§ Lord Finsbergasked Her Majesty's Government: Whether the modified Brussels Treaty:
- (a) has a deadline for termination of 1998;
- (b) may be denounced by any signatory after 1998;
- (c) may be reviewed in 1998;
- (d) remains in force unamended until denunciation or amendment.
§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Chalker of Wallasey)Article XII of the Brussels Treaty states that:
"[The Treaty] shall enter into force on the date of the deposit of the last instrument of ratification and shall remain in force for fifty years.
After the expiry of the period of fifty years, each of the High Contracting Parties shall have the right to cease to be a party thereto provided that he shall have previously given one year's notice of denunciation to the Belgian Government".
As the text of this Article was not amended by the modification to the Brussels Treaty in 1954, the Government consider that the period of fifty years is to be measured from the date of entry into force of the original Treaty (25th August 1948).
It may be misleading to suggest that the Treaty has a deadline of 1998; it is not a deadline for termination. Instead, from 25th August 1998, each of the High Contracting Parties may denounce the Treaty individually. It has always been possible for the High Contracting Parties to agree collectively to amend or terminate it. The expiry of the period of 50 years does not affect this right in any way. The Treaty will remain in force, unamended, until such time as the Parties collectively decide otherwise.