Promoting a truly mine-free world
The role of the Italian Presidency of the European Union

1.1 Italy

In the struggle to rid the world of the scourge of landmines, Italy can be held as one of the most successful examples. Once one of the world's leading producers and exporters of anti-personnel mines, in just over 10 years Italy has firmly placed itself at the forefront of the global landmine battle.

Responding to mounting pressure from NGOs and public opinion at large, successive Italian administrations have taken all the necessary steps to put in place an effective ban on landmines in the country. These include passing national legislation to ban the production, use, export and transfer of anti-personnel and anti-tank mines in 1997, signing and ratifying the Ottawa Convention and ensuring its implementation, setting up a National Committee for Humanitarian Mine Action under the aegis of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and setting up a special Trust Fund for Humanitarian Demining. At present, mine production and export have completely stopped; Italian armed forces are no longer using landmines and are forbidden from taking part in joint operations in which such devices are employed; the national stockpiles (amounting to over 7 million pieces) have been destroyed almost one year ahead of the deadline set by the Ottawa Treaty; and Italy has supported humanitarian mine action programmes in countries including Afghanistan, Angola, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Central America (Nicaragua, Honduras), Chad, Croatia, Ethiopia, Kosovo, Laos, Lebanon, Mozambique, Russia/Chechnya, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Yemen.

Building on such outstanding achievements, it is only natural that Italy should seize the opportunity offered by the forthcoming six-month presidency of the European Union (starting on 1st July 2003) to become an ever more vocal advocate of the universalization of the Ottawa Treaty and of the needs of humanitarian mine action and victim assistance.

1.2 European Union member-states

Rejection for the use of such inherently cruel and indiscriminate weapons as anti-personnel mines is widespread across the 15 EU member-states as well as the 10 countries which will join the Union as of 1 May 2004. None of these states produce, export or use landmines, and the spirit of the Ottawa Treaty is amply respected. Just prior to the beginning of the Italian Presidency, this European consensus was further strengthened by the accession to the Ottawa Convention of Lithuania, a future member states, and by the announcement of Greece's imminent ratification. Greece's ratification depended on Turkey's accession, which has been prepared by completing all internal legislative steps required. Indeed, the two countries stated in April 2001 that they would concurrently join the Convention and are now preparing to submit their joining instruments to the United Nations simultaneously.

EU institutions -- and especially the European Commission - are also strongly engaged in supporting mine-affected countries in their efforts to eradicate the threat posed by landmines. The main framework for this support is set out in the 2002-2004 EC Mine Action Strategy, adopted by the Commission on 3 December 2002.

However, while de facto consensus exists on respecting the spirit of the Ottawa Treaty, unity has not been reached yet from a legal point of view. One member state - Finland - has not signed the Ottawa Treaty, and the recently approved enlargement will bring into the Union two more non-signatories - Estonia and Latvia - and one country which has not ratified the Treaty: Poland.

Ratification of/accession to the Mine Ban Treaty by all member-states of the European Union would send a clear message of political will towards worldwide eradication of the plague of landmines, and strengthen the EU's role in promoting a truly mine-free world.

1.3 The world - an overview

The plight of Iraqi civilians being maimed and killed in their dozens every week by landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) left behind in the aftermath of the recent war as well as of decades of conflict, has reminded international public opinion of how the vision of a world finally free from landmines is still far from becoming reality.

Iraq is one of the 47 countries that still refuse to join the Ottawa Mine Ban Convention - others include China, India, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, Russia and the USA - and of the approximately 90 identified as suffering from a landmine problem.

The human and social impact of landmine contamination in these countries is devastating. An estimated 15 to 20,000 people- the vast majority civilians, a large proportion children - are killed or injured in landmine accidents every year. Those who survive face a life of disability, poverty and social exclusion, as well as painful and costly rehabilitation processes. The economies of entire towns and provinces are virtually hostage to landmines: farming cannot resume due to the presence of mines in the fields, and trade is made dangerous by mined roads, which also pose a severe threat to refugees returning to their lands as well as humanitarian agencies delivering aid and carrying out post-war reconstruction programs. Lying silently in the ground for decades, landmines act as "weapons of mass destruction in slow motion" disrupting for generations any attempt to return to a normal life.

