Brussels, 06/02/2002 (Agence Europe) - At a meeting on 4 February in Brussels around one hundred members of the Western European Union (WEU) Assembly with 28 permanent representatives of the WEU Council - notably the 15 members of the EU COPS - discussed the latest developments in the context of ESDP. During the gathering, the EU Spanish Presidency announced that it is contemplating the creation of working groups on the capability gaps between the United States and Europe. These working groups are to be set up under the Spanish Presidency in reaction to the fact that dangerous "gaps" have been noted between the military capabilities on either side of the Atlantic. These gaps were noted during debates at the international annual security conference in Munich where Americans clearly warned that Europeans should "do more".
Spanish Ambassador Casajuana, who co-chaired Monday's meeting with the WEU Assembly Vice President, Wolfgang Behrendt, stressed, moreover, that the EU ministerial declaration, whereby the ESDP should also have tasks in the fight against terrorism, completely changes the scope of this European Security and Defence Policy. The ESDP, Mr Behrendt explained, foresees action in conflicts outside EU territory, while the fight against terrorism concerns the security of the Union itself, over and above the management of external crises. The ESDP would therefore develop into a defence organism. Some participants, especially neutral countries and Denmark, expressed doubt about this, while the WEU Assembly supports the later development of ESDP to "introduce a mutual assistance clause" into the EU, according to one expert.
Furthermore, on the occasion of a recent meeting with the EU Council President-in-Office, Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Piqué, the WEU Assembly President, Klaus Bühler, pointed out that this Assembly hopes to obtain observer status at the work of the Convention on the future of Europe. Mr Piqué reportedly replied, we learn, that the Convention would not have to start from zero but base itself on the achievements of existing bodies, such as WEU.
The WEU Assembly has now adopted its working programme for the first half of the current year. This includes twelve reports on themes such as: - new challenges for Euro-American security cooperation; - the role of national parliaments in the ESDP; - European military capabilities in the context of the fight against international terrorism; - shortcomings in European security and defence; - European space observation capability; - and the parliamentary dimension in the new European security and defence architecture. A WEU seminar will also be held early March in Madrid on the theme "Equipping our forces for Europe's security and defence -shortcomings and priorities".