European Non-Proliferation Policy- 1993-1995

This year, PRIF's European non-proliferation program has its 10th anniversary. Following Nuclear Export Controls in Europe (European Interuniversity Press, 1995), this volume is the sixth book published by the program. It differs from its predecessors in that non-proliferation policy, due to the Non-Proliferation Treaty Extension Conference, held a central place in the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) of the European Union and the associated countries of Central Eastern Europe: it became subject of a "Joint Action" the most significant CFSP instrument under the Maastricht Treaty. This reflected the high rank that preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction has obtained in the post-Cold War European security agenda.
The studies contained in this volume focus very much on this Joint Action. They prove both how difficult it is to arrive at a common policy, starting from vastly different positions, and the power that a focused policy by 15 member states, plus the associates, can yield. Since the fabric of CFSP is so much hidden from the public eye, this book offers one rare insight into the working of this highly important part of European integration, and it reveals that CFSP, after all, might be better than its often maligned reputation.