The Western European Union was the international organisation and military alliance that succeeded the Western Union (WU) after the 1954 amendment of the 1948 Treaty of Brussels. The WEU implemented the Modified Brussels Treaty. During the Cold War, the Western Bloc included the WEU member-states, plus the United States and Canada, as part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Eurocorps, located in the French city of Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin), is a multinational corps headquarters. Founded by France and Germany in 1992, it is today composed of personnel from six framework nations and five associated nations. The framework nations place the Eurocorps at the service of the European Union (EU) and NATO, which certified it in 2002 as one of its nine High Readiness Land Headquarters.
The Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) is the European Union's (EU) course of action in the fields of defence and crisis management, and a main component of the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).
A United Nations Medal is an international decoration awarded by the United Nations (UN) to the various world countries members for participation in joint international military and police operations such as peacekeeping, humanitarian efforts, and disaster relief. The medal is ranked in militaries and police forces as a service medal. The United Nations awarded its first medal during the Korean War (1950–1953). Since 1955, many additional United Nations medals have been created and awarded for participation in various United Nations missions and actions around the world.
An international decoration is a military award which is not bestowed by a particular country, but rather by an international organization such as the United Nations or NATO. Such awards are normally issued as service medals, for participation in various international military operations, and not for specific acts of heroism or bravery.
The NATO Medal is an international military decoration which is awarded to various militaries of the world under the authority of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It is manufactured by Eekelers-Centini Intl, of Hemiksem, Belgium.
The Petersberg Declaration was adopted by ministers of the Western European Union on 19 June 1992 at Hotel Petersberg, near Bonn in Germany. It defined military tasks of a humanitarian, disarming, peacekeeping and peacemaking nature that the WEU would be empowered to do. The contents and responsibilities arising from the declaration, known as the Petersberg Tasks, were later transferred to the European Union's (EU) European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP), presently known as the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP).
The Australian Active Service Medal (AASM) is an Australian military decoration. It was authorised on 13 September 1988 to recognise prescribed service in "warlike" operations, backdated to February 1975. It is awarded with a clasp to denote the prescribed operation and subsequent awards of the medal are made in the form of additional clasps. In 2012, it was announced that the medal would no longer be issued for future operations, with the AASM and the Australian Service Medal being replaced by the Australian Operational Service Medal.
The Treaty of Brussels, also referred to as the Brussels Pact, was the founding treaty of the Western Union (WU) between 1948 and 1954, when it was amended as the Modified Brussels Treaty (MTB) and served as the founding treaty of the Western European Union (WEU) until its termination in 2010. The treaty provided for the organisation of military, economic, social and cultural cooperation among member states as well as a mutual defence clause.
The Australian Service Medal is an Australian military decoration. It was authorised 13 September 1988 to recognise prescribed service in peacekeeping and non-warlike operations. It is awarded with a clasp to denote the prescribed operation and subsequent awards of the medal are made in the form of additional clasps. The Australian Service Medal 1945–1975 recognises non-warlike service prior to February 1975. The Australian Service Medal was replaced in 2012 by the Australian Operational Service Medal, except for ongoing missions.
The Assembly of the Western European Union, also called the European Security and Defence Assembly, was a parliamentary assembly for delegations from the national parliaments of the member countries of the Western European Union (WEU), a security and defence organisation. Its final session was on 10 May 2011.
The flag of the Western European Union (WEU) was dark blue with a semicircle of ten yellow five pointed stars, broken at the top, with the organisation's initials in the centre. Although it is the flag of a military organisation, it has rarely been flown in military situations.
An international decoration is a military award which is not bestowed by a particular country, but rather by an international organization such as the United Nations or NATO. Such awards are normally issued as service medals, for participation in various international military operations, and not for specific acts of heroism or bravery. The first medal from an international organization accepted for wear by the United States Military was the United Nations Korea Medal in 1951. Subsequent acceptance of other United Nations Medals did not come until 1964 with Executive Order 11139. Acceptance of the medals of other international multilateral organizations finally came with Executive Order 11446 in 1969. Acceptance of these international decorations must be approved by not only the Secretary of Defense, but also the Secretary of State.
The Western Union (WU), also referred to as the Brussels Treaty Organisation (BTO), was the European military alliance established between France, the United Kingdom (UK) and the three Benelux countries in September 1948 in order to implement the Treaty of Brussels signed in March the same year. Under this treaty the signatories, referred to as the five powers, agreed to collaborate in the defence field as well as in the political, economic and cultural fields.
The Common Security and Defence Policy Service Medal is an international military decoration awarded to individuals, both military and civilian, who have served with CSDP missions. Since the 1990s the European Union has taken a greater role in military missions both in Europe and abroad. These actions were taken under the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), which is implemented by the European Union Military Staff, a department of the EU. To recognize service in these missions the EU authorized the creation of a medal with a common obverse and reverse, to which clasps featuring the missions' name are attached to the ribbon bar.
The Special Service Medal is a service medal awarded to members of the Canadian Forces. The medal was established by letters patent by Queen Elizabeth II on 16 June 1984. Recipients of this medal must have performed, "service under exceptional circumstances". The medal is always issued with a bar which specifies the special service which the medal recognizes. Each bar has its own criteria.
The General Service Medal 2008 was introduced in 2015 for award to Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Army, and RAF personnel to recognise specified operations since January 2008, not qualifying for another campaign medal. Unlike its predecessor, the General Service Medal (1962), operations will be denoted by clasps indicating the geographic area of operations, rather than a specific operation. The first awards of the medal were made by Secretary of State for Defence Michael Fallon at a ceremony on 12 June 2016.
This article outlines the history of the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) of the European Union (EU), a part of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).
The Rome Declaration was the document signed at an extraordinary session held by the Council of Ministers of the Western European Union (WEU) in Rome on 26 and 27 October 1984 to mark the 30th anniversary of the Modified Brussels Treaty (MTB). The declaration decided to make better use of WEU to increase cooperation between the member states in the field of security policy, and reactivated the WEU.
The European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) are two main treaty-based Western organisations for cooperation between member states, both headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. Their natures are different and they operate in different spheres: NATO is a purely intergovernmental organisation functioning as a military alliance, which serves to implement article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty on collective territorial defence. The EU on the other hand is a partly supranational and partly intergovernmental sui generis entity akin to a confederation that entails wider economic and political integration. Unlike NATO, the EU pursues a foreign policy in its own right—based on consensus, and member states have equipped it with tools in the field of defence and crisis management; the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) structure.
Western European Union 
