PRESS COMMUNIQUE M-DPC/NPG-2(94)126           
For immediate release
                                  15th December 1994   

                   FINAL COMMUNIQUE


     1.   The Defence Planning Committee and Nuclear
Planning Group of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
met in Ministerial sessions in Brussels on 14th and 15th
December.

     2.   Our meeting came at the end of a series of
high-level meetings over the last two weeks, including
the Summit meetings of the CSCE and the EU, and the
Ministerial sessions of the NAC and NACC.  We
underscored the central role of NATO and the
determination of our Alliance to maintain its unity and
cohesion, as well as to enhance stability throughout the
transatlantic area in a manner that strengthens the
security of all.  We attach particular importance to the
transatlantic relationship, which is fundamental to the
stability of Europe.  The Alliance remains the
indispensable foundation for all our nations' security. 
We agreed that its value must not be taken for granted. 
Our security continues to depend on an integrated
military structure and collective defence arrangements
which enable the Alliance to act in the common defence
as well as to fulfil its new missions, including
peacekeeping.

     3.   We considered important issues in the future
development of the Alliance, including the progress of
work on implementing decisions taken by the NATO Heads
of State and Government at the Brussels Summit last
January.  We also reviewed developments in the former
Yugoslavia.  We conducted our Annual Review of the
Alliance's conventional and nuclear forces, in
particular national defence plans for 1995 to 1999 and
beyond.  
     4.   We examined the defence-related work on the
Summit initiatives against the background of the
fundamental transformation that the Alliance has already
undergone to take account of the new security
environment.  We support the development of the emerging
European Security and Defence Identity and the role of
the Western European Union.  We are building ever closer
and more co-operative relations with our Partners.  In
this regard, we welcomed the rapid progress in
implementing the Partnership for Peace, which now has 23
Partners.  Three major partnership exercises as well as
many other activities have already been conducted with
broad participation by both Allied and Partner nations.

     5.   At the Summit last January, our Heads of State
and Government reaffirmed that the Alliance, as provided
for in Article 10 of the Washington Treaty, remains open
to membership of other European states in a position to
further the principles of the Treaty and to contribute
to the security of the North Atlantic area.  We recalled
the Summit agreement that enlargement will be part of an
evolutionary process, taking into account political and
security developments in the whole of Europe and
contributing to the security of all.  In this way,
enlargement will be an integral part of the more general
development of co-operative security relationships in
the entire Euro-Atlantic area.  We therefore welcomed
the decision taken at the recent meeting of NATO Foreign
Ministers to initiate a process of examination inside
the Alliance to determine how NATO will enlarge, the
principles to guide this process and the implications of
membership.  As Ministers of Defence we will contribute
fully to this process which will have implications for
our collective defence arrangements, particularly the
defence planning process and the Integrated Military
Structure.  Therefore, we have invited our Permanent
Representatives, with the advice of NATO's Military
Authorities, to ensure that these implications are
addressed as a contribution to the work of the North
Atlantic Council on this subject.

     6.   The Partnership for Peace is essential for the
development of co-operation between NATO and its
Partners.  It develops valuable patterns of co-operation
in defence fields which will further enhance stability.
It is an effective mechanism to develop the essential
military capabilities required to operate effectively
with NATO and to encourage interoperability between NATO
and Partners which is of value to Partner countries
whether they aspire to NATO membership or not.  We
confirmed that active participation in the Partnership
for Peace will also play an important role in the
evolutionary process of the expansion of NATO.   

     7.   We attached particular importance to the
defence planning and review process offered to Partners. 
It  draws on NATO's long experience in this field,
recognises the need for a tailored approach consistent
with the specific circumstances of individual Partners,
and will be broadened and deepened over time.  This
tailored approach needs to direct each Partner nation
toward specific objectives designed to enhance
interoperability.  It will allow both concrete planning
for the forces identified for PfP activities and a more
general exchange of information among the Allies and
Partners on overall defence and financial plans.  In
this way, the planning and review process will serve two
of the central purposes of PfP:  closer co-operation and
transparency in national defence planning and budgeting. 


     8.    The foundations for PfP are now firmly in
place, and we are determined to maintain the momentum of
the progress achieved since the Summit.   We reviewed
with satisfaction the work done since January in
establishing the structural framework and procedures for
the Partnership.  With the demonstrated interest of our
Partners in associating more closely with NATO and their
increasing presence at NATO Headquarters and in the
Partnership Co-ordination Cell, PfP has moved briskly
toward fulfilling its purpose of working with Partners
to build lasting stability.  We noted the specific
activities drawn up for 1995, including a full and
ambitious range of exercises.  These are supplemented by
extensive and valuable bilateral co-operation programmes
between NATO and Partner countries.  We also noted with
satisfaction proposals to expand practical co-operation
with PfP Partners in the fields of air defence,
communications, defence procurement and standardisation. 
PfP activities must continue to be adequately funded. 
We remain committed to providing the resources necessary
for the success of this initiative, while recognising
and welcoming the contributions that the Partners have
to make in order to fund their participation.  

