PRESS COMMUNIQUE M-DPC-2(92)102 For immediate release
11th December 1992
FINAL COMMUNIQUE
1. The Defence Planning Committee of the North
Atlantic Treaty Organisation met in Ministerial session in
Brussels on 10th and 11th December, 1992.
2. We are at a critical period in the
transformation of Europe. Our meeting has built on the
decisions taken at the NATO Summits in London and Rome; at
Maastricht, and at the CSCE Helsinki Summit. At our
recent meeting at Gleneagles, we expressed our deep
concern about the risks to European security and stability
posed by the growth of regional conflicts involving ethnic
rivalries and territorial disputes. The Alliance remains
committed to play a full part in seeking the peaceful
resolution of these conflicts, thus bringing to an end the
loss of life, suffering and destruction involved.
3. The most acute crisis is the war in the former
Yugoslavia. We fully support the efforts of the United
Nations, the CSCE and the European Community to find a
negotiated settlement to this tragic conflict and call on
all parties to co-operate with these efforts. The Allies
are making substantial practical contributions to the
peacekeeping efforts of the United Nations, including
ceasefire monitoring and participation in and the
protection of humanitarian relief convoys. NATO has
increased its involvement in recent weeks: it is providing
important elements of the operational headquarters of the
United Nations Protection Force in Bosnia-Hercegovina as
well as undertaking air monitoring operations and, in co-
operation with the WEU, maritime enforcement actions in
support of UN Security Council Resolutions. The Alliance
has made clear its willingness to consider positively
further requests for assistance from the United Nations.
4. NATO possesses unique capabilities to contribute
to peacekeeping operations. We, as Defence Ministers,
have an important role to play in developing NATO's
ability to support such operations in response to requests
from the UN or CSCE. An Alliance commitment to
peacekeeping, either by the use of collective assets, or
in the context of individual national contributions to
peacekeeping missions, has implications for NATO's defence
planning. It will be important to ensure that individual
national contributions to peacekeeping operations are
consistent with the Alliance's collective defence
responsibilities and capabilities. Recognising that
decisions to support peacekeeping activities will have to
be taken on a case by case basis and in accordance with
Alliance procedures, we need to ensure that the necessary
capabilities are refined and are available if and when
such decisions are made. NATO's Military Authorities have
already begun to prepare the basis necessary for possible
future NATO support to peacekeeping activities. To
complement this work, and consistent with the political
decision taken by the Council in Oslo on Alliance support
of peacekeeping, we have tasked the DPC in permanent
session to identify specific measures in such areas as
command and control, logistic support, infrastructure, and
training and exercises which will enhance NATO's
peacekeeping capabilities and which can be refined through
the force planning process. We have concluded that
support for UN and CSCE peacekeeping should be included
among the missions of NATO forces and headquarters. We
believe that planning and preparations in this area should
be undertaken as far as possible with the close
involvement of all Allies.
5. The spread of crisis and conflict in Europe has
made dialogue and co-operation even more important.
Defence-related activities with our Co-operation Partners
are making a valuable contribution to improving the
overall security environment. Frequent discussions are
taking place at all levels between Alliance officials and
military officers and our partners. Successful high-level
seminars have been held on Defence Policy and Management,
and the Organisation and Structure of Defence Staffs and
Armed Forces in Democratic Societies. A further seminar
on Defence and the Environment will be held early next
year in the Netherlands. Representatives of most partner
countries have attended special courses arranged at NATO
institutions. A considerable proportion of our defence-
related co-operation effort involves the provision of
specific practical expertise to individual partners, both
by NATO teams and by individual Allies. We shall continue
to develop all these activities further, especially in the
practical field, in order to intensify our co-operation
and to enhance our common security. This is not a one-way
street: the Allies are also benefiting from the
experience gained through the exchanges which are taking
place. We look forward to further discussions with our
co-operation partner colleagues, in particular on
peacekeeping issues, at our next meeting in the New Year.
