATO’s new roles and missions;

14. Convinced that continued restructuring of European armed forces is essential not only for the Headline Goal, but for European Allies to develop the forces needed to fulfil NATO’s Strategic Concept;

15. Endorsing the Defence Capabilities Initiative and the commitments of the Allies to implement it by fulfilling their 2000 Force Goals;

16. Applauding steps taken by the EU to work with NATO to ensure that its ESDP entails no unnecessary duplication of capabilities, including the establishment of meetings between the North Atlantic Council and the EU’s Political and Security Committee;

17. Remembering that the Western European Union has developed arrangements allowing a European-led operation to draw on NATO capabilities, assets and headquarters – a set of arrangements that should be transferred to the EU;

18. URGES the member governments and parliaments of the North Atlantic Alliance:



    1. to stipulate that defence and security matters ultimately remain within the purview of democratically elected governments and parliaments;

    2. to encourage wide-ranging contacts between the EU and NATO at all levels, without any restrictions, to provide maximum transparency and to enable both institutions to eliminate any unnecessary duplication of capabilities;

    3. to provide the EU with the greatest degree of support possible for ESDP, including the use of NATO planning, logistics and headquarters assets in EU-led operations, in accordance with the decisions taken at the Washington Summit, in order to avoid unnecessary duplication and to better co-ordinate use of increasingly scarce transatlantic defence resources;

    4. to persuade the EU to take advantage of all arrangements that have been established between NATO and the WEU;

    5. to fulfil their 2000 Force Goals, especially those goals that derive from the Defence Capabilities Initiative, because the resulting capabilities are needed both for NATO and EU operations;

    6. to deepen co-operation in all fields in order to further Alliance unity and security in the North Atlantic region.

19. URGES the member governments and parliaments of the North Atlantic Alliance that are also members of the EU:

  1. to continue to recognise that EU-led crisis management operations should be undertaken only when NATO as a whole is not engaged;

  2. to remember that ESDP is not meant to rival NATO and its collective defence and non‑Article 5 mission, but is limited to the Petersberg tasks – including conflict prevention, forced separation of belligerents, humanitarian aid, and civilian evacuation – and should be a new element of the architecture of the all-European security;

  3. to refrain from promoting a strategic perspective on transatlantic security issues that differs from that of NATO;

  4. to commit themselves to fulfil the Headline Goal by 2003;

  5. to continue in the interim to provide sufficient forces to carry out the SFOR and KFOR commitments;

  6. to ensure that the non-EU members of NATO are fully involved in shaping the decisions of ESDP;

  7. to allow the non-EU members of NATO to participate fully in European security operations, as well as in their planning and preparations, whenever they indicate a willingness to join;

  8. to work toward the rapid admission into the EU of all NATO countries that have applied for membership and to deepen co-operation between the EU and those European Allies which choose to remain outside the EU;

  9. to guarantee that there is effective legislative oversight of ESDP, possibly involving some combination of members from national parliaments and the European Parliament;

  10. to develop rapid and effective political decision-making and command and control procedures for ESDP;

  11. to build the proposed common airlift and sealift commands by procuring the necessary assets and to open these commands to all EU and NATO countries.




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