Preparatory Commission for the                                 PC-XIV/11             
Organisation for the Prohibition                               22 July 1996          
of Chemical Weapons                                            Original:  ENGLISH    
                                                                                     

(22 - 26 July 1996)

STATEMENT MADE BY THE REPRESENTATIVE OF IRELAND ON BEHALF OF THE EUROPEAN UNION AT THE FOURTEENTH SESSION OF THE PREPARATORY COMMISSION FOR THE ORGANISATION FOR THE PROHIBITION OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS, 22 JULY 1996

On behalf of the European Union I wish to welcome you again in the chair of the Preparatory Commission and to express the Union's confidence in your guidance of our work at this Fourteenth Session of the Commission.

On the occasion of the adoption of the Paris Resolution in 1993 and on various occasions since, the European Union has, at the highest political level, underlined the importance we attach to the early entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention.

The Chemical Weapons Convention, when universally and fully implemented, will preclude the possibility of any future use of chemical weapons. Upon entry into force it will set in motion a programme of supervised destruction, by the Possessor States, of their stocks of an entire class of weapons of mass destruction. At the same time all States Parties will submit to controls which provide the necessary guarantees that they are desisting from activities which could lead to the future development or acquisition of these weapons. The Convention will thereby create the necessary confidence that such weapons will never again be used against mankind. A real and continuing threat to international peace and security will be removed.

Mr. Chairman, we are fast approaching the trigger date for the Convention's entry into force. With the deposit of ratification instruments by fifty eight states as of today we can confidently expect that the First States Parties Conference will take place early in 1997. In the period since the Thirteenth Session of the Preparatory Commission two further states of the European Union have deposited their instruments of ratification. The Member States of the Union are committed to adherence by all fifteen before entry into force.

The achievement of the Convention's purposes requires universal adherence by all States of the United Nations. But first and foremost it requires adherence by the two declared Possessor States. It requires the adherence of states with significant national chemical industries. And it equally requires adherence by all states in regions of tension where the development of such weapons is still being reserved as an option.

The ratifications of those States with the largest stocks of chemical weapons, the Russian Federation and the United States, are outstanding. We welcome the disclosure by the United States of America of its chemical weapons stockpiles and the declared intention of both the Russian Federation and the United States of America to destroy their chemical weapons arsenals and to elaborate and prepare their respective destruction plans.

The European Union expects the Russian Federation and the United States of America to redouble their efforts to deposit their respective instruments of ratification without delay, and sufficiently in advance of entry into force to facilitate the completion of the work of this Commission.

We recognise the extensive administrative, legislative and resource burdens which have to be borne by all states in order to conclude their respective ratification procedures in the confidence that they can fully implement the provisions of the Convention.

The European Union will for its part continue to consider ways in which it can support these efforts. Any support on our part can only become meaningful in the context of the full implementation of all the requirements of the Convention including the provisions on declarations, destruction, conversion and related verification.

The uncertainty surrounding the timing of the accession of the Possessor States must not, in the Union's view, be allowed to deflect our efforts at preparing the mechanisms, activities and staffing of the Organisation at entry into force. In its approach to the Commission's work the European Union will continue to prepare for the Convention's entry into force and implementation by those States Parties that have ratified at the end of the period of one hundred and eighty days after the trigger point. We expect no less than that the declared Possessor States and other states having significant chemical industries will be parties to the Convention at that date.

Finally, Mr. Chairman, I would like to recall that Member States of the European Union have been active in cooperating with countries - generally those developing countries with smaller chemical industries - to establish the necessary mechanisms to implement this Convention. We will continue and extend this cooperation in the chemical field up to and beyond entry into force, with a view to facilitating States Parties' implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention in a manner which will be of benefit to their economic and technological development.

The Central and Eastern Europe countries associated with the European Union associate themselves with this statement.

I wish to request that this statement be circulated as an official document of this Plenary Session.

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