Brussels, 29/04/2009 (Agence Europe) - In its adoption (271 votes in favour, 38 against and 29 abstentions) of the report by German Green Angelika Beer, on Friday 24 April, the European Parliament has adopted recommendations on the future of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). These refer mainly to total nuclear disarmament and the revision of the common position 2005/329/CFSP of the Council of 25 April 2005 on the 2005 examination conference of the parties to the NPT, to be adopted at the European Council of December 2009.
The Parliament also recommended support for proposals aiming to place the production, use and withdrawal of all nuclear fuel under the aegis of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), including the creation of a bank of nuclear fuel and other initiatives aiming to make the nuclear fuel cycle multilateral for the peaceful use of nuclear energy. The Parliament also welcomes the fact that the Council and the Commission are in favour of making a financial contribution, to a level of €25 million, to the creation of a nuclear fuel bank under the aegis of the IAEA.
Making substantial progress with the global partnership of G8, the Proliferation Security Initiative, the global initiative to reduce the nuclear threat, and to act to ensure a swift entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) are also goals to be achieved.
The Parliament has also stressed the importance of total support for the reinforcement and improvement of the resources to verify that all available non-proliferation instruments are being observed and has called for an evaluation of the effectiveness of recourse to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons clauses in agreements concluded between the Union and third countries. (H.D./transl.fl)