Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-02-12-Speech-3-154"
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"en.20030212.5.3-154"2
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". – Mr President, at this crucial time in the effort to achieve the disarmament of Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq, and when the risk seems to be increasing that he has still not fully understood the need to disarm, I welcome this opportunity to share with you our views of the situation and the role which Europe should play.
Eventual military action against Iraq would further worsen the living conditions of the Iraqi people, and in particular of those of the most vulnerable civilian population groups. A military attack might have humanitarian fall-outs in the whole region, with movements of refugees and also quite possibly negative consequences on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Commission is going through studies and analyses right now, looking at contingency measures in case of a conflict. ECHO is maintaining very regular and close contacts with all key humanitarian partners and notably with the UN agencies: OCHA, UNICEF, UNHCR, WHO, WFP, the Red Cross – both the ICRC and the IFRC – and NGOs in the region, and it is also important to maintain close contact with UNHRA.
ECHO has recently sent two missions to Iraq and neighbouring countries in order to assess the current humanitarian situation and security measures for staff, and to monitor the preparations by different humanitarian agencies in the event of a conflict in Iraq. This is in order to be able to react quickly to any change in the humanitarian situation. These missions also looked into the security measures envisaged for relief workers and humanitarian operations - evacuation plans and other such difficult issues.
A strict separation must be maintained between military action and humanitarian assistance to make sure that delivery of aid is possible. Humanitarian assistance has its own rationale and objectives. It is based on the needs of the civilian populations and allocated solely in proportion to these needs.
Neutrality and impartiality are crucial for having access to populations and a condition
for the security of relief workers. Delivery of humanitarian assistance by or assisted by armed forces is not desirable. It should in any case be closely coordinated and decided by the humanitarian organisations which have the necessary mandate, know-how and experience. These are the guiding principles for our assessments and for our possible action in the area of humanitarian aid if a conflict breaks out.
What is crystal clear is that Iraq needs to cooperate more willingly and intensively both in form and in substance with the inspectors, if war is to be avoided. Some encouraging signs of cooperation emerged recently, as a result of Mr Blix's and Mr El Baradei's mission to Baghdad last weekend. We will have more indications on the extent of Iraq’s cooperation next Friday when the chief inspectors report to the Security Council.
We are about to face another crucial point as regards whether Saddam is ready to disarm or not. Beyond any possible speculation, it is easy to imagine that we will still be in a somewhat unclear situation open to different interpretations. In any case we have to stick to the inspectors' assessment, bearing in mind that war must remain the very last resort.
The preservation of the UN Security Council's role, and of the primacy of international law, must remain our basis if we want to maintain a credible system able to guarantee peace and security. The recent resolution voted by the European Parliament expressing its full support for a multilateral approach gave a clear message in this direction.
As confirmed by recent events, we all know that the Member States have quite diverging views on this issue, and that achieving a common position on this issue is a huge challenge for the European Union. The EU in fact looks weaker and more divided than ever. These differences are not the product of some minor institutional inadequacies in the architecture of the European Union. We already have a High Representative entrusted with the responsibility of speaking on behalf of the European Union. The differences are honest and real, and therefore demonstrate that a more fundamental change is necessary if Europe is to achieve a true Common Foreign and Security Policy. This is a moment of truth. Anything short of qualified majority voting will not be a solution. This lesson should be kept in mind in the present institutional and constitutional debate. In any case the need now for internal clarification is strong, and in this regard we welcome the Presidency initiative calling for an extraordinary summit next Monday, in an attempt to get Europe to speak with one voice, defining the European position in view of the most recent events.
It is not up to the European Commission to speculate on hypothetical possibilities or the future course of action. Many scenarios are still possible – including the likelihood of a military attack. Yet our major responsibility at this point is to give absolute support to the Security Council. Needless to say, in parallel, each of us needs to work on what to do in case things do not go as we wish.
Let me now turn to the humanitarian aspects of the crisis. The humanitarian situation in Iraq is already precarious after 20 years of degradation deriving from a long war with Iran, followed by the Gulf War and 10 years of international sanctions. The European Commission, through ECHO, is the largest external donor to Iraq outside the 'Oil for Food Programme' (which is funded with Iraqi money). Over the last ten years ECHO has provided EUR 156 million worth of humanitarian aid to the population in Iraq.
In June 2002 ECHO approved a global humanitarian plan of EUR 13 million which focuses on the health and water and sanitation sectors in order to complement the 'oil for food' programme. The operations from this funding will run until summer 2003.
For 2003, ECHO has earmarked EUR 15 million to continue this established – more or less 'normal' – humanitarian operation in Iraq. It is estimated that over 7 million Iraqi people benefit from ECHO’s assistance."@en1
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