The EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Conference held in Brussels on 3-4 February was the culmination of the first year of work by the EU Consortium on Non-proliferation. In accordance with the Consortium division of labour, IISS took on the main organizing role for the conference, which was attended by 210 experts. They came from 45 nations (from which 26 EU Member States) and eight international organizations. The two-day conference served two important functions. Firstly, it reaffirmed the strong EU policy interest in measures to combat the proliferation of WMD and delivery systems and the illicit trade and excessive accumulation of SALW, and promoted an in-depth strategic discussion of ways to strengthen these policies. The focused exchanges among the expert communities in governments and non-governmental organizations and the policy papers that are in train and are associated with many of the presentations provide a useful stepping stone for non-proliferation action by the EU and the international community. Secondly, as a marquee event with wide participation and international status, it solidified the network of independent European think tanks. In this function, it brought together 60 centres of non-proliferation/disarmament research in Europe, and another 15 who could not attend in person but who were connected to the network through the conference and out post-action reporting.

The conference agenda encompassed the entire range of non-proliferation disciplines in which the EU has an institutional mandate. This meant nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and missiles, of course as well as conventional arms trade and trafficking and non-proliferation in space. The Consortium also decided to address related areas of nuclear security and proliferation-related crime. Cognizant of the nexus between non-proliferation and disarmament, the organization put both words in the title of the conference and endeavoured to the dual themes in balance. To make room for all the topics, and to allow for a detailed exchange and maximum participation among experts, the organization decided to conduct most of the discussion in simultaneous small-group sessions. The disadvantage caused by participants having to miss four of the sessions was compensated by providing making transcripts of every session and putting them on-line soon after the event. The four larger issues of strengthening the NPT, non-proliferation and security in the Middle East, implementation of the EU non-proliferation strategy, and the Iranian nuclear issue all warranted plenary treatment, which in each case proved to be lively and thoughtful.

As planned, the large majority of speakers were non-governmental, on grounds that, untied to bureaucratic boilerplate, they can be more frank and therefore more stimulating. This generally proved to be the case, although some of the most interesting debate occurred in the session EU Non-proliferation policy, which featured two bureaucrats and one former bureaucrat. The keynote speech at dinner was delivered by IAEA Director-General Emeritus Hans Blix, who welcomed a specifically European caucus on non-proliferation and disarmament. ‘If we want the Union to be an important voice in the world, we need to discuss what that voice could and should be’, he said.

There were citizens of five nations in the Middle East (Egypt, Iran, Israel, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia) and ten other countries (Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, India, Japan, Pakistan, South Africa, the US and Venezuela).