View source for Western European Union

{{Short description|1954–2011 international organisation and military alliance}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2014}}
{{Redirect|WEU|the women's rights organization|Women's Emancipation Union|the ISO 639-3 code weu|Welaung language}}
{{Infobox Former Country
| conventional_long_name = Western European Union
| common_name            = WEU
| native_name            = Union de l'Europe occidentale
| status                 = International organisation
| status_text            = Alliance
| continent              = 
| era                    = Cold War
| p1                     = Western Union (alliance)
| flag_p1                = Flag of the Western Union.svg
| s1                     = European Union
| flag_s1                = Flag of Europe.svg
| flag                   = Flag of the Western European Union
| image_flag             = Flag of the Western European Union.svg
| flag_type              = Flag (1995–2011)
| image_map              = Red pog.svg
| image_map_size         = 1px
| image_map_caption      = {{Switcher|[[File:Western European Union (1954-1990).svg|frameless]]|1954–1990|[[File:Western European Union (1990-1995).svg|frameless]]|1990–1995|[[File:Western European Union (1995-2011).svg|frameless]]|1995–2011|default=3}}
| capital                = [[City of Brussels|Brussels]]
| common_languages       = 
| national_anthem        = 
| currency               = 
| legislature            = 
| house1                 = 
| house2                 = 
| event_start            = [[London and Paris Conferences |Modified]] [[Treaty of Brussels|Brussels Treaty]]
| year_start             = 1954
| date_start             = 23 October
| event_end              = Abolition
| year_end               = 2011
| date_end               = 30 June
| event1                 = Cultural tasks transf. to [[Council of Europe|CoE]]
| date_event1            = 1 January 1960
| event2                 = [[Rome Declaration]]
| date_event2            = 27 October 1984
| event3                 = Platform on European Security Interests
| date_event3            = 27 October 1987
| event4                 = [[Petersberg Declaration]]
| date_event4            = 19 June 1992
| event5                 = ESDI introduced
| date_event5            = 4 June 1996
| event6                 = [[Treaty of Lisbon]]
| date_event6            = 1 December 2009
| today                  = [[European Union]] ([[Common Security and Defence Policy|CSDP]])<br />[[Council of Europe]]
| footnotes              = 
}}
{{EU history}}

The '''Western European Union''' ('''WEU'''; {{langx |fr|Union de l'Europe occidentale}}, '''UEO'''; {{langx|de| Westeuropäische Union}}, '''WEU''') was the international organisation and military alliance that succeeded the [[Western Union (alliance) |Western Union]] (WU) after the 1954 amendment of the 1948 [[Treaty of Brussels]]. The WEU implemented the [[Treaty of Brussels#Modification |Modified Brussels Treaty]]. During the [[Cold War]], the [[Western Bloc]] included the WEU member-states, plus the [[United States]] and Canada, as part of the [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]] (NATO).<ref>{{cite book |title=A Dictionary of Aviation |first=David W. |last=Wragg |isbn=9780850451634 |edition=first |publisher=Osprey |year=1973 |page=279}}</ref>

The Cold War ended {{circa | 1991}}, and at the turn of the 21st century, WEU tasks and institutions were gradually transferred to the [[European Union]] (EU), providing central parts of the EU's new military component, the European [[Common Security and Defence Policy]] (CSDP). This process was completed in 2009 when a solidarity clause between the [[member states of the European Union]], which was similar (but not identical) to the WEU's mutual-defence clause, entered into force with the [[Treaty of Lisbon]]. The states party to the Modified Treaty of Brussels consequently decided to terminate that treaty on 31 March 2010, with all the WEU's remaining activities to cease within 15 months.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=31 March 2010 |title=Statement of the Presidency of the Permanent Council of the WEU on behalf of the High Contracting Parties to the Modified Brussels Treaty – Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom |url=http://www.weu.int/Declaration_E.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110301072913/http://www.weu.int/Declaration_E.pdf |archive-date=2011-03-01 |access-date=2024-01-15 |website=Western European Union}}</ref>
On 30 June 2011, the WEU officially ceased to exist; with the European Union taking over its activities.<ref>
{{cite book
 |editor-last1         = Simma
 |editor-first1        = Bruno
 |editor-link1         = Bruno Simma
 |editor-last2         = Khan
 |editor-first2        = Daniel-Erasmus
 |editor-last3         = Nolte
 |editor-first3        = Georg
 |editor-link3         = Georg Nolte
 |editor-last4         = Paulus
 |editor-first4        = Andreas
 |editor-link4         = Andreas Paulus
 |date                 = 22 November 2012
 |title                = The Charter of the United Nations: A Commentary
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=5LUoAwAAQBAJ
 |series               = Oxford Commentaries on International Law
 |edition              = 3
 |orig-date            = 1994
 |publication-place    = Oxford
 |publisher            = Oxford University Press
 |page                 = 1935
 |isbn                 = 9780191653872
 |access-date          = 13 August 2023
 |quote                = [...] the EU has taken over all activities of the former Western European Union which ceased to exist on 30 June 2011.
}}
</ref>

