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European Parliament
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Anti-missile shield for Europe and its political and strategic implications

2013/2170(INI)

The European Parliament adopted by 456 to 92 votes with 30 abstentions, a resolution on an anti-missile shield for Europe and its political and strategic implications.

It is recalled that the issue of Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) has become more topical in recent years in view of the multiplication of threats stemming from the proliferation of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, and the proliferation of ballistic missiles to which the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and its European allies must be able to respond effectively.

Parliament argued that as BMD technologies develop and are implemented, new dynamics are brought about in European security, resulting in a need for the Member States to take into account the implications of BMD for their security.

According to the resolution, EU initiatives, such as Pooling and Sharing, should prove helpful in strengthening cooperation between Member States in the areas of BMD. In the long term, such cooperation could also lead to the further consolidation of the European defence industry.

As confirmed by the European Council on 19 December 2013, the Common Security and Defence Policy will be developed in full complementarity with NATO, under the agreed framework for the EU-NATO strategic partnership.

Members stressed that the essential contribution of the United States to BMD was confirmation of its commitment to NATO and the security of Europe and Europe’s allies. They also underlined that the NATO BMD plan was in no way aimed at Russia and that NATO was prepared to cooperate with this country based on the assumption of cooperation between two independent missile defence systems.

Parliament therefore invited the Vice-President/High Representative to pursue a strategic partnership with NATO, taking account of the issue of BMD, which should lead to the provision of full coverage and protection for all EU Member States, thus avoiding a situation in which the security afforded to them would be in anyway differentiated.

The European External Action Service, the Commission, the European Defence Agency and the Council were called on to include BMD issues in future security strategies, studies and white papers in the area of security.