6. The crisis in former Yugoslavia has underlined
the importance of effective co-operation between the
various institutional components of the new European
security architecture. The security of Europe is
inseparably linked to that of North America: close
transatlantic links and continued presence of United
States forces in Europe are therefore in the interest of
all Allies and remain vital to the security of the
Alliance. NATO will remain, as was agreed in Rome and
Maastricht, the essential forum for consultation among the
Allies and the forum for agreement on policies bearing on
the security and defence commitments of its members under
the Washington Treaty; NATO's collective defence will
therefore remain the primary responsibility of forces
answerable to the WEU. We continue to attach importance
to mutual transparency and complementarity between NATO
and the WEU. We welcome the results of the WEU Council
Meeting in Rome on 20 November, which confirmed that all
European Allies would be given the opportunity to
participate fully in the activities of the WEU, as full
members, as associate members or observers, thereby
reinforcing the European pillar of the Alliance. We also
welcome the strengthening of the organisation and the
operational role of the WEU, notably the recent
establishment in Brussels of the WEU Planning Cell. We
look forward to the forthcoming move of the WEU Council
and Secretariat to Brussels which will further contribute
to improved co-operation between NATO and the WEU.
7. We welcomed the initiative of France and Germany
to establish a European Corps that is intended to be
available for Alliance missions and thus to provide a
significant contribution to strengthening the European
pillar of the Alliance. SACEUR is now undertaking
negotiations with the two Chiefs of Defence Staff
concerned to establish a special agreement setting out the
detailed arrangements for the availability of the Corps in
the framework of the Alliance.
8. The process of adapting the Alliance's
structures to the new security requirements continues.
The transformation of NATO's force and command structures
has made good progress. We completed our review of NATO's
high-level command arrangements by agreeing the detailed
command structure for the Southern Region. We noted that
the necessary measures were already in hand to ensure the
timely implementation of the new Alliance command
structure. We also noted a document containing revised
Military Committee guidance for defence planning.
9. In our Annual Review of national defence plans
for 1993-1997 and beyond, we concluded that the commitment
of forces to the Alliance reaction forces is generally
satisfactory. We welcomed the establishment of the ACE
Reaction Force Planning Staff at SHAPE and the recent
activation of the Headquarters of the ACE Rapid Reaction
Corps. However, a number of planned national force
reductions will have an effect on the future size and
capabilities of main defence forces, and we initiated a
review of the implications of changing force levels for
the new force structure.
10. We noted that, while growing pressures on
national defence budgets will affect some existing
modernisation plans, the transfer of equipment following
the CFE Treaty has led to enhancement of the modernisation
programmes of a number of Allies. We considered a report
on the Alliance's logistics support capabilities and noted
in particular changed requirements for mobility and Host
Nation Support. We also agreed that military use of
civil resources should be encouraged to promote cost-
effectiveness.
11. We received an update by the United States on
the status of discussions with the Russian Federation and
other states about establishing a Global Protection
System. We agreed that the Alliance should continue to
discuss the concept of a GPS, in the context of a strategy
designed to prevent the proliferation of ballistic
missiles.
12. Armaments co-operation remains an important
component of Alliance security. NATO's Conventional
Armaments Planning System offers significant opportunities
for achieving greater co-operation. The increased
emphasis on multinational forces also requires higher
levels of material standardisation and interoperability.
We welcomed the progress made by the Conference of
National Armaments Directors towards reforming and
streamlining Alliance policies, structures and procedures
for armaments co-operation, and look forward to the rapid
implementation of these improvements. We are also
encouraged by progress made to date in the development of
a NATO Code of Conduct for Defence Trade between the
Allies, which should enable all member countries to make
the best possible use of their limited defence procurement
budgets.
13. The infrastructure programme is a major success
story of our Alliance. However, an adaptation of the
programme is needed to meet the challenges of the new
security environment, while retaining the essential
elements of the current programme. We support the work
that has been initiated to this end and we look forward to
receiving a report at our Spring meeting next year. We
agreed that it is necessary to continue to provide
infrastructure funding at a sufficient level to sustain
both existing commitments and a restructured programme
adequate to support the new Alliance strategy.
14. The Alliance will continue to play a major role
in encouraging and underpinning stability in Europe.
Because of its transatlantic dimension, its experience and
its unique military structures and capabilities, NATO is
well placed to assist the UN and CSCE in their efforts to
contain and resolve escalating regional conflicts in
Europe. The continuing process of adapting Alliance
structures to the new security environment will further
improve NATO's capabilities in this respect. The
Alliance's collective defence provides the essential basis
for our own security as well as making a crucial
contribution to the enhancement of security and stability
in Europe as a whole.
