NATO Nuclear Planning - Nuclear Sharing

The North Atlantic Treaty, NATO’s founding document, makes no mention of nuclear weapons. NATO’s strategic concept defines the use of nuclear weapons for Alliance defense purposes. The strategic concept is a policy document that in the past was rewritten by the member states roughly every ten years. In addition, NATO summit declarations describe partial changes in between. In February 2021, the NATO Secretary General proposed that NATO adopt a new strategic concept at the 2022 summit.

Currently, NATO assesses the likelihood of nuclear weapons use as very low. For deterrence, NATO relies on the strategic weapons of the US, the UK, and France, as well as so-called nonstrategic weapons stationed in other NATO countries – such as the bombs in Germany.

Shortly after the first deployment of nuclear weapons in Europe, NATO countries demanded a say in nuclear weapons deployment planning. This gave rise to the Nuclear Planning Group (NPG), which discusses and reviews NATO’s nuclear weapons policy principles. All NATO members except France participate in the deliberations, usually at the level of defense ministers. Results of NPG meetings were published in final documents up until 2007. There has been no official reporting since then. The High Level Group and the NPG Staff Group are bodies where meetings are prepared at a lower level.

Nuclear sharing in NATO. All NATO members except France participate in Nuclear Planning Group meetings.

NATO’s strategic concepts have been public documents since 1991. They are always supplemented by secret documents explaining the military implementation of the political objectives. The NATO Military Committee prepares and adopts these documents. The latest such document (presumed document number: MC 400/4) was adopted in 2019 as a new “military strategy”. NATO had not had such a military strategy for over five decades.

The following FAQ is a compilation of a number of further questions about nuclear planning. The questions are taken from formal Bundestag inquiries, and the answers stem from the respective replies by the federal government.

Do NATO countries that participate exclusively in political nuclear sharing have no say in NATO nuclear matters?

“The federal government takes note of the question. However, it explicitly does not confirm any statements or representations contained therein.
For security reasons, information policy regarding NATO’s nuclear forces is subject to the Alliance’s mandatory secrecy rules, to which the German government is bound in continuity with all its predecessors.
All decisions regarding nuclear sharing are made in close consultation with allies in the respectively responsible bodies.”

Answer translated from: minutes of the plenary session of the Bundestag, 19/165, session on June 17, 2020

Do NATO countries that have withdrawn from technical nuclear sharing have fewer opportunities than before to influence NATO nuclear doctrine through participation in Alliance deliberations?

“The federal government takes note of the question. However, it explicitly does not confirm any statements or representations contained therein.
For security reasons, information policy regarding NATO’s nuclear forces is subject to the Alliance’s mandatory secrecy rules, to which the German government is bound in continuity with all its predecessors.
All decisions regarding nuclear sharing are made in close consultation with allies in the respectively resbodies responsible for them.”

Answer translated from: minutes of the plenary session of the Bundestag, 19/165, session on June 17, 2020

Which NATO bodies are briefed on nuclear developments in NATO nuclear-weapon states?

“The NATO allies are generally informed about nuclear developments in the NATO nuclear-weapon states through the Nuclear Planning Group (NPG) and the NATO bodies that support it.”

Answer translated from: minutes of the plenary session of the Bundestag, 18/45 session on July 2, 2014

What briefings have been given in relation to the US nuclear weapons stationed in Germany?

“No information can be provided about meeting content on nuclear issues for reasons of secrecy.”

Answer translated from: minutes of the plenary session of the Bundestag, 18/45 session on July 2, 2014

What content was covered in the briefings on nuclear developments in the NATO nuclear-weapon states?

What happens at the Nuclear Planning Group meetings?

This is largely unknown. By way of example, here is the German government’s response to a question about the role of then-Defense Minister Peter Struck in the Nuclear Planning Group:
“Then-Federal Minister of Defense, Dr. Peter Struck, made intensive preparations for the meeting of the Nuclear Planning Group on June 9, 2005 and also held preparatory talks for this purpose. The meetings of this body of NATO – as well as the other bodies in this context – are subject to secrecy. Therefore, no further comment can be made here on the statements made there by Dr. Peter Struck and the other defense ministers of the Atlantic Alliance.”

Answer translated from: reply of the federal government to an inquiry by the MPs Dr. Norman Paech, Alexander Ulrich, Paul Schäfer (Cologne), further MPs and the Linke party parliamentary group (Bundestag document 16/568)

What is the decision-making procedure in the Alliance and within the federal government on the participation of German armed forces in the deployment of nuclear weapons, and where is this procedure regulated?

“NATO provides for extensive consultation and planning procedures as part of crisis response measures for a possible crisis with a nuclear dimension. The federal government is involved in these procedures.”

Answer translated from: reply of the federal government to an inquiry by the MPs Winfried Nachtwei, Alexander Bonde, Jürgen Trittin, further MPs and the parliamentary group Alliance 90/The Greens (Bundestag document 90/ 16/9834)

Does the decision-making procedure provide for prior constitutive parliamentary approval of the use of nuclear weapons?

Why is almost everything related to NATO’s nuclear planning secret?

The planning is subject to the Alliance’s secrecy rules. These rules are almost identical to the rules of secrecy the Alliance imposed on itself during the Cold War. As the federal government once again puts it in more detail:

“For security reasons, information policy regarding NATO’s nuclear forces is subject to the Alliance’s mandatory secrecy rules, to which the German government is bound in continuity with all its predecessors. Consequently, no information can be provided on the number, storage locations, handling, and specifics of nuclear weapons and their delivery systems, as well as on training, exercises, and safeguards. Moreover, statements and speculations in this regard can neither be confirmed nor denied.
In addition to infrastructural, technical, and procedural measures, this policy of secrecy serves to prevent unlawful attacks and disturbances that could lead to risks to the population and the environment, thus providing the highest level of protection and security. In accordance with the Alliance’s unchanged secrecy rules and in line with past practice, the federal government will therefore continue to adhere to the tried and tested principle of secrecy for security reasons.”

Answer translated from: preliminary remarks of the federal government in its reply to the inquiry by the MPs Dr. Marcus Faber, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, Grigorios Aggelidis, further MPs and the parliamentary group of the FDP (Bundestag document 19/9353)