==History==
===Background===
{{Further|Treaty of Brussels|Western Union (alliance)}}
The Treaty of Brussels was signed by the [[United Kingdom]], [[France]], [[Belgium]], [[Luxembourg]], and the [[Netherlands]] on 17 March 1948, establishing the [[Western Union (alliance)|Western Union]] (WU), an intergovernmental defence alliance that also promoted economic, cultural and social collaboration.

The need to back up the commitments of the [[North Atlantic Treaty]] with appropriate political and military structures led to the creation of the [[NATO|North Atlantic Treaty Organisation]] (NATO). In December 1950 the parties to the Treaty of Brussels decided to transfer the headquarters, personnel, and plans of the [[Western Union Defence Organisation]] (WUDO) to NATO, whose [[Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe]] (SHAPE) took over responsibility for the defence of [[Western Europe]].<ref>[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1957/feb/18/brussels-treaty-organisation-resolution Hansard extract] 18 February 1957</ref><ref name=ElusiveQuest>{{cite book |title= The elusive quest for European security: from EDC to CFSP |last= Duke |first= Simon |year= 2000 |publisher= [[Palgrave Macmillan]] |location= Basingstoke, UK |isbn= 978-0-312-22402-8 |pages= [https://archive.org/details/elusivequestfore00simo/page/13 13–14] |url= https://archive.org/details/elusivequestfore00simo/page/13 |access-date= 2010-11-27 }}</ref><ref name="DYK">{{cite web |year=2010 |title=Did you know that Europe already had a defensive military alliance prior to NATO? |url=http://www.aco.nato.int/page20923100.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721043556/http://www.aco.nato.int/page20923100.aspx |archive-date=2011-07-21 |access-date=2010-08-08 |work=[[Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe|Allied Command Operations (ACO)]] |publisher=[[NATO]]}}</ref><ref name=Kaplan>{{cite book |title= NATO 1948: the birth of the transatlantic Alliance |last= Kaplan |first= Lawrence S. |year= 2007 |publisher= [[Rowman & Littlefield|Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.]] |location= [[Lanham, Maryland]] |isbn= 978-0-7425-3917-4 |pages= 139–165 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=UV-ti1sYcbcC&q=%http://www.rowmanlittlefield.com/Catalog/SingleBook.shtml&pg=PA139 |access-date=2010-08-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title= Brussels Treaty Organisation (Resolution) |url= https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1957/feb/18/brussels-treaty-organisation-resolution |journal= [[Hansard]] |publisher= [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom]] |location= [[London]] |volume=565 |id=cc19-20W |date= 18 February 1957 |access-date=2010-11-27}}</ref>

The establishment of NATO, along with the signing of a succession of treaties establishing the [[OECD|Organisation for European Economic Cooperation]] (April 1948), the [[NATO|North Atlantic Treaty Organisation]] (April 1949), the [[Council of Europe]] (May 1949) and the [[European Coal and Steel Community]] (April 1951), left the Treaty of Brussels and its Western Union devoid of authority.

