1. Takes the view that there is no military solution to the problems of the Middle East; points out that, in its high-scale and disproportionate attack on Lebanon, Israel has failed to achieve its declared objectives, namely the release of the two IDF soldiers and the dismantlement of Hezbollah;

Invites the High Representative to assess in a White Paper the progress made, and any shortcomings, in the implementation of the ESS since 2003, including lessons learned from ESDP operations; the link between external and internal aspects of security (fight against terrorism); the protection of borders and critical infrastructure including protection against cyber-attacks; the security of energy supply as a challenge for civilian, economic, technical and diplomatic efforts; unresolved regional disputes in the EU's neighbourhood, i.e. Transnistria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh; humanitarian and security challenges on the African continent; and the consequences of climate change and natural disasters for civil protectio ...[+++]n and human security, as well as proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; invites him further to evaluate whether those threats, risks and challenges are directly relevant to a broad understanding of European security or whether they merely possess a security dimension;

10. Expresses its support for the principled steps which EU representatives have taken during the last year in defence of the rights of religious minorities in Bangladesh, such as their physical presence at a complex of the Ahmadiyya Muslims, in October 2004, when fundamentalists had prepared to stage a mass assault on the complex;

The threat of massive terrorist attacks using WMDs has led to increased workload in international export control regimes (in particular in the Australia Group) so as to adjust the criteria and guidelines of the regimes to the particular threats.

Since the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, the initial mandates of those regimes, which had the aim of preventing States from acquiring dual-use items for producing WMD or conventional weapons, have been adjusted to prevent also the acquisition by non-State actors of dual-use items that could be used for terrorist attacks (either massive or via conventional means).

A Task Force organised around five priority topics [6] was set up within its Secretariat-General in order to define implementing measures and protect international trade against terrorist attacks and the international logistics chain against being used for the illegal transport of weapons of mass destruction for terrorist purposes.