Article 1

to encourage political and security-related dialogue and long-term discussion of measures to combat the proliferation of WMD and their delivery systems within civil societies, and more particularly among experts, researchers and academics;

to provide those participating in the relevant preparatory bodies of the Council with the opportunity to consult the network on issues related to non-proliferation and to enable the representatives of Member States to participate in the network's meetings;

to constitute a useful stepping stone for non-proliferation action by the Union and the international community, in particular by providing reports and/or recommendations to the representatives of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR);

to contribute to enhancing third countries' awareness of proliferation challenges and of the need to work in cooperation with the Union and in the context of multilateral fora, in particular the United Nations, to prevent, deter, halt and where possible, eliminate proliferation programmes of worldwide concern;

to contribute to the development of expertise and institutional capacity in non-proliferation and disarmament matters in think tanks and governments in the Union and third countries.

providing means for the organisation of four annual consultative meetings and up to eight ad-hoc seminars for experts and practitioners on the full range of non-proliferation and disarmament issues covering both unconventional and conventional arms, with a view to submitting reports and/or recommendations to the representatives of the HR;

setting up a Help-Desk Facility within the Consortium, to provide ad-hoc expertise on questions related to the full range of non-proliferation and disarmament issues covering both unconventional and conventional arms, for responses within a two-week time frame;

providing means for the holding of four major annual conferences with third countries and civil society on non-proliferation and disarmament to promote internationally the EU WMD Non-proliferation Strategy and the EU SALW Strategy, and the role, in this field, of Union institutions and think tanks in the Union, with a view to raising the visibility of Union policies in this area and submitting reports and/or recommendations to the representatives of the HR;

providing means for the management and development of an Internet platform to facilitate contacts and foster research dialogue among the network of think tanks analysing issues related to the prevention of proliferation of WMD and conventional weapons, including SALW, as well as for the education of a new generation of experts on non-proliferation and disarmament;

providing means to raise awareness and develop expertise and institutional capacity in the area of non-proliferation in think tanks and governments in the Union and third countries;

addressing topics proposed by Member States and the European External Action Service (EEAS) in the overall Consortium research activities.