If used, nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons cause immense human suffering. Their proliferation can trigger dangerous arms races. Even radioactive materials and potent chemicals that are used in energy production, medicine, and industry can become a threat if they get into the wrong hands. This is why the EU Strategy against WMD Proliferation was adopted, including this among the central goals of the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). 

The EU’s priority remains to defend and strengthen the multilateral non-proliferation and disarmament architecture. Here are some more specific ways in which the EU contributed in 2022 to making the world safer from chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, in spite of a highly challenging security environment:

1. The EU supported efforts by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to ensure nuclear safety and security worldwide, including by financing the IAEA’s staff presence in Ukrainian nuclear facilities in the face of Russia’s illegal war of aggression. This comes in addition to other bilateral EU assistance to Ukraine in this field.

2. The European Commission launched a new ambitious programme aimed at uplifting nuclear safeguards in Africa, in cooperation with the African Commission on Nuclear Energy (AFCONE) and Finland.

3. On the year of the 25^th anniversary of the entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention, the EU continued to fully support its implementing body, the Organisation of the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), both politically and financially. It also imposed further restrictive measures linked to the poisoning of Alexei Navalny and the production of chemical weapons delivery systems in Syria.

4. The EU participated actively in the Ninth Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention that decided to establish a Working Group to identify specific and effective measures to improve its implementation. The EU also played an active role in countering Russia’s disinformation campaign related to biological weapons in the context of its illegal war of aggression against Ukraine.