2. Goals for the Italian Presidency of the EU

In the face of the challenges posed by landmines worldwide, and of the weakening of multi-lateral institutions brought about by the Iraqi crisis, the Italian Campaign to Ban Landmines and its counterparts internationally believe that Italy has a key role to play as the next President of the Council of the European Union. The Presidency offers an extraordinary opportunity to take Italy's efforts in the struggle against landmines yet one step forward and to convey the anti-landmine message from a uniquely privileged position.

For this reason the Italian Campaign to Ban Landmines, on behalf of the international mine ban movement, welcomes the inclusion of the issue of non-proliferation in the Operational Programme for the European Council for 2003, presented jointly by the Greek and Italian Presidencies.

The Italian Campaign to Ban Landmines hopes that action taken by the Italian Presidency under this rubric and within the wider stated goal of "projecting stability in the world" will be driven by the will to promote the universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty and support mine-affected countries in their efforts to rid themselves of the lethal legacy of past conflicts.

2.1 Goals for action within the EU

Priority should be given to encouraging all member states to become parties to the Ottawa Treaty by its review conference scheduled to take place in Nairobi, Kenya, from 29 November to 3 December 2004. This would not only signal cohesion and set an important milestone on the road to a worldwide ban on landmines, but also remove some obstacles to the formulation of a common foreign, security and defence policy, also a priority for this Presidency.

The EU budgetary process should also be monitored, to ensure that the funding committed by EU institutions to mine action under budget line B 7661 is distributed evenly over the eight years for which it has been set aside, and is indeed released in annual instalments of no less than 17,5 million euros.

2.2 Goals for action outside the EU

The EU under the Italian Presidency should be an ever stronger advocate of universalization and implementation of the Ottawa Treaty as well as of the need to secure increasing levels of funding to support mine action efforts in affected countries. Action taken under previous Presidencies has resulted in positive advances, and renewed diplomatic efforts to this end would be particularly welcome at a time when international stability is at stake and when the Ottawa process is reaching a critical stage in the run-up to the Convention's fifth anniversary and review conference.

It would therefore be important for the Italian Presidency to take the lead in raising in every appropriate forum -bi- or multi-lateral political talks, trade negotiations, association processes etc - the crucial importance for EU partners to join the Treaty, stressing the moral and practical advantages of this, emphasizing the key role a mine ban can have in guaranteeing international stability, and showing support for those countries that have made openings or taken steps towards banning landmines.

Similarly, and in the same fora, the EU under Italian leadership should address the issue of fulfilment of treaty obligations by states parties and encourage - where necessary -- the sharing among state parties of the technologies and know-how necessary for treaty compliance. As difficulties in complying with deadlines set in the Treaty are also often quoted as a reason holding governments back from joining, consideration should be given to the development of technical assistance programmes and agreements.

This can prove to be crucial given the magnitude of the worldwide mine problem and can help mine-affected State parties cope with the challenge of their approaching deadlines for compliance with mine action obligations. To allow for an assessment of the situation on the ground and to improve coordination and planning for assistance on the part of donors, mine-affected countries should be encouraged to report on the size of mined areas, on the size of their stockpiles and on existing mine action plans (including both mine clearance and mine risk education components), specifying also the amount of local resources (financial, human, technological) allocated to such plans. Identifying the plans, priorities, progress and problems with regard to mine action in each country will allow a better coordination of efforts and the optimization of resources. While State parties are requested to submit such reports under Article 7 of the Convention, non-parties should also be invited to do so as a sign of good will towards the spirit of the Convention and a preliminary step on the way to joining it, as Poland and Latvia did recently as well as Lithuania, before becoming a State Party.

With reference to the destruction of stockpiles, State parties should be encouraged to develop stock destruction plans, initiate the destruction processes and keep to the relevant deadlines. The offer of technical assistance in stock destruction to other State parties, made by the Italian delegation at the meeting of the Ottawa Convention Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction in Geneva on 15 May 2003, is a very welcome step and should hopefully lead to increased cooperation in this area.

Finally, the European Union, under Italy's leadership should take action to ensure that landmine victims are given appropriate assistance, in the framework of adequately funded, fully inclusive and well coordinated national plans in which survivors are adequately involved.

Recommended action

Taking into consideration the geographic priorities set in the 2003 Operational programme for the Council of the European Union, the Italian Campaign to Ban Landmines has identified the following concrete action that could be taken during Italy's Presidency of the EU:

In trans-Atlantic relations: