Germany
Germany boycotted the TPNW negotiations in 2017 and has consistently voted against the annual UN General Assembly resolutions on the Treaty, including in 2021.
| TPNW Article 1(1) prohibitions: Compatibility in 2021 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Develop, produce, manufacture, acquire | Compatible |
| Test | Compatible | |
| Possess or stockpile | Compatible | |
| (b) | Transfer | Compatible |
| (c) | Receive transfer or control | Compatible |
| (d) | Use | Compatible |
| Threaten to use | Compatible | |
| (e) | Assist, encourage or induce | Not compatible |
| (f) | Seek or receive assistance | Compatible |
| (g) | Allow stationing, installation, deployment | Not compatible |
| TPNW voting and participation | |
|---|---|
| 2021 UNGA resolution on TPNW | Voted no |
| 2020 UNGA resolution on TPNW | Voted no |
| 2019 UNGA resolution on TPNW | Voted no |
| 2018 UNGA resolution on TPNW | Voted no |
| Participated in TPNW negotiations | No |
| Share of women in TPNW negotiations | N/A |
| Vote on adoption of treaty text | N/A |
| Adoption of TPNW (7 July 2017) | N/A |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards Agreement | Yes |
| TPNW Art 3(2) deadline | N/A |
| Small Quantities Protocol | No |
| Additional Protocol | Yes |
| Fissile material production facilities | Yes |
| Highly enriched uranium stocks | 100–1000 kg |
| Plutonium stocks (mil/civ) | No/No |
| Related treaties and regimes | |
|---|---|
| Party to the BWC | Yes |
| Party to the CWC | Yes |
| Party to the PTBT | Yes |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Annex 2 state) |
| Party to the NPT | Yes |
| Party to a NWFZ | No |
| Member of the CD | Yes |
Latest developments
Germany may sign and ratify or accede to the TPNW, but will have to make changes to its policies and practices to become compliant.
In November 2021, three political parties in Germany reached an agreement for the formation of a new government. The agreement committed Germany to participate as an observer in the First Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW in 2022. While committing to uphold a ‘credible deterrent capability’ in the alliance, the coalition government also reiterates the goal of Global Zero and a Germany free of nuclear weapons.1 The party programme of the Green Party, which is part of the government coalition, confirms that it is a foreign policy priority for the Green Party to get Germany to join the TPNW.2
168 federal parliamentarians have signed the ICAN Parliamentary Pledge. A cross-party working group on the TPNW (Parlamentskreis Atomwaffenverbot) was established in the Parliament in September 2019.3
The former German foreign minister Joschka Fischer and former defence minister Rudolf Scharping were among the signatories to an open letter in September 2020 calling on current leaders in umbrella states to 'show courage and boldness' and join the TPNW.4 Four federal states and almost 100 cities have signed ICAN's Cities Appeal, including all 16 capitals of federal states.
Recommendations
- Germany should ensure that nuclear weapons do not have a role in its national defence plans and security policies. It should ensure the removal of the foreign nuclear weapons on its territory, renounce the possession and potential use of nuclear weapons on its behalf, for instance through a declaratory statement, and refrain from endorsing future alliance statements in support of weapons of mass destruction.
- Germany should urgently adhere to the TPNW. Until it is in a position to do so, it should welcome the TPNW as a valuable component in the global disarmament and non-proliferation architecture, work with the Treaty's states parties on practical steps towards disarmament, and attend the meetings of states parties as an observer.