Not to be confused with the European Union, the Western European Union (WEU) is a partially dormant European defence and security organization composed of those states members of both NATO and the EU. The WEU was established under the Modified Brussels Treaty, in response to the failure of the European Defence Community treaty. Most of its functions are in the process of being merged into the European Union. The Parliamentary Assembly of the WEU is composed of the delegations of the member states to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which, fearful for its future existence with the winding up of the WEU, has been lobbying for itself to be recognized as the "European Security and Defence Assembly".

The Secretary-General of the WEU is Javier Solana, who is also Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union and High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union. His being head of both organizations permits him to oversee the ongoing transfer of functions from the WEU to the EU.

Supposedly this merger was to occur in the year 2000; however, as of 2004 the WEU is still very much alive and much European military planning takes place within its constituent cells. Indeed New York University's recent book, Defending Europe, paints the situation as a "revival of WEU" rather than a shutting down of same.

The Western European Union has 10 member countries, 6 associate member countries, 5 observer countries and 7 associate partner countries. They are as follows:

Members in red, Associate members in green, Observers in blue, Associate parners in purple.
Members in red, Associate members in green, Observers in blue, Associate parners in purple.
Member countries: (modified Brussels Treaty - 1954)
Associate member countries: (Rome - 1992)
Observer countries: (Rome - 1992)
Associate partner countries: (Kirchberg - 1994)
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External links


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