     9.   We recognised that Russia can make
considerable contributions towards stability and
security in the Euro-Atlantic area on a wide range of
issues.  We therefore affirmed the importance of NATO's
relations with Russia, including practical co-operation
both inside and outside the Partnership for Peace.  We
also affirmed the importance of an independent,
democratic, and stable Ukraine, and our interest in
developing further practical co-operation with it.

     10.  We assessed the progress made in adapting the
Alliance's procedures and structures to enable our
forces to respond effectively to the changing
requirements of European security.  We discussed
progress in the development of the Combined Joint Task
Forces concept which will have implications for
collective defence planning and the Integrated Military
Structure.  We support this continuing work and
encourage the examination of ways of facilitating the
further development of the concept, including, as soon
as appropriate, through pilot trials.  CJTFs will
significantly enhance the effectiveness of contingency
operations, whether undertaken by the Alliance or by the
WEU, and our ability to involve non-NATO countries.   We
affirmed our view that implementation of the concept
should be consistent with the principle of developing
separable but not separate military capabilities for use
by NATO or the WEU.  We also underlined the importance
of this work to the further evolution of the European
Security and Defence Identity and to closer co-operation
between NATO and the Western European Union, based on
the principles of transparency and complementarity. 

     11.  We noted the progress report of the Joint
Committee on Proliferation on the work undertaken by the
Senior Politico-Military Group on Proliferation and the
Senior Defence Group on Proliferation following the
Summit's decision to intensify and expand NATO's
political and defence efforts against the proliferation
of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their delivery
systems.  We agreed on the importance of this work as
part of NATO's continuing adaptation to the new security
environment.  Diplomatic efforts to prevent or reverse
proliferation remain our top priority.  In addition,
NATO as a defensive Alliance must address the range of
capabilities needed to discourage weapons of mass
destruction (WMD) proliferation and use and, if
necessary, to counter this risk by improving the
protection of NATO populations, territory and forces. 
Political-military uncertainties and future
technological trends related to WMD will affect NATO's
collective defence planning.  We noted the growing
proliferation risks with regard to states on NATO's
periphery, including the role of suppliers of WMD-
related technology to them, and the continuing risks of
illicit transfers of WMD and related materials.  The DGP
will next determine the range of capabilities needed on
the basis of its work to date, and we look forward to
receiving a report on its progress at our next meeting.

     12.  Collective defence planning remains
fundamental to the cohesion and military effectiveness
of NATO.  On this basis, we reviewed national defence
plans for 1995-99 and beyond and adopted a five-year
force plan.   Substantial progress continues to be made
to provide the forces and capabilities necessary to
continue to fulfil the Alliance's fundamental security
task of deterrence and defence, while enabling these
forces to undertake the Alliance's new missions,
including peacekeeping.  We noted progress in ensuring
that the collective planning process takes both
requirements into account.  However, we noted shortfalls
in certain capabilities, especially related to support
for reaction forces, ground based air defence and
strategic mobility, which could have important
implications for the implementation of all aspects of
Alliance strategy.  We welcomed the announcement of the
German Minister of Defence that the operational elements
of German land, air, and naval forces in the new Federal
Constituent States of Germany will be assigned to NATO
on 1st January 1995.  
     13.  A number of nations face continuing pressure
for further savings in overhead, operations and
maintenance costs, investment programmes, and force
structures and readiness.  We therefore reconfirmed our
commitment to ensuring that all our forces are properly
trained and equipped and noted in this regard that
nations should continue efforts to stabilise defence
budgets.  We will continue to seek the resources
necessary to enable our forces to perform the full range
of their missions and tasks.  

     14.  We noted from the first Annual Report
submitted by the Senior Resource Board the status of
existing funding programmes and the potential demands
for common funding in the future.  To maintain the
necessary financial stability for NATO's common funded
resource programmes, we reaffirmed our commitment to
provide adequate funds to ensure that the essential
requirements of our Alliance's Military Authorities, and
new requirements stemming from the January 1994 Summit
initiatives, continue to be met.  In this regard, we
support the decision at the recent meeting of NATO
Foreign Ministers to undertake a wide-ranging
examination of Alliance budgetary management,
structures, and procedures. 

     15.  Effective transatlantic armaments co-operation
remains an essential ingredient of our collective
defence, particularly in the new security situation
which puts an ever-higher premium on equipment
interoperability to sustain multinational operations. 
We welcomed the recent decision by the Conference of
National Armaments Directors to pursue work on an
Alliance Ground Surveillance capability.  Such a
capability would complement our AWACS capability, and
would be an invaluable tool for the command of military
operations and also for peacekeeping and crisis
management.  We also noted with interest the extensive
work being undertaken by National Armaments Directors
with regard to the defence equipment implications of
peacekeeping and extended air defence/theatre missile
defence.  We look forward to receiving the results of
this work.

