Treaty Name: Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Agreement on Adaptation (aCFE)

Signed by United States: 19 November 1999

Background: Throughout the 1990s the structure of the European security environment changed dramatically. The dissolution of the Warsaw Treaty Organization and the Soviet Union; the breakup of Yugoslavia; the split of Czechoslovakia and the first round of NATO enlargement all contributed to the necessity to adapt CFE to continue its relevance and effectiveness. At the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Summit in Istanbul, Turkey in 1999, the CFE Agreement on Adaptation was signed by the 33 states Parties to the CFE Treaty to address profound changes in European security.

Treaty Objectives: The CFE Agreement on Adaptation aims to increase security and confidence in Europe by modifying the provisions in the CFE Treaty to more accurately reflect the needs of the current security environment in Europe. The overarching goals of aCFE remain the same as the original CFE Treaty: to increase transparency and to limit and reduce the number of conventional weapons in Europe; and to eliminate destabilizing disparities in military equipment that would grant any nation or territory the capability of launching a large scale attack.

Treaty Provisions: The Adapted Treaty builds on the CFE Treaty by calling for additional inspections, notifications, and information exchanges, and modifying existing equipment limits. The aCFE Area of Application (AOA) includes all territory of the participating countries from the Atlantic Ocean to the Ural Mountains (ATTU). Initially, in the CFE Treaty, combat arms and equipment were limited by bloc (East/West), and then proportioned down to a sub-zonal level to prevent the build-up of conventional arms in Central Europe where there was a higher likelihood of conflict. The changing security environment, however, made a new system for limiting equipment necessary. National and Territorial Ceilings for the five categories of Treaty Limited Equipment (TLE) (armored combat vehicles (ACVs), battle tanks, artillery, combat aircraft, and attack helicopters) were established to replace the bloc-to-bloc structure. National Ceilings set limits on TLE for each state within its own borders. Territorial Ceilings put limits on the total amount of TLE in any state, i.e. national forces plus forces stationed on national territory owned by other states.

Information Exchange: aCFE maintains the original CFE annual information exchange on TLE occurs every December 15, with data accurate as of January 1 the following year. Included in the exchange are organization of land and air forces within the AOA; overall holdings of TLE including number, type, and location; declared sites and objects of verification (OOVs) subject to inspection (an OOV is any brigade or separate battalion-sized unit with TLE); personnel strength; and points of entry/exit for inspections. aCFE increases reporting requirements in content and in frequency. The assigned location of TLE is to be reported annually and quarterly reports are to be provided on the actual location of ground TLE and the number of air TLE.

Notifications: aCFE raises the number of types of notifications from 42 to 96 in an effort to increase transparency among participating countries. The adapted Treaty requires notifications for more inspection activities and changes in assigned equipment holdings and organizational structures or designations. A new category of notifications has also been added to include the transit of TLE.

Verification: The CFE Treaty established on-site inspection regimes to verify compliance with the Treaty: declared site, challenge site, and notification inspections. Inspections at a declared site can be of any unit/formation routinely or permanently holding TLE. States have the right to conduct declared site inspections without right of refusal, based on a quota system. States also have the right of refusal with challenge inspections, which are designed to monitor compliance in areas other than declared sites. Notification inspections can be exercised to monitor the process of TLE destruction, verify certification of recategorization of helicopters and reclassification of aircraft, and validate conversion completion. The quotas for inspection are increased under aCFE.

Additional Provisions : In addition to the above changes, an accession clause was added making the Treaty open to new states. aCFE also strengthens host-nation consent requirements for the presence of foreign forces and Review Conferences were established to begin 46 months after EIF and then subsequently at five year intervals. In addition, aCFE includes provisions to allow a State Party added flexibility by temporarily exceeding territorial ceilings under specified circumstances. It also includes additional constraints on the stationing of TLE and contains specific stabilizing measures for particularly sensitive regions.

Current Status: Until the CFE Adaptation Agreement is ratified by all States Parties, the original CFE Treaty remains in force. The United States and NATO allies have stated that they will not ratify the agreement until Russia completes the withdrawal of its TLE from the territories of Georgia and Moldova.

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