Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-12-14-Speech-4-207"
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"en.20001214.9.4-207"2
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"This is an important debate. I want to make it clear that the Commission shares Parliament's view that the process of transition from military coup to elected government in Côte d'Ivoire has fallen, to put it mildly, far short of the sort of democratic standards that we want to see.
The Commission deeply regrets that the presidential elections, which were already lacking in credibility following the declaration of ineligibility of some of the major candidates, were not at least partially compensated for by more open legislative elections which could have allowed all the population to express their democratic vote. This was certainly what the European Union had hoped for. After all, we had put out a statement on 28 October which calls on Mr Laurent Gbagbo "to bring about the opening up of democracy for which the citizens of Côte d'Ivoire are clamouring".
The Commission is also very concerned by the recent violence. We are very concerned about the massacres which took place around the time of both elections, in October and at the beginning of December. We believe that there can be no national reconciliation until the responsibility for these acts is clearly established.
The Ivorian authorities have promised to launch legal inquiries into October's events and an international investigation committee has also been constituted. In our view the same approach should be adopted to the recent violence and the inquiries should be pursued without delay.
In view of the current situation the Commission intends to propose the opening of consultations on the basis of Article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement. So I hope that will satisfy Mr MacCormick, although I thought that the shades of Mr Justice Brandeis and Mr Justice Frankfurter would have been slightly disturbed by the comparison between the Supreme Court and the judicial bench of Côte d'Ivoire.
The purpose of these consultations will be to assess the situation in detail with our ACP partners, including Côte d'Ivoire. We will be aiming for an outcome which works to include all parties in the political system and reconciles the various sectors of the population, north and south, Muslim and Christian.
These consultations will include a reassessment of the terms of European Union cooperation with Côte d'Ivoire. For the time being cooperation has been confined to direct support of the population and to civil society, especially through non-governmental organisations and by means of humanitarian aid. EUR 300 000 was allocated in the wake of the events of last October. We believe that this should be sufficient to cover medical needs related to the violence at the beginning of December.
I hope that makes clear our concern about the situation. I want to assure Parliament once again that we will keep it fully involved with the outcome and the progress of the discussions on Article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement."@en1
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