Nuclear weapons - strengthened monitoring and verification

SUMMARY OF:

Council Decision 2012/699/CFSP – support for the activities of the Preparatory Commission of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation in the context of the EU Strategy against Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction

SUMMARY

WHAT DOES THIS DECISION DO?

• It enables the EU to support the international community’s preventive measures against the proliferation of nuclear weapons and to maintain its own strategy against this threat.
• It confirms the EU's intention to support the Preparatory Commission of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO) in its activities relating to the monitoring and verification of any signs of nuclear explosions.
• Supporting the CTBTO is in line with Chapter III of the EU's Strategy against the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, which aims to tackle the proliferation of nuclear weapons through work with international organisations.

KEY POINTS

• Under this Decision, the EU supports activities that strengthen the verification regime* of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the capabilities of countries that sign the CTBT to fulfil their verification responsibilities.
• The EU supports projects under several specific objectives, such as providing technical assistance to countries in eastern Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, south-east Asia, the Pacific, and east Asia to participate in the verification regime; and supporting the promotion of the CTBT and the long-term sustainability of its verification regime. A detailed description of these projects is set out in the Annex to this Council Decision.
• To implement these projects, this Decision allocates the sum of €5,185,028 for use in a financing agreement between the European Commission and the Preparatory Commission of the CTBTO, which was originally to expire 24 months after it was agreed. However, under Council Decision 2014/861/CFSP, the expiry date was extended by a further 12-month period to December 2015, as projects had not been fully implemented.

FROM WHEN DOES THE DECISION APPLY?

It entered into force on 13 November 2012.

BACKGROUND

The CTBT was negotiated between 1994 and 1996 and has since been ratified by 163 countries. However, key nuclear countries like the USA and China have yet to ratify the Treaty, thus preventing it from coming into force. Until it becomes law, the Preparatory Commission of the CTBTO helps build up the Treaty and prepare its verification regime.

KEY TERM

* The CTBT's verification regime is designed to detect any nuclear explosion on Earth. It uses an International Monitoring System (IMS) and 4 verification technologies to monitor countries’ compliance with the CTBT, which bans all nuclear explosions on the planet.

ACT

Council Decision 2012/699/CFSP of 13 November 2012 on the Union support for the activities of the Preparatory Commission of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation in order to strengthen its monitoring and verification capabilities and in the framework of the implementation of the EU Strategy against Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (OJ L 314, 14.11.2012, pp. 27–39)

Successive amendments to Decision 2012/699/CFSP have been incorporated into the original text. This consolidated version is of documentary value only.

RELATED ACTS

Council Decision 2014/861/CFSP of 1 December 2014 amending Decision 2012/699/CFSP on the Union support for the activities of the Preparatory Commission of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation in order to strengthen its monitoring and verification capabilities and in the framework of the implementation of the EU Strategy against Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (OJ L 346, 2.12.2014, p. 35)

last update 20.01.2016