===1954–1984: General dormancy ===
{{Further|London and Paris Conferences|Treaty of Brussels#Modification|General Treaty}}
[[File:Flag of the Western European Union (1993-1995).svg|thumb|[[File:FIAV historical.svg|23px]] First, 9-star flag (1993–1995)]]
The Western Union's founding [[Treaty of Brussels]] was amended at the 1954 [[London and Paris Conferences#Paris|Paris Conference]] as a result of the failure of the [[Treaty establishing the European Defence Community]] to gain French ratification: The [[General Treaty]] ({{langx|de|Deutschlandvertrag}}) of 1952 formally named the EDC as a prerequisite of the end of Allied occupation of Germany, and there was a desire to include Germany in the Western defence architecture.<ref name=":1">Text of Modified Brussels Treaty on the WEU website {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220021100/http://www.weu.int/Treaty.htm#1|date=20 December 2019}} from the [http://www.weu.int/Treaty.htm#1 Original] (Accessed 22 Feb 18)</ref>

The Modified Brussels Treaty (MBT) transformed the Western Union into the Western European Union, at which point [[Italy]] and [[West Germany]] were admitted. Although the WEU established by the Modified Brussels Treaty was significantly less powerful and ambitious than the original Western Union, German membership of the WEU was considered sufficient for the military occupation of Germany to end in accordance with the General Treaty.<ref name=":1" />

The signatories of the Paris Agreements stated their three main objectives in the preamble to the Modified Brussels Treaty:

* To create in Western Europe a firm basis for European economic recovery;
* To afford assistance to each other in resisting any policy of aggression;
* To promote the unity and encourage the progressive integration of Europe.

The social and cultural aspects of the Treaty of Brussels were handed to the Council of Europe (CoE) to avoid duplication of responsibilities.<ref>[http://www.cvce.eu/en/collections/unit-content/-/unit/02bb76df-d066-4c08-a58a-d4686a3e68ff/9059327f-7f8a-4a74-ac7e-5a0f3247bcd3/Resources#73277207-d250-41c5-8960-1d8bce9f11aa_en&overlay The Western European Union] On CVCE website</ref> This, in addition to the existence of NATO, marginalised the WEU, and caused it to be largely defunct.

On 1 January 1960 in accordance with the decision taken on 21 October 1959 by the Council of Western European Union and with Resolution(59)23 adopted on 16 November 1959 by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, the WEU activities in social and cultural areas (Social Committee, Public Health Committee, Joint Committee on the Rehabilitation and Resettlement of the Disabled and Cultural Committee) were transferred to the Council of Europe which was already running programmes in these fields. The European Universities Committee (see CM(60)4; C(59)127 and CM(59)130) was transferred to the Council of Europe separately from the rest of WEU cultural activities.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1948 - Documents, Records and Archives - www.coe.int |url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/documents-records-archives-information/timeline-1948 |access-date=2024-01-15 |website=Council of Europe |language=en-GB}}</ref>

===1984–1998: Revival ===
{{Further|Rome Declaration|Petersberg Declaration}}
From the late 1970s onwards, efforts were made to add a security dimension to the [[European Communities]]' [[European Political Cooperation]] (EPC), namely through the Genscher-Colombo Initiative.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cuccia |first1=Deborah |title=The Genscher-Colombo Plan: A forgotten page in the European Integration History |url=https://www.nomos-elibrary.de/10.5771/0947-9511-2018-1-59.pdf |journal=Journal of European Integration History |date=2018 |volume=24 |pages=59–78 |doi=10.5771/0947-9511-2018-1-59 |access-date=11 September 2024 |archive-date=9 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201209192142/https://www.nomos-elibrary.de/10.5771/0947-9511-2018-1-59.pdf |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> Opposition to these efforts from Denmark, Greece and Ireland<ref>{{cite web |last1=Regelsberger |first1=Elfriede |title=European Political Cooperation (EPC) |url=https://oxfordre.com/politics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228637-e-1478?d=%2F10.1093%2Facrefore%2F9780190228637.001.0001%2Facrefore-9780190228637-e-1478&p=emailAgc8EOHG1T7NE |website=Oxford Research Encyclopedias |date=2020 |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.1478 |isbn=978-0-19-022863-7 |access-date=13 September 2024}}</ref> led the remaining EC countries – all WEU members – to reactivate the WEU in 1984 by adopting the [[Rome Declaration]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/politics97/news/06/0616/jargon.shtml|title=BBC Politics 97|website=www.bbc.co.uk}}</ref> Prior to this point there had been minimal use of the provisions of the Modified Brussels Treaty.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2001 |title=THE EU AS A BLACK WIDOW: DEVOURING THE WEU TO GIVE BIRTH TO A EUROPEAN SECURITY AND DEFENCE POLICY |url=https://www.utwente.nl/en/bms/pa/archive/research/wessel/wessel26.pdf |access-date=2024-01-15 |website=[[University of Twente]]}}</ref>

