Brussels, 27 October 2003: Assembly President Marcel Glesener met EU Council President Franco Frattini in Brussels this morning before the start of the meeting of the Intergovernmental Conference. In response to an invitation from the Italian Presidency, Mr Glesener presented the Assembly’s proposals concerning the European security and defence policy as its contribution to the IGC. Council President Frattini welcomed these proposals, saying that the IGC would be embarking on a critical phase regarding the further development of European defence and that the support and impetus provided by national parliamentarians were going to be particularly helpful. He explained that while it was possible that Member States would be able to arrive at a compromise on the constitutional aspects of security and defence, such as details about structured cooperation, it would be more difficult for them to agree on the strategic aspects and on areas of practical cooperation.

President Frattini announced that the Italian Presidency would be presenting a package of proposals to the IGC in December. He asked President Glesener for continued support in ensuring that this historic opportunity for the IGC to further European security and defence integration was not lost. The Assembly had a vital role in promoting the objectives of the ESDP and explaining their importance to public opinion throughout Europe. The Italian EU Presidency will be distributing the Assembly’s contribution to all delegations.

President Glesener then met Lydie Polfer, Foreign Minister of Luxembourg. Luxembourg, together with other countries at the IGC, supports the Assembly’s proposals an outline of which is given below.


Summary of the Assembly proposals to the Intergovernmental conference:


1. The Assembly’s contribution to the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) focuses on the security and defence chapters of the Convention’s draft Constitutional Treaty. National parliamentarians believe that these chapters need to be clarified and amended in order to:
• create a flexible and inclusive formula for European defence cooperation
• make sure that any EU mutual defence clause does not fall short of the commitments set out in the 1954 modified Brussels Treaty
• maintain and develop a mechanism for information, consultation and dialogue on security and defence between the EU Council and an interparliamentary forum made up of national parliamentarians
2. To achieve these objectives – and given the difficulty in reaching a compromise between those Member States that support closer cooperation on defence independent of NATO, those that favour NATO and those that do not wish the EU to become a military organisation – national parliamentarians propose organising European defence on the basis of the modified Brussels Treaty. Its relevant provisions would be included in a protocol appended to the Constitutional Treaty.
3. All countries participating in the IGC are represented in the Assembly by their national parliamentarians who are convinced that the organisation of European defence should not be confined to the EU framework, that it is less of an institutional than a political and strategic matter and that the IGC should agree on a more inclusive formula allowing non-EU European NATO Member States to be involved.
4. With regard to the provisions of the draft Constitution concerning mutual defence, parliamentarians point out that a mutual defence commitment should not be purely symbolic and that a mere “declaration” has no credibility. What is required is an optional protocol that should be ratified by its signatories.
5. Intergovernmental cooperation on European security and defence must be mirrored by interparliamentary cooperation. The justification for maintaining an interparliamentary European security and defence forum made up of national parliamentarians is that it is they who will continue to decide on defence budgets, which will remain a national prerogative, on the deployment of national troops for EU missions and on the procurement of crucial military capabilities which will continue to be provided by Member States.
6. In the enclosed Resolution 117 national parliamentarians support a solution whereby the EU Council should be prepared to submit an annual written report on its activities to the Assembly created by the modified Brussels Treaty and to the European Parliament. Occasional seminars or conferences, as proposed by the Convention, are not an adequate solution for interparliamentary scrutiny of intergovernmental cooperation on European security and defence.
The full text of Resolution 117 can be downloaded from the documents section of the Assembly’s website.