News in Brief Michael Spies | Reaching Critical Will of WILPF
News in Brief section from the NPT News
in Review, the daily NGO newsletter from the third session
of the
Preparatory Committee for the 2010 nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty Review Conference Monday, 18 May 2009 (Final Edition)
Recommendations to the 2010 RevCon
• The PrepCom was unable to reach consensus on adopting
recommendations to the 2010 RevCon.
• The chair had circulated a third draft text, which
incorporated some amendments to the second draft, notably
modifying language in the preamble and disarmament sections.
• Following informal meetings of the regional groups,
the chair determined that there was not enough time to bridge
the remaining differences between states over the text.
Final Report and Closing Remarks
• The PrepCom adopted a strictly procedural final report.
• Only seven delegations (including the EU, NAM, African
Group, and Eastern European Group), made, generally brief
and muted, closing remarks, focusing on the success in adopting
in the agenda for the RevCon.
• In light of the the quick and smooth adoption of the
agenda, delegations generally considered the PrepCom to be
a success.
• The United Kingdom continued to express the view that
agreement had been close on the recommendations, suggesting
that it might have been too ambitious a task in light of the
fact that no third PrepCom has ever accomplished such an agreement.
• Privately, many expressed some relief that no action
had been taken—a sign of lukewarm support for the second
draft and concern over the possible politically-binding nature
of such disputed and imperfect text.
