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1. INTRODUCTION 1.~. Purpose Of Study The primary purpose of this study is to examine the Federal Republic of Germany's (F.R.G.) and the European Community's (EC) perspectives on the challenges and opportunities presented to the Coordinating Committee of Multilateral Export Controls (CoCom) in light of the developments in Eastern Europe and Soviet Union since the Fall of 1989. Special emphasis is placed on the problems for Cocom that will arise as a result of the impending economic and political unification of the two Germanies. The perspectives of the West German government, the opposition, the business community and public are examined. Although Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union are not the primary focus of this study, they cannot be ignored, given the close economic ties East Germany maintains with the other CMEA countries, especially the USSR; the important role played by the Soviet Union in determining the external aspects of German unification; and the efforts by all European countries to overcome the political and economic division of Europe by creating a European economic space. A second emphasis of this study will be an analysis of the "European Dimension" of CoCom. Although the evidence with respect to a European position towards CoCom is still scanty, the European Parliament has devoted considerable attention to the issue, which can no longer be avoided given the impending creation of single E.C. market. Finally, the concluding section 1
will briefly outline the necessary changes that are required for a sucessfui reform of export controls. 1.2. Hethodology The primary source material consists of approximately 60 interviews conducted during the month of March 1990 in the F.R.G., East Berlin and at the EC's institutions in Brussels and Luxembourg. Given the sensitivity of the subject, the respondents have asked for confidentiality. Secondary source material consists of recent publications by research institutions in the F.R.G. which specialize in East-West relations: official speeches; and newspaper articles from a variety of German and other European newspapers. 1.3. A Word of Caution The dynamics of political and economic change in the Eastern bloc have been, and continue to be, dramatic. Almost daily, new events occur which affect export control issues with regard to the two Germanies or the entire Eastern bloc. An attempt will be made to include the most recent developments in the analysis presented in this study. Given the nature of the problem, however, some degree of uncertainty will remain. This is especially true with respect to the course of economic and political unification of the two Germanies and the future role of Germany in an evolving European security structure. It should also be mentioned that although the task of the 2
study is to present a West German perspective on the current developments, most of the F.R.G. 's positions are shared by European partners. Thus unless specif ically mentioned, the West German position examined here of other European countries. 3 also ref lects the perspective
