The EU’s multilateralist combat against the proliferation of WMD in the NPT: mirroring the Grand Bargain

Abstract:

In 2003, the European Union (EU) launched its Strategy against the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction in which it sought the strengthening of an effective multilateral non-proliferation regime, with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as its cornerstone. Focusing upon the implementation of that strategy 10 years on, this paper considers the EU's navigation of the NPT negotiation environment and the structural conditions at play between the Nuclear and Non-Nuclear Weapon States and the Grand Bargain enshrined between them. It shows that the EU's “multilateralist combat” within the NPT has met with limited success due to the EU's lack of bargaining power – the EU has neither the will nor the capacity to make the bargaining concessions necessary to achieve its goals in this forum. Further challenging claims that the EU may offer a “benchmark” for the NPT community; this paper suggests that the EU is more a mirror of the imbalance of the Grand Bargain than a solution in how to resolve it.