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Not to be confused with the European Union, the Western European Union (WEU) is a partially dormant European defence and security organization composed of those states members of both NATO and the EU.The WEU was established under the Modified Brussels Treaty , in response to the failure of the European Defence Community treaty. Most of its functions are in the process of being merged into the European Union. The Parliamentary Assembly of the WEU is composed of the delegations of the member states to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which, fearful for its future existence with the winding up of the WEU, has been lobbying for itself to be recognized as the "European Security and Defence Assembly".
Some of the moves that have taken place and indicate the partial merger of the WEU into the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the EU have been the following:
- On November 20, 1999, Javier Solana, who is the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the EU, was also appointed Secretary-General of the WEU. His being head of both organizations permits him to oversee the ongoing transfer of functions from the WEU to the EU.
- The so-called Petersburg tasks , declared by the WEU in 1992, were incorporated in 1997 into the treaty of Amsterdam of the EU, forming the basis of the European Security and Defence Policy.
- The European Union Institute for Security Studies and European Union Satellite Centre , both established to function under the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy pillar, are replacements to the Western European Union Institute for Security Studies and the Western Union Satellite Centre which had been established to function in connection to the WEU.
Supposedly full merger was to occur in the year 2000; however, as of 2004 the WEU is however still alive and much European military planning takes place within its constituent cells. Indeed New York University's book, Defending Europe, paints the situation as a "revival of WEU" rather than a shutting down of same.
1 Participating States
The Western European Union has 10 member countries, 6 associate member countries, 5 observer countries and 7 associate partner countries. They are as follows:
Member countries: (modified Brussels Treaty - 1954)
All of them being members of both NATO and the European Union.
- FranceThe French Republic or France ( French: Republique francaise or France is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents.
- GermanyThe Federal Republic of Germany ( German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland is one of the world's leading industrialized countries, located in the middle of the European Union. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark and the Baltic Sea, to the east
- ItalyThe Italian Republic or Italy ( Italian: Italia is a country in the south of Europe, consisting mainly of a boot-shaped peninsula together with two large islands in the Mediterranean Sea: Sicily and Sardinia. To the north, where it borders France, Switzer
- United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a state in Western Europe, usually known simply as the United Kingdom the UK Britain or less accurately as Great Britain . The UK was formed by a series of Acts of Union which united the formerly
- BelgiumFor alternate meanings, see Belgium (disambiguation). Belgian redirects here. For the horse breed commonly used as a draft horse, see Belgian. The Kingdom of Belgium ( Dutch: Belgi French: Belgique German: Belgien is a country in Western Europe, bordered
- NetherlandsDutch redirects here. For other uses, see Dutch (disambiguation). The Netherlands ( Dutch: Nederland is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, a constitutional monarchy. It is located in northwestern Europe and borders the North Sea, Belgium
- Luxembourg
- Portugal (1990)
- Spain (1990)
- Greece (1995)
Associate member countries: (Rome - 1992)
Associate membership was created to include the countries that were members of NATO but not of the European Union. Since then, Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary have also joined the EU.
Observer countries: (Rome - 1992)
Most obverver countries are members of the European Union, but not of NATO. Denmark is an exception, being member of both.
Associate partner countries: (Kirchberg - 1994)
Countries that were part of neither NATO nor of the EU. Since then most of the following countries have joined both, with the exception of Bulgaria and Romania who have so far only joined NATO.
