Introductory text

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in particular Article 28(1), in conjunction with 31(1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy,

Whereas:

The 2020 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (the 2020 NPT Review Conference) marks several important dates for the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), such as the 50th anniversary of its entry into force and the 25th anniversary of the adoption by the 1995 NPT Review Conference of Decision 3 (Extension of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons), which extended the NPT indefinitely.

On 12 December 2003, the European Council adopted the European Union Strategy against Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (the 2003 EU Strategy against WMD). The 2003 EU Strategy against WMD identifies support for the NPT as a first priority for action at the international level, and calls for the preservation of the integrity, and the universalisation, of the NPT, the IAEA Safeguard agreements and the protocols attached to the NPT and the IAEA Safeguard agreements.

In accordance with the 2016 Global Strategy for the European Union's Foreign and Security Policy and the 2003 EU Strategy against WMD, the Union's actions continue to be grounded in the conviction that a multilateral approach to security, including disarmament and non-proliferation, provides the best way to maintain international order and hence the commitment to uphold, implement and strengthen the multilateral disarmament and non-proliferation treaties and agreements.

In the United Nations Secretary-General's Agenda for Disarmament ‘Securing our Common Future’, presented on 24 May 2018, it was underlined that the NPT ‘has come to be regarded as a key pillar of the international security architecture’.

The Union is actively engaging in the current NPT review cycle, which started with the first session of the Preparatory Committee that took place in Vienna from 2 to 12 May 2017. The second session of the Preparatory Committee took place in Geneva from 23 April to 4 May 2018. The third session of the Preparatory Committee will take place in New York from 29 April to 10 May 2019, and the 2020 Review Conference of the Parties to the NPT will take place in New York from 27 April to 22 May 2020.

The European Union considers the NPT the cornerstone of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime, the essential foundation for the pursuit of nuclear disarmament in accordance with Article VI, and an important element in the further development of the application of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. In this regard, the Council adopted Common Position 2005/329/PESC^f1, Decision 2010/212/CFSP^f2, and Conclusions on the Ninth NPT Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: