Western European Union

Western European Union (WEU), association of European countries inaugurated in 1955. The founding members were the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg—the countries that established the Brussels Treaty Organization in 1948—and Italy and Germany—the countries that acceded to it in 1954. Portugal and Spain were admitted to full membership in 1990, and Greece in 1995. In 1992 Denmark and Ireland became observer nations (followed in 1995 by Austria, Finland, and Sweden); also in 1992, Iceland, Norway, and Turkey became associate members (followed in 1999 by the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland); while in 1994 Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, and Slovakia became associate partners (followed in 1996 by Slovenia). The original aims of the union are set forth in the Brussels Treaty, a 50-year pact providing for “collaboration in economic, social and cultural matters and for collective self-defence”.

The military functions of the organization are now performed by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and most of its economic activities are handled by the European Union. Cultural and social activities were transferred to the Council of Europe in 1960. The main purpose of the WEU in recent decades has been as a forum to harmonize members' views on defence and disarmament, East-West relations, and the Atlantic alliance. The principal organ is the council of the union, consisting of the foreign and defence ministers of the ten member nations; council meetings are usually held twice a year at the ministerial level and twice a month at the ambassadorial level. Assisting the council are several permanent agencies and committees. The WEU has its headquarters in Brussels.