EU Action in Support of OPCW Activities 2005-2008: Effective Multilateralism in Practice

By the Permanent Representation of Slovenia as the current Presidency of the European Union

Her Excellency Dr Tea Petrin, Permanent Representative of Slovenia to the OPCW, delivered welcoming remarks during the presentation.

On 14 April 2008, the Permanent Representation of Slovenia as the current Presidency of the European Union, in cooperation with the EU Council Secretariat and OPCW, organised a presentation on “EU Joint Actions in Support of the OPCW Activities 2005-2008: Effective Multilateralism in Practice" as a sideline event for the Second Review Conference. The presentation highlighted some of the projects and results of the programme.

Ambassador Dr Tea Petrin, Permanent Representative of Slovenia to the OPCW delivered welcoming remarks. Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter, Director-General of the OPCW, and Ms Annalisa Giannella, Personal Representative on Non-proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction to EU High Representative Javier Solana, addressed the participants.

Presentations were made on practical examples of EU-financed projects by representatives of Algeria, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Finland, Italy, Sri Lanka and Uganda, as well as by the Technical Secretariat. The participants underlined the importance of the EU contribution to their activities.

Three Joint Actions of the EU in support of OPCW activities were adopted in November 2004, December 2005 and March 2007 for an amount exceeding 5 million euros. The EU-supported activities are immediate and practical applications of some elements of the EU Strategy against the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction. The objectives are to promote universality and full implementation of the CWC, engender international cooperation in chemical activities, and support the creation of a collaborative framework for the chemical industry, OPCW and National Authorities.

The EU supports universality through the organization of regional and sub-regional workshops and seminars and bilateral activities to increase OPCW membership. Projects include sustained technical support for States Parties that request it to establish and maintain National Authorities and to enable national implementation. Projects also help build response capacities against chemical weapons and develop assistance and protection programmes, and have established a freely accessible database for identification of CWC-related chemicals.

Joint Actions support also aims to foster international cooperation in chemical activities through the exchange of scientific and technical information, and of chemicals and equipment for purposes not prohibited under the CWC, in order to contribute to the development of the States Parties' capacities to implement the CWC.

With the support of the EU Joint Action the Technical Secretariat organized a highly successful Industry and Protection Forum held in November 2007. The EU Joint Action also provides support for Executive Council visits to chemical weapons destruction facilities and construction sites.

Categories: International Cooperation, National implementation, Outreach