Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-01-31-Speech-3-106"
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"en.20010131.5.3-106"2
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"Mr President, as some speakers have already said, the timing of this debate is critical, not just for the parties involved but for the European Union too.
It is critical, first of all, because the election of the Israeli prime minister is imminent. This week, all sense of time has been suspended, pending the election results. The talks at Taba were also suspended, at least officially, even though they did manage to make progress in terms of setting up committees on matters such as borders, Jerusalem, and Palestinian refugees. Finally, although I picked up on Mr Solana’s optimism, the possibility of holding a summit this week in Stockholm has been put off too, following Mr Arafat’s statement made at Davos on Sunday, which was aggressive, or to put it more diplomatically, was unhelpful, to say the very least.
It is a critical time too, as I was saying, because of the transition in the United States. Bill Clinton is no longer in office. President Clinton had made the peace process one of the priorities on his agenda. Only time will tell how George Bush and Colin Powell now see their role in the Middle East. At any rate, this is the first time for years, as Mr Danielsson said, that high level talks have taken place, as they did most recently at Taba, without American officials present, but with Mr Moratinos, our EU peace envoy. This may be Europe’s opportunity to make progress and to play a more prominent political role in this matter, to gain recognition for its voice and its know-how, since we are keen to do more than just bankroll the region. We know that our aid is vitally necessary for the Palestinians whose economic situation is desperate, but we would like to export much more than just euros. We would like to export our values, such as democracy, respect for human rights, education and tolerance. At this point, I welcome Mr Patten’s commitment to transparency in the use of European aid. In the words of Albert Einstein, “Peace cannot be kept by force but can be achieved by understanding.” Let us work together from now on so that the European Union can be a factor in spreading this understanding."@en1
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