On 29 October 1991, at a meeting of the Council of Western European Union (WEU) in Bonn, Roland Dumas, French Foreign Minister, identifies the fundamental points of agreement reached on the role and place of WEU in the light of the forthcoming Maastricht European Council.

On 27 January 1992, in Bonn, at a meeting of the Chiefs of the General Staff of the Member States of Western European Union (WEU), the German Chancellor, Helmut Kohl, outlines the main decisions taken at the Rome Summit of the Atlantic Alliance and the Maastricht European Council. He places particular emphasis on WEU's role as a defence component of the European Union and as a bridge between the European Union and the Atlantic Alliance.

Article J.4 of the Treaty on European Union, signed in Maastricht on 7 February 1992.

The Treaty on European Union, which entered into force on 1 November 1993, strengthens the role of Western European Union (WEU), defining it as an ‘integral part of the development of the European Union’ while preserving its institutional autonomy. Accordingly, WEU is given the task of drawing up and implementing decisions and actions which have defence implications.

In January 1996, in the Revue du Marché commun et de l’Union européenne, Alfred Cahen, Belgian Ambassador in Paris and former Secretary-General of Western European Union (WEU), outlines the background of WEU and clarifies its role in the implementation of the European Union common defence.

On 13 May 1997, in Paris, the Council of Ministers of Western European Union (WEU) reaffirms the essential role of WEU in the European security architecture.

On 12 and 13 May 1997, the Foreign and Defence Ministers of the Member States of Western European Union (WEU) meet, during the French Presidency, in UNESCO House, Paris, for their biannual session, following which they decide to strengthen WEU's cooperation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the European Union (EU).

Article 17 of the Treaty on European Union (EU) as amended by the Treaty of Amsterdam signed on 2 October 1997. Article 17 corresponds, in the intermediate numbering of the Treaty of Amsterdam, to Article J.7 of the EU Treaty (ex Article J.4).

Protocol on Article 17 of the Treaty on European Union (EU), annexed to the EU Treaty by the Treaty of Amsterdam. Article 17 corresponds, in the intermediate numbering of the Treaty of Amsterdam, to Article J.7 of the EU Treaty (ex Article J.4).

In the Declaration (No 3) annexed to the Final Act of the Treaty of Amsterdam, the Intergovernmental Conference notes the Declaration made by the Council of Ministers of Western European Union (WEU) on 22 July 1997 on the role of WEU and its relations with the European Union (EU) and the Atlantic Alliance. The latter Declaration refers particularly to Article 17 of the Treaty on EU (ex Article J.7) and the Protocol to this Article.

On 17 March 1998, commenting on the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Brussels, the French daily newspaper Le Figaro considers the future of Western European Union (WEU).

Meeting in Vienna on 11 and 12 December 1998, the European Council believes, following the example of the Franco-British St. Malo Declaration, that the common foreign and security policy must be backed by credible operational capabilities in order for the European Union (EU) to have a strong presence on the international stage. The European Council invites the Council to bring forward, in agreement with Western European Union (WEU), the completion of arrangements for enhanced cooperation between the EU and WEU.

Map showing the operations conducted by Western European Union (WEU) in Iraq and the Persian Gulf between 1987 and 1991 in the context of the Iran–Iraq War and the Gulf War.

Map showing the operations led by Western European Union (WEU) from 1992 to 2001 in connection with the crises and conflicts in the Balkans.

Meeting on 19 June 1992 in Bonn, the Foreign and Defence Ministers of the member States of Western European Union (WEU) adopt the Petersberg Declaration which provides for the strengthening of WEU’s operational role and which determines its role in Europe’s security policy and the state of its relations with the other Member States of the European Union and NATO.

On 20 June 1992, the Belgian daily newspaper Le Soir considers the measures adopted the previous day in Petersberg by the Foreign and Defence Ministers of the Member States of Western European Union (WEU). The article emphasises the operational role assigned to the organisation which, as the military arm of the European Union and European pillar of the Atlantic Alliance, is now responsible for leading crisis-management and peacekeeping missions.