[[File:Petersberg-077.JPG|thumb|[[Hotel Petersberg]], where the Petersberg tasks were defined in 1992.]]
In 1992, the WEU adopted the [[Petersberg Declaration]], defining the so-called ''Petersberg tasks'' designed to cope with the possible destabilising of Eastern Europe. The WEU itself had no standing army but depended on cooperation between its members. Its tasks ranged from the most modest to the most robust, and included [[humanitarian]], rescue and [[peacekeeping]] tasks as well as tasks for combat forces in [[crisis management]], including [[peacemaking]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://eur-lex.europa.eu/browse/summaries.html|title=Summaries of EU Legislation - EUR-Lex|website=eur-lex.europa.eu}}</ref>

At the 1996 NATO ministerial meeting in Berlin, it was agreed that the Western European Union would oversee the creation of a European Security and Defence Identity (ESDI) within NATO structures.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nato.int/docu/comm/1996/9606-brl/9606-brl.htm|title=NATO Ministerial Meetings Berlin - 3-4 June 1996|website=www.nato.int}}</ref> The ESDI was intended as a European 'pillar' within NATO, partly to allow European countries to act militarily where [[NATO]] wished not to, and partly to alleviate the United States' financial burden of maintaining [[military base]]s in Europe, which it had done since the Cold War. The Berlin agreement allowed European countries (through the WEU) to use NATO assets if it so wished.

===1998–2009: Transfer of tasks to the EU===
{{Further|Common Security and Defence Policy}}
In 1998 the United Kingdom, which had traditionally opposed the introduction of European autonomous defence capacities, signed the [[Saint-Malo declaration]]. This marked a turning point as the declaration endorsed the creation of a European security and defense policy, including a European military force capable of autonomous action.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Franco–British St. Malo Declaration (4 December 1998)|date = 22 June 2015|url = http://www.cvce.eu/obj/franco_british_st_malo_declaration_4_december_1998-en-f3cd16fb-fc37-4d52-936f-c8e9bc80f24f.html|access-date = 2015-08-18}}</ref> The declaration was a response to the [[Kosovo War]] in the late 1990s, in which the EU was perceived to have failed to intervene to stop the conflict.<ref>{{Cite web|title = The Saint-Malo Declaration and its impact on ESDP after 10 years - Defence Viewpoints from UK Defence Forum|url = http://www.defenceviewpoints.co.uk/articles-and-analysis/the-saint-malo-declaration-and-its-impact-on-esdp-after-10-years|website = www.defenceviewpoints.co.uk|access-date = 2015-08-18|last = Adam}}</ref>

Concerns were voiced that an independent European security pillar could undermine NATO; In response to St. Malo, the former US-Secretary of State [[Madeleine Albright]] put forth the three famous D's: no duplication of what was done effectively under NATO, no decoupling from the US and NATO, and no discrimination against non-EU members such as Turkey.

[[File:Javier Solana 1999.jpg|upright|thumb|[[High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy|High Representative]] [[Javier Solana]] (September 1999)]]
The [[Treaty of Amsterdam]], which entered into force in 1999, transferred the WEU's Petersberg tasks to the EU, and stated that the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), replacing the WEU's ESDI, would be 'progressively framed' on the basis of these tasks.

In June 1999, the [[List of European Councils#Cologne 1999|Cologne European Council]] decided to incorporate the role of the WEU within the EU, effectively abandoning the WEU. The Cologne Council also appointed [[Javier Solana]] as the [[High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy]] to help progress both the [[CFSP]] and the CSDP. On 20 November 1999 Solana was also appointed Secretary-General of the WEU. His being head of both organisations permits him to oversee the ongoing transfer of functions from the WEU to the EU.

In 2002 the Berlin agreement from 1996 was amended with the so-called [[Berlin Plus agreement]], which allowed the EU to also draw on some of NATO's assets in its own peacekeeping operations.

