French President Nicolas Sarkozy presented an ambitious European plan Dec. 8 to the United Nations to revive global nuclear disarmament efforts.

Sarkozy, in a letter to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, said the EU wants a global ban on nuclear tests, a moratorium on production of fissile material, and a treaty banning ground-to-ground short- and medium-range missiles.

"We are convinced of the necessity to work for general disarmament," said Sarkozy, whose country is one of the few world nuclear powers and currently holds the rotating EU presidency.

The EU measure is aimed at reviving nuclear disarmament efforts that have lagged since the end of the Cold War, even as new nuclear powers have emerged.