JOINT MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
28 January 2003
- –Jas Gawronski and Charles Tannock on behalf of the PPE-DE Group
- –Glyn Ford on behalf of the PSE Group
- –Cecilia Malmström and Ole Andreasen on behalf of the ELDR Group
- –Patricia McKenna, Joost Lagendijk, Nuala Ahern, Matti Wuori and Kathalijne Maria Buitenweg on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group
- –Pernille Frahm on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group
- –Cristiana Muscardini, Gerard Collins and Luís Queiró on behalf of the UEN Group
- –ELDR (B5‑0063/2003),
- –PPE-DE (B5‑0065/2003),
- –Verts/ALE (B5‑0069/2003),
- –UEN (B5‑00070/2003),
- –PSE (B5‑0071/2003),
- –GUE/NGL (B5‑0073/2003),
European Parliament resolution on the withdrawal of North Korea from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
The European Parliament,
– having regard to having regard to its previous resolutions concerning the Korean peninsula and, in particular, to its resolutions of 7 November 2002 on the financing of the nuclear sector in North Korea and of 16 January 2003 on the humanitarian crisis in North Korea,
– having regard to the resolutions of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors of 29 November 2002 and 6 January 2003 regarding the nuclear activities of North Korea,
– having regard to the declarations by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union of 9 January 2003 on the resolution of the IAEA Board of Governors of 6 January 2003 and of 13 January 2003 on the official announcement by North Korea concerning its intention to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), following the proposed reactivation of the Yongbyong nuclear power station which could serve as a source of weapons-grade plutonium,
A. whereas on 12 December 1985 North Korea became a party to the NPT and whereas it has signed the Joint Declaration on the Denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, which entered into force on 19 February 1992, concluded the Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA, which entered into force on 10 April 1992, and signed an Agreed Framework with the US on 21 October 1994,
B. having regard to the decision taken by the authorities in North Korea to regard the 1994 agreements as null and void and, therefore, no longer to accept the presence on its territory of inspectors sent by the IAEA,
C. whereas the discovery of the uranium enrichment programme led the European Parliament on 24 October 2002 to freeze the EUR 20 million EU contributions to KEDO for 2003 and led KEDO to stop its heavy oil supplies to North Korea that likewise form part of the KEDO Agreement,
D. whereas the country's continuing isolation due to its leaders’ policies and a series of natural disasters have already caused the death of at least two million North Koreans from starvation over the last eight years and more North Koreans will be suffering from food shortages because the nuclear crisis has caused aid donors to review their food and energy aid policies,
E. whereas the aim of EU policy towards North Korea must be the promotion of peace, stability, the economic development of the region and respect for fundamental human rights, democracy and the rule of law,
1. Condemns North Korea’s decision to withdraw from the NPT and calls on North Korea to reverse this decision;
2. Calls on North Korea to cease its programme to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons in a highly visible and verifiable manner and urges it to continue its ballistic missile moratorium on ballistic missile tests;
3. Condemns the decision of the Government of Pakistan to provide the North Korean Government with uranium enrichment technology;
4. Calls on North Korea to allow the IAEA to restore its seals and surveillance cameras in the Yongbyong nuclear power station, to let the inspectors return to the country in order to continue with the safeguards operations and as a confidence-building measure not to move the spent nuclear fuel rods from their water tanks;
5. Supports all proposals which would enable North Korea to cope with its energy shortage, except for those which would lead to the production of nuclear weapons, in particular by using the country’s coal reserves and developing renewable energies, and calls on the Commission to look at the cost-effectiveness and feasibility of such projects;
6. Notes that North Korea has agreed to resume talks with the South Korean Government and strongly believes that dialogue is the best way to ease international tension and tackle the nuclear controversy;
7. Welcomes the decision of the Council and the Commission to continue with the provision of the European Union's humanitarian aid to North Korea and the Commission's decision to allocate EUR 9.5 million of food aid to North Korea, constantly monitoring the delivery of aid in order to ensure that it reaches its intended recipients;
8. Welcomes recent offers by the United States to supply food and energy aid to North Korea as an incentive to dismantle its nuclear programmes;
9. Calls on the Commission and the Council to initiate permanent contacts with the Government of North Korea via a permanent EU delegation, with the collaboration of the UN, South Korea, Japan and the US and if possible in conjunction with the People's Republic of China, with a view to convening in the late spring/early summer seven-power talks about the situation in the Korean peninsula, inviting North Korea, South Korea, Japan, Russia, China and the US to participate in order to look at the situation with the EU with respect to the economy, security and nuclear disarmament;
10. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the Governments of South Korea, Japan, the United States of America, North Korea and the People's Republic of China.