The Future of Arms Control Regimes and Security Implications for the EU

Participants at an 18 February hearing of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Defence, including testimony by VCDNP Senior Fellow Angela Kane, warned that the risk of nuclear threat as a destabilizing or blackmail mechanism is growing.

Ms. Kane’s testimony drew particular attention to increases in the nuclear weapons and general military budgets of some states, which Ms. Kane attributes to steady decline in arms control agreements in recent years. In particular, these developments include the situation surrounding the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the downfall of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty and the uncertain fate of the New START Treaty. Ms. Kane also drew attention to recent developments in low-yield nuclear weapons, roughly a third the magnitude of the nuclear weapon used in Hiroshima, which would be “small enough to use.”

On the part of the European Union (EU), Ms. Kane outlined a number of initiatives and issues that she felt deserve sustained attention: continued dialogue on missile development, as spearheaded by Germany; continued work on the conclusion of a Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty; initiation of dialogue between the EU and Russia about what the demise of the INF might mean for Europe; how the security interests of NATO and the EU align and how they differ; other meetings and initiatives of EU states concerning NPT issues, emerging technologies and other disrupters.

A full video from the hearing, including the remarks by Ms. Kane, is available on the European Parliament’s website.