WILPF Europe statement on the proposed EU Reform Treaty

“ We women, in International Congress assembled, protest against the madness and the horror of war, involving as it does a reckless sacrifice of human life and the destruction of so much that humanity has laboured through centuries to build up.”

Bearing in mind and feeling obliged to the above mentioned statement of our sisters, who met in the Hague (1915) in the midst of World War I, we strongly express our concerns about the spirit and parts of the content of the draft EU-Constitution Treaty (DECT) discussed by the leaders of the European Union in Berlin June 20-22.

The European Sections of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom gathered in Stockholm, 17-18 November 2007;

Reaffirms the League's determination and conviction held since 1915, that humanity can and must prevent and eliminate war, and cease the investment of human and economic resources currently wasted through war and weapons which results in destruction of life and development,

Welcomes the increased openness in the Council of Ministers and the implementation of an open and regular dialogue with civil society and women organisations,

Underlines that the process leading up to the discussion at the European Council in June 2007 was unfortunately closed off from public and civil society input,

Supports that equality is among the fundamental values and mentioned in the new Reform Treaty as an overall aim for the Union,

Notes that the inclusion of the Charter of Fundamental Rights should be a guarantee for the respect of human rights, civil and political rights, solidarity, anti-discrimination and freedom form fear and violence, especially violence against women, in all European countries,

Notes that the procedures for the adoption of the "draft-constitutional treaty" have not reflected consistency among EU member states. The rejection of the draft in two countries, namely France and the Netherlands, reflects this inconsistency and lack of universal values which can be seen as a sign of crisis in the entire process of adoption of the Reform Treaty,

Stresses therefore the importance of openness and visibility to the public in the Intergovernmental conference (IGC) that is to follow. This includes activities such as regular meetings between civil society, women's organisations and the presidency of the Union, a website where civil society positions on the treaty revision could be posted and accessed by all member states and also public discussions,

Insists that the European leaders place greater emphasis on preventive and civil crisis management measures and women's rights,

Rejects parts of the EU Reform Treaty which contain militaristic and interventionist components, such as the Article I-40 requirement that all member states should improve their military capacities,

Calls on all states to give their support to a formal review of Euroatom, since the Euroatom Treaty, signed in 1957, is fundamentally flawed, outdated and undemocratic. Especially since the Security Strategy within the EU Reform Treaty does not address the employment of nuclear weapons as a means of military capacities,

Opposes the ideas of the common European defence in the EU Reform Treaty such as the solidarity clause and permanent structured co-operation,

Rejects the concept of “Security” developed at the Thessaloniki Summit in 2003, where the idea of national defence was abandoned as outdated and replaced by the notion of a preventive war concept, with in which the “defence lines often would be abroad”. In particular, we reject Article I-41, III-210 and III-211* by which military restructures are to be established,

Believes that the deployment of any military capacities of European countries outside their own territories can only be legitimate if occurring under a UN mandate,

Rejects the ongoing process of establishing EU Battle Groups with full operational capability in 2008 extending outside of Brussels within a radio of 6000 km,

Strongly opposes the idea that “battle-missions” would be considered as a means of “peacekeeping” over which an executive organ, namely the “Council of Ministers” has the decisional power without having to ask for the consent of the EU Parliament (Article III 210),

Strongly rejects the historically unique obligation in the draft Treaty for all member states to improve their militaristic capacities step by step and to create a so-called “European Defence Agency” (Art I-40, 3), which is promoting a new armament race with its 60 million Euro budget instead of promoting investment in civilian crisis management and peace building. The cynical announcement of EDA's new Director Weiss, that 2008 should become ‘the year of arms acquisitions', demonstrates clearly that its function is more than coordinating existing arms markets, it rather promotes a trade in death and destruction and is wasting resources that should be used to build practical and intellectual capacities for peace building,

Demands that our governments divert funds from military budgets to consider social development and gender equality to address the range of threats challenging our globe,

Stresses thata clear gender perspective should be incorporated in the entire EU security policy undertakings, that those civil and military personal who participate in the EU's conflict solution efforts should receive training in gender sensitivity,

Finally urges the Union to strengthenwomen's empowerment for equal participation in political negotiations, democracy building, peace missions and peace building, as requested by the UN Security Council resolution 1325, and to implement the framework's objectives within all international crises management efforts,