Article IX of the modified Brussels Treaty obliges WEU member governments represented in the council to provide national parliamentarians, who sit in the Assembly, with a written annual report on their security and defence activities.

Hence, the Assembly is currently acting as an interparliamentary forum for the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) on the basis of parliamentary instruments for which the WEU legal framework makes provision.

Following the transfer of the WEU's operational activities to the EU, the Assembly's interparliamentary scrutiny continued to monitor and support intergovernmental cooperation in the field of security and defence, thereby increasing transparency and democratic accountability.

The former EU High Representative Javier Solana, who was responsible for the CSDP (then known as the ESDP, was at the same time the WEU Secretary-General, thus creating a link between both organisations at the highest executive level.

After several debates during which the draft recommendations were often considerably modified, committee members voted on the final texts which were then submitted to the plenary session for amendment and adoption by the Assembly.