Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-03-13-Speech-2-151"
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"en.20070313.19.2-151"2
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".
Mr President, Commissioner, honourable Members, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and of the means of delivering them has the potential to present what is perhaps the greatest risk to international security, and that is why the European Union, in its comprehensive strategy for combating them, which dates back to 2003, stressed that, in this area, the best way of maintaining security and international order was a multilateral approach combining disarmament and non-proliferation on an equal footing. So, then, the Treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons is, and remains, the fundamental cornerstone of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime. The European Union endorses the provisions of the NPT and advocates and endorses measures aimed at further reinforcing them.
Thinking forward to the first meeting of the committee preparing the conference on the review of this treaty in 2010, the European Union has already started to do extensive preparatory work at home. We are firmly determined to continue, in 2007, to play an active and constructive role in the debates at the preparatory conference, and since our intention is that the European Union should begin the review cycle in a constructive atmosphere, it is strongly endorsing the plans put forward by the Japanese ambassador Amano, who has been appointed as the chairman of the first preparatory committee.
The European Union takes the view that all three pillars of the Non-Proliferation Treaty – those being nuclear non-proliferation, disarmament, and the peaceful use of nuclear energy – must be considered and held in balance in the review debate. It is that sort of even-handedness alone that will make it possible for the forthcoming review cycle of the Non-Proliferation Treaty to progress successfully, and it is on that, though, that the joint decisions to be taken by the review conference on the reinforcement of the treaty depend. The Common Position of the European Union, as adopted on the occasion of the 2005 review conference, remains, unchanged, the basis of these even-handed positions by the EU.
The European Union has always attached great importance to the prompt entry into force of the Test Ban Treaty, and this has acquired even greater relevance since the North Koreans tested an atom bomb. The European Union is already helping to shore up the atom test ban regime by adopting common actions intended, among other things, to further reinforce the treaty’s verification system.
The European Union is also calling for a prompt start to negotiations on a treaty outlawing the production of fissile material for explosive purposes, and for such negotiations to be conducted without preconditions. Conclusion of such a treaty would constitute a considerable step on the road to the control of nuclear weapons and to nuclear disarmament, and would thereby make a decisive contribution to the implementation of the positions agreed on and adopted by the Community at the review conferences in 1995 and 2000.
The consolidation and reinforcement of the provisions of the Non-Proliferation Treaty are still largely conditional upon the dedicated and complete discharge of all obligations arising from it, and particular attention needs to be paid to the regional dimension in this regard. You will be aware that the EU is actively involved in the efforts to resolve the crisis occasioned by the Iranian nuclear programme. We are persuaded that a solution can be reached only by diplomatic means, and so the European Union had a pivotal role in shaping the very generous offer made to Iran in June 2006, and I would emphasise that this was supported by the United States, Russia and China. The European Union will also continue to work towards a peaceful resolution to the crisis.
The European Union is well aware of the risks attendant on any further spread of enrichment and reprocessing technology, and therefore supports efforts towards multilateral guarantees on the supply of nuclear fuel. Initiatives to this end can also help to persuade countries with an interest in the development of nuclear power that the development of their own nuclear fuel cycle is not necessary, with the effect that they will then freely and voluntarily refrain from acquiring one.
The European Union will be stepping up its efforts at maintaining and further reinforcing the provisions of the Non-Proliferation Treaty in order to be able to meet the challenges I have described, and these include the debate largely initiated by the EU on the strengthening of the Treaty’s provisions relating to the consequences of a withdrawal from it. It is to be regretted that the 2005 treaty review conference was unable to agree on a substantial final document that would have constituted a response to the most pressing challenges to the Treaty. This experience must be another reason for the European Union to make every effort to make the 2010 review process a successful one."@en1
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