Introductory text
United Kingdom
Council Decision 2005/852/CFSP
of 29 November 2005
for the destruction of small arms and light weapons (SALW) and their ammunition in Ukraine
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to Council Joint Action 2002/589/CFSP of 12 July 2002 on the European Union’s contribution to combating the destabilising accumulation and spread of small arms and light weaponsf1, and in particular Article 4 thereof, in conjunction with Article 23(2) of the Treaty on European Union,
Whereas:
(1)
In the past Ukraine had a large military industrial complex, held in the third largest nuclear weapons arsenal in the world, and served as a base for the USSR’s strategic reserves of arms and ammunition.
(2)
Some estimates suggest that Ukraine holds as much as 7 million Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) and 2 million tonnes of ammunition, much of which dates from the previous world wars. These large quantities of SALW and ammunition not only represent a huge surplus in terms’ of Ukraine’s current armed forces levels but also include large numbers of unserviceable and hazardous items of ammunition.
(3)
The EU-Ukraine Action Plan was adopted by the EU-Ukraine Cooperation Council on 21 February 2005 and calls upon both parties to jointly address threats for security, public health and environment, posed by Ukrainian stockpiles of old ammunition, inter alia, anti-personnel land mines.
(4)
The NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency (NAMSA), under the terms of the Partnership for Peace (PfP) Trust Fund, is managing a twelve year project aimed at the destruction of 1,5 million surplus SALW and 133 000 tonnes of conventional ammunition to be executed in four phases.
(5)
The European Union considers that a financial contribution to the first phase of this project would help Ukraine to reduce the risks related to the accumulation of large quantities of SALW and ammunition and accommodate the level of SALW and ammunition to its current armed forces levels.
(6)
On 18 May 2005 the Parliament of Ukraine ratified the Convention on the prohibition of the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines and on their destruction, (Ottawa Convention).
(7)
The European Union therefore intends to offer financial support to Ukraine in accordance with Title II of Joint Action 2002/589/CFSP. Adequate visibility of this financial support, including by appropriate measures taken by NAMSA will be assured,
HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: