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Successful results brought about by Alliance policies - Summit Declaration and Comprehensive Concept of Arms Control and Disarmament - Alliance's strategy for prevention of war - Maintenance of a strong and coherent defence posture in the interests of
- The Defence Planning Committee of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization met in Ministerial session in Brussels on 8th and 9th June 1989.
- At their meeting in Brussels on 29th and 30th May, marking the advent of the fifth decade of the North Atlantic Alliance, our Heads of State and Government reviewed the successful results that Alliance policies have brought about. In their Summit Declaration and the Comprehensive Concept of Arms Control and Disarmament they set out a positive and ambitious forward-looking programme which establishes an agenda for the future designed to achieve the realisation of our long-term objectives. They reaffirmed that the Alliance, founded on the strength and cohesion of the trans-Atlantic partnership, will continue to serve as the cornerstone of our security, peace and freedom. They also underlined that for the foreseeable future there is no alternative to the Alliance's strategy for the prevention of war, which is a strategy of deterrence based upon an appropriate mix of adequate and effective nuclear and conventional forces which will continue to be kept up-to-date where necessary.
- In aiming to build on the success of the Summit and recalling the principles of the Harmel Report , we reaffirmed that the maintenance of a strong and coherent defence posture is a prerequisite for the security of our countries and for constructive dialogue and co-operation with the countries of the East, including arms control and disarmament. To this end, we considered at this meeting a number of issues which are of particular significance for defence planning and policy within the Alliance. Most important amongst these were the implications for defence planning of the Western proposals, as expanded by the Summit initiative, for the reduction of conventional forces in Europe ; the new Ministerial Guidance ; and the equitable sharing of rôles, risks and responsibilities within the Alliance.
- We agreed that in order to safeguard and enhance our collective security the yardstick against which NATO requirements for defence and deterrence must be measured continues to be present and forecast Warsaw Pact capabilities. In this respect we noted that, even after the announced and recently begun unilateral reductions in some of the Warsaw Pact forces have been carried out, a substantial imbalance will remain between the forces of the Warsaw Pact and NATO, and that the Soviet Union continues to maintain the pace of its military production.
- The Comprehensive Concept has made clear that, within the Alliance's far-reaching arms control agenda, one of the highest priorities in negotiations with the East is reaching agreement on conventional force reductions, and it reaffirms our key objectives for these negotiations. The Summit agreed on further proposals to be tabled in the CFE negotiations and set out an ambitious timetable for achieving an agreement and then accomplishing the reductions. To meet this timetable work is already in hand in the High Level Task Force to elaborate further these proposals. The CFE negotiations have important implications for NATO's collective defence planning activities. It is essential that the Alliance's defence and arms control objectives remain in harmony in order to ensure their complementary contribution to achieving the goal of enhanced security at the lowest possible level of forces. We have accordingly tasked the Defence Planning Committee in Permanent Session to consider how Alliance defence planning can most effectively contribute to this end.
- The fundamental considerations set out in the Summit documents are duly reflected in the 1989 Ministerial Guidance which we have approved as the basic political directive for a broad range of defence planning activities, both national and international, in NATO. Specifically, it provides guidance for the development of the next set of force goals and their implementation, and maintains an emphasis on the need to redress identified deficiencies in our conventional defence, reaffirming the focus of the Conventional Defence Improvements programme and the need to maintain its momentum. The Guidance also seeks increased military assistance for Greece, Portugal and Turkey, building on recent efforts to improve and focus more clearly such assistance. While recognising that considerable efforts will be needed to meet all these challenges, we are resolved to continue to aim to provide increased resources in order to maintain and improve the effectiveness of our individual contributions to collective defence, as set out in the attached extract from the 1989 Ministerial Guidance.
- In the light of current resource constraints we also expressed our determination to obtain greater value for the money we devote to defence in order to improve our defence capabilities. We shall seek to broaden the scope of our national and collaborative efforts to achieve this. We therefore renewed our support for further development of NATO planning processes which can play an important role in expanding co-operation and in setting priorities.
- The longstanding Alliance principle of the equitable sharing of rôles, risks and responsibilities. reaffirmed at the Summit, is one of the major themes of our Guidance. The Guidance recognises and incorporates key recommendations contained in the Report that we issued in December 1988. We intend to ensure that national defence plans and Alliance defence planning activities take full account of the assessments and recommendations contained in this Report. To this end we have endorsed a work programme which sets out specific responsibilities for the necessary follow-on action. Some countries have already taken initial steps to improve their contributions to our collective security and further initiatives are being pursued by the Alliance collectively and by individual countries. A full report on progress in this important field will be presented to us in November this year.
- In our consideration of other defence matters we discussed the need to ensure that Alliance ammunition stocks are sufficient and are supported by an adequate production capability. We also noted the current status of an examination by NATO's Military Authorities of the necessary level and appropriate mix of military training and exercises in Europe to ensure that our forces maintain their operational standards while minimising the impact on our publics. In addition, we welcomed progress being made in the trial of a conventional armaments planning system and in the pursuit of armaments co-operation initiatives for Allies with lesser developed defence industries.
- We recognise that at this time of unprecedented promise in international affairs hopes for the future are high, and that many in our publics look forward to the time when the burdens of defence can be reduced. We share the hope that this will indeed become possible as a consequence of the current arms control negotiations. But our defence requirements are determined by realities, and the realities of the Warsaw Pact's military capabilities are such that we must maintain an adequate defence and deterrent posture as a pre-requisite not only for peace and stability but also for the further progress in East- West relations that we seek. The defence efforts which we make - which must be shared equitably - must provide forces which are sufficient to meet our security requirements but are also at the lowest possible level consistent with these requirements. The policies we have endorsed at our meeting aim at achieving just this.