Consultations were held between Foreign Ministers on political and security issues at least once a year. Ambassadors from all the NAC-C countries met on a more routine basis, at least every other month. The NATO Allies were able to demonstrate their interest in genuine cooperation. Non-NATO participating states were able to contribute to NATO’s consultative process. NATO’s Economic Committee also set up a programme of cooperation in the NAC-C framework. This focused on defence budgets and their relationship to the economy; security aspects of economic developments; and defence conversion – the process of converting what had been plants producing weapons into facilities for normal, peaceful commercial activities. The NAC-C programme also included scientific and environmental cooperation. NATO began giving scientists from NAC-C nations scholarships for study or research on topics ranging from disarmament technologies to computer networking. In addition, the NAC-C framework was used to provide information about NATO to countries that had been dominated by anti-NATO propaganda for over four decades. It helped to begin the process of educating the governments and publics of new democracies about issues such as cooperative security with which they would have to deal if they were to become active participants in the international community.

NATO’s information programmes, including publications, visits and joint seminars and conferences, all began to focus on building openness and trust between NATO countries and their new Partners. Fellowships were established for the study of democratic institutions. In support of this goal, NATO’s Defense College in Rome also initiated special programmes for participants from NAC-C states. For two-week periods, military and civilian officials from non-NATO member states began participating in the College’s activities. Other NATO training establishments followed suit.

The premise of the NAC-C was that openness and working together would overcome decades of separate development, negative propaganda and misperceptions. The process of breaking down barriers between NATO nations and former adversaries had begun. The NAC-C, succeeded in 1997 by the “Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council,” or EAPC, was one of the keystones of what has progressively become a new basis for European security.


THE EURO-ATLANTIC PARTNERSHIP COUNCIL

The Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) brings together all NATO Allies with all Partner countries. There are currently 46 members.