Federica Mogherini visits the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

On 16 April 2015 Federica Mogherini visited the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and met with the Director General Ambassador Ahmet Uzumcu to discuss issues regarding bilateral cooperation and overall EU contribution to OPCW.

The HRVP reiterated the continuous support of the EU to the goals of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), including the recently approved Council Decision for 2015-16 granting 2,54 million Euros to the OPCW's core activities and the deployment of an official to the organization on a permanent basis.

The HRVP also paid tribute to the Director General and to the organization's staff for having displayed particular commitment to the goals of the Convention, which was rewarded with the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize. The Director General expressed the organization's appreciation for EU assistance and significant financial support.

After this meeting, the HRVP met with the Ambassadors of the EU Member States and was briefed on the state of play regarding EU policies and action at the OPCW.

The meetings took place on the occasion of the HRVP's bilateral visit to the Netherlands and her participation in the Global Conference on Cyber Space 2015 at The Hague on the same day.

Background

A- OPCW

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is the implementing body of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which entered into force in 1997. As of today OPCW has 190 Member States working together to achieve a world free of chemical weapons. The OPCW Member States share the collective goal of preventing chemistry from ever being used for warfare again, thereby strengthening international security. To this end, the Convention contains four key provisions:

destroying all existing chemical weapons under international verification by the OPCW;

monitoring chemical industry to prevent new weapons from re-emerging;

providing assistance and protection to States Parties against chemical threats;

fostering international cooperation to strengthen implementation of the Convention and promote the peaceful use of chemistry.

Today, as we are approaching the complete destruction of the declared chemical weapons stockpiles (15% remaining mainly in the US and RF), OPCW is looking for its new role in the post destruction era, which targets the non-re-emergence of chemical weapons. The toolkit at its disposal is based on intensification of national implementation of the Convention, international cooperation, verifications, the convergence of science and industry and dealing with new challenges such as the role of non-state actors.

B- EU contribution

During the last 10 years the European Union has contributed close to 10 million Euros through 3 Council Decisions and 2 Joint Actions, which provided support to the main activities of the organization such as:

universalization,

national implementation, and

regional programs (the Africa Program in particular)

The EU has also provided close to 17 million Euros for the destruction of the Syrian chemical weapons program (armored cars, satellite imagery and contribution to the dedicated Trust Fund). The recently approved new Council Decision for the years 2015-16 will provide 2,54 million Euros for the development of the organizations' core activities and of specific projects, such as lessons learned from the Syria operation and the recommendations of the 3rd Review Conference (April 2013). EU MS account for almost 40% of the annual budget of OPCW (72 million Euros) making them the largest single contributor to the organization.