EU Presidency declaration on Libya's accession to the Chemical Weapons Convention

The EU recalls the statement made by the Italian Presidency on 20 December 2003 concerning the Declaration on Weapons of Mass Destruction made by H.E. Abdulrahman Shalgam, Foreign Minister of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, on behalf of Colonel Qadhafi, on 19 December 2003.

The EU welcomes the steps taken since then, in particular the recent ratification by Libya of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and its accession to the Chemical Weapons Convention and looks forward to prompt and full implementation by Libya of these fundamental international instruments.

The EU looks forward to Libya signing, ratifying and implementing an Additional Protocol to its Safeguards Agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Such a step will further corroborate Libya's intention to comply fully with the existing legal framework on non-proliferation.

The EU, in accordance with its recently adopted Strategy on the Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and their means of Delivery, supports the universalisation and strengthening of the multilateral treaties and agreements in the field of disarmament and non-proliferation and would encourage other States which have not yet done so to adhere to these instruments.

The EU firmly believes that Libya can play a pivotal role in encouraging other countries, particularly those in the same region, to follow its example and join international efforts to promote disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The Acceding Countries Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia, the Candidate Countries Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, and the EFTA countries Iceland and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this declaration.

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• EU Presidency Statement - Other Weapons of Mass Destruction (18/10/2004)