Paris, 19/06/2001 (Agence Europe) - At its session in Paris this week, the Western European Union Assembly - Interim European Assembly for Security and Defence, chaired by Klaus Buhler, called on the EU Council of Ministers to draw up "options" to "overcome the persistent difficulties raised by the inclusion of a mutual assistance clause in the Treaty of the European Union". By adopting the Michael Liapis Report, the Assembly places emphasis on the "ideal" of a "genuine European defence, that is democratically organised and controlled, capable of functioning autonomously while remaining open to cooperation by NATO Allies".
During the session, the Secretary General of the WEU and High Representative for Cfsp (EU), Javier Solana, confirmed that at the beginning of this summer the WEU military Staff Headquarters "will cease its operational activities", whereas the Satellite Centre and the Institute for Security Studies would remain under WEU responsibility "until corresponding agencies have been created within the EU, early in 2002". The WEU General Secretariat will continue to "assure the necessary support for cooperation activities relating to weapons of the Western European Armaments Group and the Western European Armaments Organisation", Mr. Solana also said.
As for Swedish Defence Minister Bjorn von Sydow, speaking on behalf of the Swedish Presidency of the EU Council, he stressed progress made by the EU regarding crisis management and noted that the EU should use the experience acquired in missions led under the auspices of the WEU for mine clearance in Croatia and in the framework of the Multinational Police Cooperation Element in Albania.
Speaking on behalf of the Dutch Presidency of the WEU Council (which the Belgian Presidency will succeed in July), Jozias Van Aarsten stressed that the WEU Assembly would have a role to play, even after the transfer of WEU roles to the European Union. "New formulae must be found to guarantee a balance between the obvious mandate of national parliaments and the prerogatives of the European Parliament, while ensuring that the openness and methods that are the richness of the WEU Assembly are not lost in the process," said Mr. Van Aarsten. Klaus Buhler thanked the Dutch Presidency for having "publicly acknowledged" the risk of a democratic deficit regarding ESDP, and placed emphasis on the search for legally solid solutions, "so as to guarantee the collective participation of national parliaments within a genuine inter-parliamentary assembly" to which the bodies concerned in the EU must answer.
In this context, by adopting a report on "the positions of Member States on the future parliamentary dimension of the new European security and defence architecture", the Assembly called for national parliaments to spare no efforts in "activating the debate on the future parliamentary control of the European Security and Defence Policy". The Assembly especially hoped that national parliaments would organise "seminars on the future of European security and defence institutions, in collaboration with specialized research institutes".