Originally, under the [[Amsterdam Treaty]], the WEU was given an integral role in giving the EU an independent defence capability, playing a major role in the [[Petersberg tasks]]; however that situation is changing. On 13 November 2000, WEU Ministers met in [[Marseille]] and agreed to begin transferring the organisation's capabilities and functions to the European Union, under its developing [[Common Foreign and Security Policy]] (CFSP) and [[Common Security and Defence Policy]] (CSDP).<ref>[http://www.weu.int/documents/001113en.pdf Marseille Declaration 2000] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708090712/http://www.weu.int/documents/001113en.pdf |date=8 July 2017 }} weu.int</ref>

For example, on 1 January 2002, the WEU's Security Studies Institute and the Satellite Centre were transferred to the EU and became the [[European Union Institute for Security Studies]] and the [[European Union Satellite Centre]]. Notably, the role given to the WEU in the Amsterdam Treaty, was removed by the [[Nice Treaty]]. The [[Treaty of Lisbon]] has provisions for cooperation between the EU and both NATO (including the [[Berlin Plus agreement]]) and the WEU.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://register.consilium.europa.eu/pdf/en/08/st06/st06655.en08.pdf|title=CONSOLIDATED VERSIONS OF THE TREATY ON EUROPEAN UNION AND THE TREATY ON THE FUNCTIONING OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Protocol 10 and 11}}</ref><ref>[http://europa.eu/scadplus/glossary/western_european_union_en.htm Western European Union (WEU)] europa.eu</ref> However the defence commitment, of Article 4 of the Brussels Treaty, has not been subsumed.<ref>[http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/cfsp/esdp/index.htm EU Security Policy & the Role of the European Commission] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070701193610/http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/cfsp/esdp/index.htm |date=1 July 2007 }} ec.europa.eu</ref> Article 42(7) of the Treaty of the European Union, as amended by the Treaty of Lisbon, could be viewed as incorporating that defence commitment into the EU framework.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200708/ldselect/ldeucom/62/6212.htm#a234|title=House of Lords - European Union - Tenth Report|first=The Committee Office, House of|last=Lords|website=publications.parliament.uk}}</ref>

The [[European Union Institute for Security Studies]] (EUISS) and [[European Union Satellite Centre]] (EUSC), both established to function under the EU's CFSP [[Three pillars of the European Union|pillar]], were both 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.

With the transfer of responsibilities, the WEU's Parliamentary assembly was urged to dissolve itself, as it had a mandate to supervise WEU politics, not the EU's CSDP politics. But the Assembly saw itself as playing an important role, particularly with greater right of scrutiny, membership, experience and expertise in defence policy. Therefore, it renamed itself the "Interim European Security and Defence Assembly" and urged the [[Convention on the Future of Europe|European Convention]] to include it as a second chamber within the EU's institutional framework. Hence it argued it could effectively scrutinise the CSDP, help improve EU-NATO relations and be more suited, being composed of national parliamentarians, to the intergovernmental style of the CSDP.

However, with the [[Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe|European Constitution]] aiming to streamline and simplify the EU's foreign policy, for example combining the two main foreign policy posts, it was not seen as wise to then create a separate double legislature for the CFSP, instead, the [[European Parliament]] was granted greater scrutiny over foreign policy.<ref>[http://www.iss.europa.eu/occasion/occ57.pdf Occasional Paper n.57: The democratic legitimacy of the European Security and Defence Policy] European Union Institute for Security Studies, April 2005</ref>

===2009–2011: Dissolution===
{{Further|Treaty of Lisbon}}
In 2009, the [[Treaty of Lisbon]] took over the WEU's mutual defence clause.<ref name=":0" /> There was much discussion about what to do with the WEU following the introduction of Lisbon, including plans to scrap it.<ref name=Rettman /> On 30 March 2010 in a Written Ministerial Statement UK's [[Foreign Office]] Minister [[Chris Bryant]] gave notice that the UK intended to withdraw from the Western European Union within a year.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/news/latest-news/?view=PressS&id=21976547 |title=Announcements - GOV.UK |publisher=Fco.gov.uk |access-date=25 August 2013 |archive-date=24 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120924111453/http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/news/latest-news/?view=PressS&id=21976547 |url-status=dead }}</ref> On 31 March 2010 the [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Germany)|German Foreign Affairs Ministry]] announced Germany's intention to withdraw from the Modified Brussels Treaty.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/diplo/de/Europa/Aussenpolitik/ESVP/100331WEUKuendigung,navCtx=21914.html |title=diplo - Startseite - HTTP Status 404 |language=de |publisher=Auswaertiges-amt.de |access-date=25 August 2013}}</ref> That same year, the Spanish Presidency of the WEU, on behalf of the 10 Member States of the Modified Brussels Treaty, announced the collective decision to withdraw from the Treaty and to close the WEU organisation by June 2011.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-12-19 |title=Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores y de Cooperación {{!}} Gobierno de España |url=http://www.maec.es/es/MenuPpal/Actualidad/NoticiasMAEC/Paginas/20100331_not1.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111219035147/http://www.maec.es/es/MenuPpal/Actualidad/NoticiasMAEC/Paginas/20100331_not1.aspx |archive-date=2011-12-19 |access-date=2024-01-15 |website=Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation}}</ref> On 30 June 2011 the WEU officially ceased to exist.

