Madam Chair,

On behalf of the European Union, I would like to thank Switzerland for organizing this timely discussion and for providing the opportunity to share information on various initiatives related to nuclear disarmament verification and to encourage further efforts.

The EU and its Member States supported the 2016 UN General Assembly Resolution on Nuclear Disarmament Verification (71/57) and welcomed the establishment of the Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) to consider the role of verification in advancing nuclear disarmament. In this context, we appreciate the information provided by the Norwegian Chair on the upcoming work of the GGE for the period of 2018-19.

EU Member States remain committed to the pursuit of nuclear disarmament, in accordance with Article VI of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). We believe that concrete steps towards enabling verification of the disarmament process could contribute to the implementation of Article VI. While verification is not an aim in itself, further development of the multilateral nuclear verification capabilities would assist in the achievement and maintenance of a world without nuclear weapons. Verification capabilities should be developed now to ensure their availability for disarmament.

Therefore, we consider it important to pursue and intensify efforts, including in cooperation with international and regional organisations and civil society, to address verification challenges with respect to safety, security and non-proliferation requirements. We see the urgency not only to identify the challenges associated with verification, but to provide for the technical means, including developing well-elaborated, certified and robust technical procedures and technologies.

The EU and its Member States support the view that strict verification standards are important to build confidence in nuclear disarmament. While transparency, irreversibility and verifiability remain at the core of any disarmament regime, the protection of sensitive and proliferative information, managed access, and completeness and correctness of the host declarations, safety and security are all essential issues. The right balance must thus be achieved.

While 100% confidence is not achievable in any regime, trust and confidence can be improved by increasing awareness about technical challenges and proliferation concerns and through cooperation, education, openness and outreach. Scientific collaboration and technology developments for a sound and trusted verification approach can show the way forward and help advance future nuclear negotiations.

The EU and its Member States have significant expertise and experience that can be instrumental to effectively advancing the disarmament verification agenda. In addition to the work undertaken by EU Member States, significant R&D efforts are carried out by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission as well as EURATOM in the fields of nuclear safety and security, safeguards and non-proliferation. Furthermore, the European Safeguards Research and Development Association (ESARDA) has added special sessions on disarmament verification to its symposia.

The EU also supports broader partnerships and cooperative verification arrangements, such as the International Partnership for Nuclear Disarmament Verification (IPNDV). We agree that the IPNDV has obtained some excellent results since its inauguration in 2015. The EU, together with some of its Member States, will continue to actively participate in and support the work of the IPNDV with the aim to explore further verification technologies, demonstrations and practical exercises. The EU considers it important that the IPNDV and the GGE should seek to complement each other’s work.

Successful cooperation between nuclear weapon States and non-nuclear weapon States would require sufficient time for a build-up of trust and common ground. In this context, the EU appreciates the work undertaken by the UK-Norway initiative (UKNI) and the Quad Nuclear Verification Partnership (QNVP).

Madam Chair,

In view of the upcoming Second Preparatory Committee session of the 2020 NPT Review Conference, the EU has submitted a working paper on nuclear disarmament verification to highlight our views and activities in this regard.

We recall that at the 2010 NPT Review Conference, all States Parties agreed on the importance of supporting international cooperation aimed at increasing confidence, improving transparency and developing efficient verification capabilities related to nuclear disarmament. This is a common endeavour to which many actors can contribute. We urge nuclear weapon States and non-nuclear weapon States to effectively use the ongoing international initiatives on nuclear disarmament verification building on the past achievements.

Thank you, Madam Chair.