Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-09-04-Speech-3-125"
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"en.20020904.4.3-125"2
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". – Mr President, let me make one or two comments in reply to this debate. First of all, I am grateful for the kind words expressed about the work that has been done by our Commission staff in Kabul and Afghanistan as a whole. Those tributes are wholly justified. The remarks made about the International Security Assistance Force underline the importance of the role that has been undertaken by the military in extending security. I am sure that Member States will note what a number of Members of this House have said about the possibility of extending the role of ISAF and extending its mandate. It is certainly the case that, if we want to see the authority of the Transitional Authority run right across the whole of the country, then it is imperative that we do not undermine that authority by reinventing the warlords as part of the continuing campaign against al-Qa'ida and the Taliban. It is absolutely imperative that we give all our support to President Karzai and his team.
I want to make three other points. First of all, Mrs Maes reminded us of the great importance of not making the same mistakes that we made after the withdrawal of Soviet troops. We are not engaged in what has occasionally been rather derisorily described as nation-building or, by one distinguished politician, as social work. All I can say is that it is a pity there was not more social work and nation-building in the 1980s after the withdrawal of Soviet troops. We might have avoided some of the excesses of the Taliban if that had been the case and avoided the problems that have been visited upon us. What the honourable Member said is a reminder that the task that we have put our shoulder to is not going to be a short one. We have to be in Afghanistan, we have to be working in partnership with Afghanistan for many years to come. It is going to take a long time to complete this work.
Several honourable Members – principally ladies, although it should be an issue of just as much importance to people of my sex as well – referred to gender issues. We must ensure that they get proper priority in our development assistance and development programmes.
Mrs Izquierdo Rojo asked about exchanging burkas for car licences. She has not, alas, been able to stay with us for the end of the debate, but I will examine the point that she made and we will certainly ensure that the delegation to which she referred gets as much help as is required. It is extremely important for Members of this House to visit Afghanistan, see for themselves what is going on and give their support to the early stages of the democratic process in that country.
Let me now deal with the issue of implementing the pledges and promises that were made in Tokyo. It is obviously important, as we discovered in Kosovo, in East Timor and in other countries and societies recovering from crisis, to ensure that the help which is pledged arrives as swiftly as possible. Not all is perfect by any means in Afghanistan. When Mr Tannock said that only humanitarian aid had arrived so far, that was a tad exaggerated. Certainly, as I made clear in my own speech, a great deal of reconstruction assistance has already been provided by the European Commission and others. It is particularly notable that the money we have been providing for budgetary support just to get government running – and we have probably been the biggest providers of that support – has certainly been provided rapidly and has been well used.
I want to refer to the point made by Mr Van Orden about ensuring that even as one spends money rapidly, it is spent prudently and transparently because we have to be aware of the Court of Auditors, we have to be aware of the terrors of appearing in front of the Committee on Budgetary Control or the Committee on Budgets, we have to be aware of the importance of keeping European public opinion on our side. Just as in the case of the Palestinian Authority, to which he referred, it is the European Commission which has actually led the way in ensuring that reformed and transparent financial controls are put in place. We have led the way in reforming those financial controls which everybody is now supporting and using. Equally in Afghanistan, it was the European Commission which made itself tiresome by arguing initially for dollarisation of the budget, just as we did in Kosovo. We were in fact the only people arguing for dollarisation of the budget. We have settled reasonably happily for other arrangements, in close consultation with the International Monetary Fund.
I do get fed up with the suggestion again and again that we are more lax in the way we support other countries and other governments in crisis than anybody else. On the whole, what we are now managing to do is to provide assistance more rapidly and in ways which will actually stand up to the closest scrutiny by this Parliament and by the Court of Auditors. Sometimes we should actually recognise what we are achieving and not just assume that what tabloid newspapers say about us is correct."@en1
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