Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-12-13-Speech-4-197"
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"en.20011213.14.4-197"2
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"Let me first of all remind Members of Parliament of the fact that we are the biggest provider of humanitarian aid in the DRC this year – EUR 35 million in ECHO funded activities and some EUR 10 million from other sources. The EUR 10 million are going to basic healthcare in the government-controlled part and the EUR 35 million to the eastern part where no-one else is doing anything like this. Actually disbursing EUR 45 million for these purposes in the circumstances there is quite an achievement, and I am very proud of it on behalf of the many people working there, many of them still in very dangerous circumstances.
However, we have spared no effort over the last years to support the peace processes at work in the Great Lakes region. We have been active in the region throughout its disastrous recent history. Whenever we could, we have used our different cooperation instruments to help ease the suffering of the people there. We have also used all our influence to push for a durable peace in the region.
I would now like to go into more detail on the Lusaka peace process. We support it not only politically – the Commission has already funded the Lusaka negotiations by a grant of EUR 2.65 million from the SADC regional programme. The logistic of the Joint Military Commission surveying the cease-fire was financed by CFSP budget-line to the amount of EUR 1.2 million. The facilitation of the Inter-Congolese Dialogue has been financed by a grant of EUR 2.34 million from EDF monies, and we are considering EUR 1 million further financing from Rapid Reaction Mechanism budget line, which would provide for the implementation of the meeting of the Inter-Congolese Dialogue in January in South Africa. We are making a meaningful contribution to all these endeavours.
Nevertheless the Commission is concerned about the lack of concrete results following the talks in the framework of the Inter-Congolese Dialogue that took place in Addis Ababa on 15-19 October. The most difficult issues for the country’s future are still to be addressed. The Commission welcomes the announcement made by facilitator Masire concerning the resumption of the dialogue in South Africa at the end of January/beginning of February 2002.
The Commission has always been supportive of the Congo. We are the largest, as I mentioned before, supplier of humanitarian aid as well as one of the few donors that have remained active in the country throughout recent years. However, the Commission considers that the DRC’s stability and sustainable development will not be ensured until all parties to the Dialogue have clearly committed themselves to the establishment of and participation in one political system. This is the core of it. Do they see themselves as participants and players in one political system? Without a clear yes to this, it is very difficult to help the country from the outside.
There are the other issues of external forces at play. These are real problems, but if we do not see a credible answer to this question emerging, nothing else will ever work. So all these things have to be addressed in some sort of balanced overall approach.
When this political commitment is made, of course, we will have a much better basis for getting an effective cooperation programme up and running. What I want to do is to be able to sign – and this is what we are planning – the National Indicative Programme in January in the context of the resumption of the Inter-Congolese Dialogue. This is the line we have defined in the Commission. The other activities linked to peace process implementation, i.e. demobilisation and the creation of a new basis for the life of ex-combatants, will be implemented following progress in the field.
I would like to stress that the Commission’s action in the Great Lakes is only part of a wide and sustained effort to enhance the EU's overall political presence as a partner in Africa. With the Cotonou Agreement, the Union has confirmed that it had no intention of reducing our long-standing cooperation in Africa and the EUR 15 billion envelope that we have outlined and will commit over the next five years clearly demonstrates this determination."@en1
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