Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-03-14-Speech-2-176"
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"en.20000314.10.2-176"2
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"I hope you will excuse me that in answering the questions together, I take slightly longer. I am particularly pleased to have the opportunity to reply to Mr van den Bos on anti-personnel mines today. I will also take this opportunity to respond to Madame Carlotti’s question.
The Commissioners today adopted a communication and a draft regulation on European Union action against mines with the aim of achieving better coherence, greater effectiveness and more visibility in the very considerable activities in this area in which we are already involved. In doing this, we are responding to and building on the initiative of Parliament to create a specific budget line for mine action. Anti-personnel mines create appalling casualties in many of the poorest parts of the world. But they are not only a constant and treacherous threat to life and limb. They are obstacles to economic development and to the implementation of a range of Community programmes in support of reconstruction, rehabilitation and development. That is why the Union is already involved extensively in mine action across the globe and why we were so active in the negotiation and conclusion of the Ottawa Convention on the prohibition and destruction of anti-personnel mines which entered into force a year ago.
Over the past eight years, European Community support for mine action has exceeded EUR 180 million. We have intervened in all corners of the world. We have supported action by national authorities, international organisations, and not least NGOs. We have contributed to de-mining and mine destruction as well as to victim assistance and research into new de-mining technology. But until now, we have not had a coherent overall approach to our mine action.
To take full advantage of the diversity of our instruments and funding mechanisms, we must make sure that we have a framework in which we can formulate the necessary horizontal guidelines and priorities in order to ensure effectiveness and consistency in what we do. The funding of mine action from the geographic programmes and their budget lines will continue. Mine clearance and other forms of mine action are often a preliminary step to any sensible development programme. Therefore they should form part of national or regional reconstruction and rehabilitation plans.
The new regulation and the special budget line will support and complement the geographic line by providing the overall policy framework and by functioning as a general reserve and a source for funding for international programmes. The resources available for EU mine actions should remain at least at the same level in real terms as we have achieved over the last few years, that is about EUR 30 million a year.
Regular programmes for mine clearance and destruction under our new policy should principally benefit countries which have subscribed to the Ottawa Convention. But we must also be ready to provide exceptional assistance to mine victims at their homes or when they have been displaced, even when they have the misfortune to find themselves in a non-signatory country.
Finally, the European Union is recognised as one of the leading contributors to mine action within the international community. The entry into force of the Ottawa Convention a year ago provided us with a forceful new instrument and a set of ambitious targets for the years to come. We have signed up to the objective of eliminating all landmines worldwide in ten to fifteen years. That will require determination, consistency and perseverance. With the funding and coordinating mechanism under the new regulation and communication, we are well placed to take on that challenge."@en1
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