===Timeline===

{{EU evolution  timeline}}

==Organization==
The WEU was headquartered in [[Brussels]], with a staff of 65 and an annual budget of €13.4 million.<ref name=Rettman>Rettman, Andrew (3 September 2009) [http://euobserver.com/9/28615 European defence league poised for debate on dormant pact], EU Observer accessed 3 September 2009</ref> It was composed of the Council of the WEU (the Council) and the Assembly of the WEU (the Assembly).

===Council of Ministers===
The WEU was led by a Council of Ministers, assisted by a Permanent Representatives Council on the ambassadorial level.

===Parliamentary Assembly===
{{Main|Assembly of the Western European Union}}
[[File:Flag of the Assembly of the Western European Union.svg|thumb|Flag of the [[Assembly of the Western European Union|WEU Assembly]]]]
A [[Assembly of WEU|Parliamentary Assembly]] (composed of the delegations of the member states to the Parliamentary Assembly of the [[Council of Europe]]) supervised the work of the Council, but it did not have any obligations on the Council. The Assembly of WEU was a consultative institution.

===Western European Armaments Group===
[[File:Emblem of the Western European Armaments Group.svg|thumb|WEAG emblem]]
The Independent European Program Group (IEPG) was established as a forum for armaments cooperation in 1976 with the aim of creating a European Armaments Agency. Since 1993 the WEU armaments cooperation forum has been known as Western European Armaments Group (WEAG). Its membership reached 19 in 2000: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United Kingdom. The body closed on 23 May 2005.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.weu.int/weag/|title=Western European Armaments Group|website=www.weu.int|access-date=3 June 2007|archive-date=1 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170601112037/http://www.weu.int/weag/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Western European Armaments Organisation===
The Western European Armaments Organisation (WEAO) was intended as an Armaments Agency but operations were limited to a research cell. It provided support services in defence research and technology. It was created in 1996, and closed in August 2006.<ref>[http://www.weao.weu.int/site/index.php WEAO Website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070524133139/http://www.weao.weu.int/site/index.php |date=24 May 2007 }}</ref> These agencies were taken over by the [[European Defence Agency]]. Other transferred bodies include the [[European Union Institute for Security Studies|Institute for Security Studies]] and the [[European Union Satellite Centre|Satellite Centre]].

===European Operational Rapid Force===
{{Main|European Rapid Operational Force}}
[[File:Coat of arms of the European Rapid Operational Force.svg|thumb|Arms of the European Rapid Operational Force]]
On 15 May 1995, the Council of Ministers of the WEU met in Lisbon. During this meeting a declaration of the creation of the [[European Operational Rapid Force]] (EUROFOR) was made by France, Italy, Spain and Portugal. Eurofor became operational in June 1998 as a task force of the Western European Union.<ref>[http://www.eurofor.it Eurofor] eurofor.it</ref>

==Participation==
[[File:WEU Map.svg|thumb|270px|WEU participation as of 2011:<br />{{hlist|{{legend2|#e82020|Members}}|{{legend2|#40a800|Associate members}}|{{legend2|#5874a8|Observers}}|{{legend2|#a080a8|Associate partners}}}}]]
The Western European Union had ten member countries, six associate member countries, five observer countries and seven associate partner countries. On 14 June 2001, WEU Secretary General Solana stated that there was no foreseeable reason to change the status of the non member countries in the organisation.

