Division 3.2.1 Purpose of the project

The annual major non-proliferation and disarmament conferences, with the participation of governmental experts and independent think tanks and other specialists from academia from the Union and associated states as well as third countries, will discuss and identify further measures to combat the proliferation of WMD and their delivery systems and inter-related disarmament objectives, as well as address challenges related to conventional weapons, including countering the illicit trade and excessive accumulation of SALW and their ammunition. As the flagship event of the project, the annual conference will enhance international attention of the EU WMD Non-proliferation Strategy and its implementation efforts by the institutions of the Union and the related work of independent think tanks and academic experts in Member States.

The annual conferences will also serve to foster the role and cohesion of European think tanks specialising in non-proliferation-related fields and will help to enhance capacity in these and other institutions, including in areas of the world without great depth of expertise in non-proliferation.

The annual conferences and any preparatory meetings will address non-proliferation-related issues of topical relevance to the work of the EEAS. Based on these discussions and other work overseen by the Consortium, policy-oriented reports will be produced together with a set of action-oriented recommendations to the representatives of the HR. The report would be disseminated to the relevant institutions of the Union and the Member States and made available online.