In this interview, Willem van Eekelen, Netherlands Minister for Defence from 1986 to 1988 and Secretary-General of Western European Union (WEU) from 1989 to 1994, explains how the discussion paper that he submitted to the WEU Council of Ministers on 22 February 1991, entitled The Future of European Security and Defence Cooperation, which focused on WEU’s role in the new European security architecture, contributed to preparations for the intergovernmental conference that would lead to the Treaty on European Union, signed in Maastricht on 7 February 1992.
In this interview, Willem van Eekelen, Netherlands Minister for Defence from 1986 to 1988 and Secretary-General of Western European Union (WEU) from 1989 to 1994, recalls the origins of the concept of a European Security and Defence Identity (ESDI), first seen in 1991, as well as his own role in the implementation of this concept.
In this interview, Willem van Eekelen, Netherlands Minister for Defence from 1986 to 1988 and Secretary-General of Western European Union (WEU) from 1989 to 1994, recalls the ambiguous stance of the United States towards the establishment of a European Security and Defence Identity (ESDI) in the 1990s.
In this interview, Willem van Eekelen, Netherlands Minister for Defence from 1986 to 1988 and Secretary-General of Western European Union (WEU) from 1989 to 1994, looks at the gradual disappearance of the European Security and Defence Identity (ESDI) and its replacement by the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) of the European Union.
In this interview, Willem van Eekelen, Netherlands Minister for Defence from 1986 to 1988 and Secretary-General of Western European Union (WEU) from 1989 to 1994, addresses the question of cooperation between WEU and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) following the Treaty of Maastricht, particularly citing the figure of Manfred Wörner, Secretary General of NATO from 1988 to 1994.
In this interview, Willem van Eekelen, Netherlands Minister for Defence from 1986 to 1988 and Secretary-General of Western European Union (WEU) from 1989 to 1994, discusses the transfers of power from WEU to the European Union which took place in 2000 and their consequences on the very existence of WEU.