===Members===
All member countries of the WEU were also members of both [[NATO]] and the European Union. These are the only nations that had full voting rights.
* {{BEL}}
* {{FRA}}
* {{GER}}
* {{GRE}} (1995)
* {{ITA}}
* {{LUX}}
* {{NED}}
* {{POR}} (27 March 1990)
* {{ESP}} (27 March 1990)
* {{GBR}}

===Observers===
[[Rome]], 1992: Observer countries were members of the European Union, but not of NATO.<sup>1</sup>
* {{AUT}} (1995)
* {{DEN}}<sup>1</sup>
* {{FIN}} (1995)
* {{IRL}}
* {{SWE}} (1995)

<sup>1</sup> Denmark was an exception, being member of both. It has an [[Opt-outs in the European Union|opt-out]] from the [[Treaty of Maastricht]] (1992), so that it did not participate in the [[Common Security and Defence Policy|CSDP]] of the [[European Union]].

===Associate members===
Rome, 1992:
Associate membership was created to include the European countries that were members of [[NATO]] but not of the European Union. Associate members Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary joined the EU in 2004.
* {{CZE}} (1999)
* {{HUN}} (1999)
* {{ISL}}
* {{NOR}}
* {{POL}} (1999)
* {{TUR}} (1992)

===Associate partners===
[[Kirchberg, Luxembourg|Kirchberg]], 1994:
Countries that at the time were not part of either NATO or of the EU. All of the following nations joined both NATO and the EU by 2007.
* {{BUL}}
* {{EST}}
* {{LAT}}
* {{LTU}}
* {{ROU}}
* {{SVK}}
* {{SLO}} (1996)

==Missions==
{{Further|List of military and civilian missions of the European Union}}
The following missions, mainly in the Balkans, were deployed by the WEU:<ref>{{cite web |title=Shaping of a Common Security and Defence Policy - EEAS - European External Action Service - European Commission |url=https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage/5388/shaping-common-security-and-defence-policy_en |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113220105/https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage/5388/shaping-common-security-and-defence-policy_en |archive-date=2017-01-13 |website=EEAS - European External Action Service}}</ref>
*1987–1988: ''Operation Cleansweep'': A minesweeping operation in the [[Strait of Hormuz]]
*June 1993–October 1996: ''[[Operation Sharp Guard]]'': A joint naval operation with NATO in the [[Adriatic Sea]]
*June 1993–October 1996: A police and customs operation with the [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe]] (OSCE) on the [[Danube]]
*July 1994–October 1996: A police contingent in [[Mostar]], Bosnia-Herzegovina
*May 1997–May 2001: A [[Multinational Advisory Police Element]] (MAPE) in Albania
*May 1999–November 2001: A [[Demining Assistance Mission]] (WEUDAM) to Croatia
*November 1998–July 1999: A general security surveillance mission in Kosovo

==Non-military activities==
The WEU initially had cultural and social (non-military) structures and activities, but these were transferred to the [[Council of Europe]] in 1960.<ref>[https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=0900001680696a82 Leaflet on rm.coe.int.]</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|European Union}}
* [[Collective defense|Collective defence]]
* [[Collective security]]
* [[European Union Institute for Security Studies]]
* [[Exercise Verity]]
* [[Flag of the Western European Union]]
* [[History of the Common Security and Defence Policy]]
* [[Lancaster House Treaties]]
* [[List of military alliances]]
* [[List of secretaries general of the Western European Union]]

==References==
{{Reflist|35em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Archive url|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928063807/http://www.weu.int/|date=2011-09-28|title=WEU official website}}
* {{Archive url|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121217060941/http://www.weu.int/WEU_Today2.pdf|date=2012-12-17|title=WEU Today}}
* [http://archives.eui.eu/en/fonds/194161?item=WEU Historical fonds] of the Western European Union at the [http://www.eui.eu/Research/HistoricalArchivesOfEU/Index.aspx Historical Archives of the EU] in Florence
* [http://ueo.cvce.lu/en/index.html Frozen version of the WEU Assembly's website]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060927143725/http://paginas.pavconhecimento.pt/pessoais/dw/Mario%5FZanatti/ WEU evolution: The presentation of the Eurocorps-Foreign Legion concept at the European Parliament in June 2003]

{{Common Security and Defence Policy/history}}
{{Authority control}}

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