Strengthening international norms and political instruments to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery is of prime importance to the EU. We are committed to contributing to the achievement of this goal. We stress the need to maintain strict enforcement of our national export controls and to reinforce the multilateral non proliferation and export control regimes.

As for the particular challenge posed by the proliferation of ballistic missiles, we consider that this commitment should be complemented by a global and multilateral approach, in accordance with the Conclusions of the 14 May 2001 General Affairs Council.

We are of the view that the European Union, which is committed to the reinforcement of disarmament and non proliferation multilateral instruments, should play a leading role in contributing to these efforts.

We invite the Council to adopt without delay a common position on the fight against ballistic missile proliferation based on the universalisation of the international code of conduct proposed by MTCR members. This initiative could lead, in due time, to the convening of an international Conference.

This initiative will be pursued in full transparency with the European Union's key partners.

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ANNEX II