On 23 June 1992, the French daily newspaper Le Monde speculates on the new role of Western European Union (WEU) resulting from the new European defence identity provided for in the Treaty on European Union and outlines the steps taken by the nine WEU states to develop a common defence policy.

In this interview, Colin Cameron, Secretary-General of the Assembly of Western European Union (WEU), discusses the consequences of the Treaty of Maastricht (Article J.4), which makes it possible for the European Union to have recourse to WEU for the development and implementation of EU decisions and actions having implications in the field of defence, thus giving WEU the role of defence arm of the EU.

On 19 May 1993, in Rome, the Foreign and Defence Ministers of the Member States of Western European Union (WEU), meeting as the WEU Council of Ministers, welcome the fact that all the Member States are currently deciding which of their military units and headquarters they are prepared to make available to WEU for various possible tasks. The Council particularly welcomes the designation of the European Corps (Eurocorps), the Multinational Division (Central) and the UK/Netherlands amphibious force as forces answerable to WEU.

On 22 November 1993, following the entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty on 1 November 1993, the Council of Ministers of Western European Union (WEU) agrees to pursue the implementation of measures seeking to ensure close cooperation between the European Union and WEU, to strengthen Europe’s contribution to the Atlantic Alliance and to develop WEU’s operational capabilities.

On 14 July 1994, the Eurocorps takes part in the military parade along the Champs-Élysées in Paris. The Eurocorps was established on 22 May 1992 at the Franco-German Summit in La Rochelle, and was subsequently opened up to include other countries: Belgium (1993), Spain (1994) and Luxembourg (1996). The decision to include Eurocorps among the forces answerable to Western European Union (FAWEU) was confirmed at the meeting of the WEU Council of Ministers on 19 May 1993 in Rome.

Declaration on the establishment of the European Operational Rapid Force (Eurofor), adopted on 15 May 1995 in Lisbon by the French, Italian and Spanish Foreign and Defence Ministers. This multinational ground force answerable to Western European Union (FAWEU) can also be deployed under the aegis of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in order to strengthen the European pillar of the Atlantic Alliance. An agreement reached on the same day provides for the participation of Portugal in this force, which is open to WEU Member States, from the moment of its establishment.

On 15 May 1995, on the margins of the meeting of the Western European Union (WEU) Council of Ministers in Lisbon, the Foreign and Defence Ministers of France, Italy, Portugal and Spain decide to establish two multinational forces, a ground force (Eurofor) and a maritime force (Euromarfor), which are answerable to WEU but may also be employed in the work of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in order to strengthen the European pillar of the Atlantic Alliance.

On 23 April 1996, on the flight deck of the Spanish aircraft carrier ‘Principe de Asturias' in Palma de Mallorca, the inauguration ceremony of the multinational naval force Euromarfor, which consists of French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese naval forces, takes place.

On 3 June 1996, at its Ministerial Meeting in Berlin, the North Atlantic Council decides to adapt the Alliance’s structures so as to build a European Security and Defence Identity within NATO. In particular, the development of the concept of Combined Joint Task Forces (CJTF) should enable Europeans to make use of separable but not separate NATO military capabilities in Western European Union (WEU) operations.

On 3 December 1996, in Paris, Jacques Chirac, President of the French Republic, gives an address to the Parliamentary Assembly of Western European Union (WEU) in which he sets out the priorities of the French Presidency of WEU for the first half of 1997. He believes that WEU needs to acquire the operational capacities required, strengthen its institutional links with the European Union and engage in a process of reflection on its internal mode of operation.

In its ‘Declaration on strengthening the common European policy on security and defence’, the Cologne European Council of 3 and 4 June 1999 agrees to transfer from Western European Union (WEU) to the European Union (EU) the responsibility of decision-making and the capacity for action in the area of the ‘Petersberg tasks’.