THE WESTERN-EUROPEAN UNION AND EUROPEAN S ECURITY

The main aim of this article is to illuminate the causes and implicati ons of the reactivation of the Western European Union (WEU) in October 1984, and the development of the WEU within the context of the new Eu ropean security order. The article underlines strongly the dual charac ter of the WEU; on the one hand as an instrument of internalization of security and defence to the European integration process; and on the other hand, as a means to establish a European peace order within the framework of the CSCE. In the Maastricht Treaty on a European Union (E U) where the WEU was considered to be an integral part of the union, t he EU requests the WEU to elaborate and implement decisions and action s of the union which have defence implications. The La Rochelle Meetin g in May 1992 between Chancellor Kohl and President Mitterrand, and th e Petersberg Declaration of the WEU in June 1992 could in this respect be seen as a mandate to give the WEU military capabilities. The Franc o-German ''Euro Corps'' which was ''double-hatted'' in January 1993 is also of a dual character; on the one hand, it could be seen as the st rengthening of the European pillar of the Atlantic Alliance; and on th e other hand, as a means to give the WEU and the EU military capabilit ies which might in time lead to a common defence. But the central role of the WEU in the treaty must also be seen within the context of the EU's role as a core element in the new European security order, where the NATO alliance has adapted itself to the EU-centred role in Europea n politics.