Brussels, 15/05/2001 (Agence Europe) - The General Affairs Council expressed its grave concern over the proliferation of ballistic missiles capable of carrying weapons of mass destruction. It reaffirmed its commitment to rigorous export controls as well as support for regional peace initiatives as ways of addressing the problem of missile proliferation, while also noting that such efforts need to be complemented by global, multilateral approaches. The Council considers that it is important to develop globally accepted norms in support of missile non-proliferation.
In this context, the Council "notes with interest" the Memorandum of Understanding on notifications of missile launches signed by the United States and the Russian federation in February 2001, and the establishment of a US-Russian Joint Data Exchange Centre (JDEC). It also welcomes the two consensus agreements at the Helsinki Plenary of the Missile Technology Control Regime, concerning the project to adopt a draft international code-of-conduct (ICOC), to be opened to all states, and to engage in consultations with non-members with a view to the "multilateralisation" of the code. The Council considers that the ICOC's objective should be the creation of norms that may be universally applied on how to contain and reverse the proliferation of ballistic missiles able to launch weapons of mass destruction, with a view to reducing national stocks of such missiles in the interest of global and regional peace and security. The Council called on all States to work in favour of preventing and reducing the proliferation of missiles.