The Role of the European Union in Delivering Resolution 1540 Implementation Assistance

This paper analyses the role of the European Union (EU) in delivering United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540 implementation assistance in the framework of its external non-proliferation policy and cooperation programmes. It assesses the institutional context of the 1540 Committee and explores the nature of cooperation between the EU and the Committee, including by identifying gaps in EU reporting on its assistance measures. The paper concludes that although direct EU funding to the work of the 1540 Committee on assistance has been low, the EU has played a valuable role in capacity-building outside of the EU through bilateral and regional cooperation programmes in several relevant functional areas.