     16.  We discussed the situation in the former
Yugoslavia and endorsed the position taken in this
regard by the North Atlantic Council on 1st December. 
In particular, we continue to deplore the ongoing
conflict in Bosnia, which has brought about large- scale
suffering, most recently in and around the Safe  Area of
Bihac.  We reiterated the call on the Bosnian Serbs and
all those forces which support them to end their
offensive in Bihac and on all parties to agree to and
honour a ceasefire and allow humanitarian aid to flow to
that beleaguered population and throughout Bosnia-
Herzegovina.  We believe that UNPROFOR should continue
its crucial mission of providing humanitarian assistance
and saving human life.  Our military authorities are,
however, undertaking contingency planning to assist
UNPROFOR in withdrawing should that become unavoidable. 


     17.  As Defence Ministers we paid particular
tribute to the courage and dedication with which our
forces have carried out their demanding tasks both as
part of UNPROFOR and in support of the United Nations. 
Ensuring their security will remain a high priority for
us.  The Alliance has agreed to undertake certain
operations in support of the UN, and we expressed our
determination that whatever our forces are asked to do
under the existing UN Security Council Resolutions and
in accordance with North Atlantic Council decisions
should be accomplished promptly and efficiently.  In
this connection we reaffirmed our commitment to provide
close air support for UNPROFOR and to use NATO airpower,
in accordance with existing arrangements with the United
Nations.  We continue to support the efforts of the UN
and the Contact Group to alleviate the suffering of the
people in the region and to find a just and peaceful
solution in Bosnia and elsewhere in the former
Yugoslavia.  In doing so we shall maintain the unity and
cohesion of the Alliance.

     18.  We recalled the importance attached by the
NATO Summit to security in the Mediterranean area and
expressed our full support for efforts by the Alliance
to strengthen regional stability.  

     19.  We reviewed the status of the Alliance nuclear
forces and reaffirmed their fundamental contribution to
preserving stability and security.  We received a
presentation by the United States on the results of its
Nuclear Posture Review, which was conducted in
consultation with the Alliance, and expressed our deep
satisfaction for the reaffirmation of the United States'
nuclear commitment to NATO.  In this context, we
reiterate the essential value of maintaining widespread
deployment of NATO's sub-strategic nuclear forces by the
United States and European Allies.  These forces, which
are an integral part of NATO's nuclear posture,
represent an essential element of the trans-atlantic
link and are visible evidence of NATO's cohesion,
solidarity and burden-sharing.

     20.  We expressed our continued support for the
role of the ABM Treaty in ensuring strategic stability. 
We discussed the latest developments in U.S.-Russian
negotiations on the demarcation between strategic
defences against intercontinental missiles, which are
limited by the Treaty, and the permitted theatre
defences against shorter-range threats.  We were also
informed about and welcomed the work done by U.S. and
Russian bilateral working groups to reduce the danger of
nuclear miscalculation and to promote stability and
understanding.

     21.  We reiterated our full support to efforts
aimed at achieving the indefinite and unconditional
extension of the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in 1995.  We will continue to
support ongoing efforts to strengthen the international
non-proliferation regimes.  We will also work to enhance
the verification regime for the NPT.  We welcome
Ukraine's recent accession to the NPT as a non-nuclear
weapons state.  In conjunction with the earlier action
by Belarus and Kazakhstan, this meets an important
obligation under the Lisbon Protocol of May 1992 and has
permitted the recent exchange of instruments of
ratification for the START I Treaty, allowing it to
enter into force, and opening the way for early
ratification of START II.  We are convinced that
implementation of these Treaties and the complete
withdrawal of all nuclear weapons from Belarus,
Kazakhstan and Ukraine, will contribute to enhancing
international security and stability.

     22.  We attach great importance to the
consultations and cooperation between a number of NATO
nations and the four newly independent states concerned,
to provide practical technical assistance in nuclear
safety and security, including dismantling of nuclear
arms.  We are pleased with the progress made in this
regard.  We believe this should continue to be an area
for fruitful dialogue and cooperation.

     23.  We welcome the Agreed Framework between the
United States and the Democratic Peoples' Republic of
Korea (DPRK) as an important step towards bringing the
DPRK into full compliance with its obligations under
both the NPT and its Safeguards Agreement with the
International Atomic Energy Agency and to ensure that
the Korean peninsula is free of nuclear weapons.

     24.  The end of East-West confrontation brought a
dramatic improvement in the security of the Alliance's
members.  Nevertheless, as events in the former
Yugoslavia all too painfully demonstrate, security and
stability are not certain.  We are convinced that the
Alliance is essential to our nations' security and to
the prospects for security in the wider Euro-Atlantic
area.  We accordingly reaffirmed our determination to
ensure that its foundations - in the form of shared
political values, solidarity, and a commitment to sound
collective defence - remain firm.