How Western European Nuclear Policy is Made

Why have the Western European countries, so closely knit together, behaved so differently in the field of non-proliferation policy in the past? This book, the second in a series of comparative studies on Western European non-proliferation policy, gives an answer to this question. It explores the relationship between the "input" of nuclear policy - the size of domestic nuclear energy programmes, the strength of the nuclear industry, the virulence of the public debate and the influence of public opinion on policy, and the structure of nuclear decision-making - on the political "output" - the principles of nuclear policy pursued by governments, the priority given to non-proliferation by governments, and the efficiency and seriousness of policy implementation. Besides non-proliferation policy proper, that is, nuclear export controls, the attitude towards the non-proliferation regime, and the relationships with the threshold countries, the study looks also at the related fields of nuclear energy policy and nuclear arms control.
The study covers 8 EEC countries (Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom) as well as two non-members, Sweden and Switzerland. This sample permits the thorough exploration of the factors influencing policy and making up for the differences in the orientations and activities of governments. It helps to assess the potential for convergence in the future. "How Nuclear Policy is Made" is a result of a long-term project pursued by a multi-national team of analysts. It is sponsored by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and directed by the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt, West Germany.