Western European Union
The Western European Union (WEU; French: Union de l'Europe occidentale, UEO; German: Westeuropäische Union, WEU) was the international organisation and military alliance that succeeded the Western Union (WU) after the 1954 amendment of the 1948 Treaty of Brussels. The WEU implemented the Modified Brussels Treaty. During the Cold War, the Western Bloc included the WEU member-states, plus the United States and Canada, as part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Western European Union Union de l'Europe occidentale | |||||||||
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| 1954–2011 | |||||||||
| Status | Alliance | ||||||||
| Capital | Brussels | ||||||||
| Historical era | Cold War | ||||||||
| 23 October 1954 | |||||||||
• Cultural tasks transf. to CoE | 1 January 1960 | ||||||||
| 27 October 1984 | |||||||||
• Platform on European Security Interests | 27 October 1987 | ||||||||
| 19 June 1992 | |||||||||
• ESDI introduced | 4 June 1996 | ||||||||
| 1 December 2009 | |||||||||
• Abolition | 30 June 2011 | ||||||||
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| Today part of | European Union (CSDP) Council of Europe | ||||||||
| History of the European Union |
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| European Union portal |
The Cold War ended c. 1991, and at the turn of the 21st century, WEU tasks and institutions were gradually transferred to the European Union (EU), providing central parts of the EU's new military component, the European Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). This process was completed in 2009 when a solidarity clause between the member states of the European Union, which was similar (but not identical) to the WEU's mutual-defence clause, entered into force with the Treaty of Lisbon. The states party to the Modified Treaty of Brussels consequently decided to terminate that treaty on 31 March 2010, with all the WEU's remaining activities to cease within 15 months. On 30 June 2011, the WEU officially ceased to exist; with the European Union taking over its activities.