Extracts from the WEU Council of Ministers
Rome Declaration
Rome, 27 October 1984
At the invitation of the Italian Government, the
Foreign and Defence Ministers of the seven member States of Western
European Union met in extraordinary session in Rome on 26-27 October
1984 to mark the 30th anniversary of the modified Brussels Treaty.
The Ministers stressed the importance of the Treaty
and their attachment to its goals:
- to strengthen peace and security;
- to promote the unity and to encourage the progressive
integration of Europe;
- to cooperate more closely both among member States
and with other European organisations.
Conscious of the continuing necessity to strengthen
western security and of the specifically Western European geographical,
political, psychological and military dimensions, the Ministers
underlined their determination to make better use of the WEU framework
in order to increase cooperation between the member States in
the field of security policy and to encourage consensus. In this
context, they called for continued efforts to preserve peace,
strengthen deterrence and defence and thus consolidate stability
through dialogue and cooperation.
The Ministers recalled that the Atlantic Alliance,
which remains the foundation of western security, had preserved
peace on the Continent for 35 years. This permitted the construction
of Europe. The Ministers are convinced that a better utilisation
of WEU would not only contribute to the security of Western Europe
but also to an improvement in the common defence of all the countries
of the Atlantic Alliance and to greater solidarity among its members.
The Ministers emphasised the indivisibility of security
within the North Atlantic Treaty area. They recalled in particular
the vital and substantial contribution of all the European allies,
and underlined the crucial importance of the contribution to common
security of their allies who are not members of WEU. They stressed
the necessity, as a complement to their joint efforts, of the
closest possible concertation with them.
The Ministers are convinced that increased cooperation
within WEU will also contribute to the maintenance of adequate
military strength and political solidarity and, on that basis,
to the pursuit of a more stable relationship between the countries
of East and West by fostering dialogue and cooperation.
The Ministers called attention to the need to make
the best use of existing resources through increased cooperation,
and through WEU to provide a political impetus to institutions
of cooperation in the field of armaments.
The Ministers therefore decided to hold comprehensive
discussions and to seek to harmonise their views on the specific
conditions of security in Europe, in particular:
- defence questions;
- arms control and disarmament;
- the effects of developments in East-West relations
on the security of Europe;
- Europe's contribution to the strengthening of
the Atlantic Alliance, bearing in mind the importance of transatlantic
relations;
- the development of European cooperation in the
field of armaments in respect of which WEU can provide a political
impetus.
They may also consider the implications for Europe
of crises in other regions of the world.
The Ministers recalled the importance of the WEU
Assembly which, as the only European parliamentary body mandated
by treaty to discuss defence matters, is called upon to play a
growing role.
They stressed the major contribution which the Assembly
has already made to the revitalisation of WEU and called upon
it to pursue its efforts to strengthen the solidarity among the
member States, and to strive to consolidate the consensus among
public opinion on their security and defence needs.
In pursuance of these goals, the Ministers have decided
on a number of specific measures with regard to the better functioning
of the WEU structure and organisation, which are set out in a
separate document.
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