term perspective of a common defence,
compatible with that of the Atlantic Alliance.
2. WEU will be developed as the defence component of the European
Union and as a means to strengthen the European pillar of the Atlantic
Alliance. To this end, it will formulate common European defence
policy and carry forward its concrete implementation through the
further development of its own operational role.
WEU Member States take note of Article J.4 relating to the common
foreign and security policy of the Treaty on European Union which
reads as follows:
"1. The common foreign and security policy shall include all questions
related to the security of the Union, including the eventual framing of a
common defence policy, which might in time lead to a common
defence.
2. The union requests the Western Union (WEU), which is an integral
part of the development of the Union, to elaborate and implement
decisions and actions of the Union which have defence implications.
The Council shall, in agreement with the institutions of the WEU, adopt
the necessary practical arrangements.
3. Issues having defence implications dealt with under this Article
shall not be subject to the procedures set out in Article J.3.
4. The policy of the Union in accordance with this Article shall not
prejudice the specific character of the security and defence policy of
certain Member States and shall respect the obligations of certain
Member States under the North Atlantic Treaty and be compatible with
the common security and defence policy established within that
framework.
5. The provisions of this Article shall not prevent the development of
closer co-operation between two or more Member States on a bilateral
level, in the framework of the WEU and the Atlantic Alliance, provided
such co-operation does not run counter to or impede that provided for
in this Title.
6. With a view to furthering the objective of this Treaty, and having in
view the date of 1998 in the context of Article XII of the Brussels
Treaty, the provisions of this Article may be revised as provided for in
Article N(2) on the basis of a report to be presented in 1996 by the
Council to the European Council, which shall include an evaluation of
the progress made and the experience gained until then."
A. WEU's relations with European Union
3. The objective is to build up WEU in stages as the defence
component of the European Union. To this end, WEU is prepared, at
the request of the European U