Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-06-18-Speech-3-044"
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"en.20030618.6.3-044"2
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". Mr President, the High Representative has just eloquently demonstrated how close hope and despair are in the Middle East. Following the presentation of the Roadmap and the Sharm-el-Sheikh and Aqaba Summits, there seemed to be a much better chance for peace
Alas, the ongoing violence is again putting this at serious risk. We, the European Union – and much more so the peoples in the Middle East – cannot afford to lose the opportunity for peace which has been created by the Roadmap, small though it may be.
There is another area where we in the European Union will need to step up our efforts: the request of the Roadmap for all Arab states to cut off public and private funding for the groups engaged in violence and terror. We discussed this point at the Euro-Mediterranean meeting on Crete. We encouraged Arab states to channel aid funds through the single account of the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Finance. But we should use our partnership with Arab countries to address this extremely important point.
There are, however, issues that need to be dealt with urgently in the context of the Roadmap and together with the United States: for example, the rapidly expanding settlement activities and the so-called security wall which is biting into the West Bank. Both undermine the envisaged two-State solution.
Equally worrying is the worsening humanitarian situation which is compounded by restrictions on humanitarian access. These new measures have a negative impact on the operation of international donors and will make it increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to undertake humanitarian and development tasks.
We welcome, however, confidence-building measures on the Israeli side such as the removal of so-called illegal settlement outposts, the lifting of curfews, the release of prisoners and the provision of more work permits for Palestinians. Additional proactive measures would help win the hearts and minds of the population and would reduce the attraction and influence of those who are so bitterly opposed to peace.
As I said before, we are willing to help but it is up to the Israeli and Palestinian parties to take the first step. Without their political will and commitment nothing will change. The killing will go on.
Let me just say a few additional words, following what the High Representative said about Iran and our relationship with Iran. I welcome, as you did Mr President, a delegation from the Parliament in Iran to the official gallery here today. I too have enjoyed discussions with them this week and, indeed, enjoyed discussions with them in Tehran.
Over the last year and more, we have made it clear to our interlocutors in Iran that we want to develop a sophisticated, comprehensive relationship with them; which recognises that Iran is a great pre-Islamic civilisation; which recognises Iran's enormous geo-strategic importance in the region and, indeed, in the world; and which recognises that the outcome of the debate on democracy in Iran is important not just for the region but for all of us. It is a genuine debate and we watch it and listen to it with considerable interest.
We have started, as the House knows, a series of discussions with Iran. We have three tracks of discussions: one on human rights, one on political issues such as the use, manufacture and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and the third on trade and cooperation.
We have had two rounds of talks on the first two of those issues, three rounds of talks on the first two, and four rounds of talks on trade and cooperation. The Council has always made it absolutely clear that progress on each of those tracks is interlinked, that we cannot make progress in one area without being able to demonstrate that we are making progress in others.
We can point to some progress. We cannot, alas, point to as much progress as a result of the human rights dialogue as we would like, though we welcome, for instance, the agreement to allow thematic UN rapporteurs to return to Iran. There has been considerable progress on the trade and cooperation agenda where there have been very good and thorough discussions on both sides.
Now more than ever it is crucial that the Roadmap should be implemented without being taken hostage by extremists who do not want peace. Despite the violence of last week I hope that Palestinians and Israelis, with support from the international community, will generate sufficient confidence to allow them to move forward.
I have to say that, on political issues, and in particular on the issue to which the High Representative drew attention – nuclear matters and the transparency surrounding Iran's nuclear programme – we have not enjoyed the progress that we would have like to have seen. This is not a new point for us. Every meeting I have had with any Iranian official – every meeting – has involved a call for Iran to sign the additional Protocol to the International Atomic Energy Agency. It was a point that the High Representative and I made when we went to Tehran in the immediate aftermath of 11 September. It was a point which, again, I made on a recent and extremely valuable visit to Tehran.
So this is not an issue to which the European Union has come recently. It is not a question of us parroting other peoples' concerns. These are real concerns for us and we want to see them addressed. Iran is a sovereign nation and it makes its own decisions but I hope it will make decisions which will make it easier for it to get on with Europe, for it to get on with the rest of the world and for Europe to get on with Iran. That is what we would like to see but this has to be a two-way process of engagement. There has to be a recognition in Iran that when we talk about weapons of mass destruction we are deadly serious, not perhaps as deadly as the weapons, but certainly profoundly serious about what we want to see as the outcome.
We also need to reflect now on how we in the European Union could help on this. I can see several areas where the European Union and the Commission, in particular, could make a useful contribution:
First we ought to continue supporting Palestinian institution-building and reform, as we have already done with a successful record in the past. Secondly, we should contribute to the Roadmap’s monitoring process and put pressure on Arab States to help dry up funds to extremist groups and to close the offices of those groups. We should also press Israel to moderate its responses to the unspeakably atrocious suicide bombings which many Arab leaders have themselves condemned.
We will continue our concrete support to the reform process and will also assist the new Palestinian cabinet in achieving its ambitious goals. In 2003, the Community will provide a EUR 132 million support package for Palestinian institutional reform and respond to the deterioration of the economic and humanitarian situation. But clearly, the reform needs to go further in other areas as well: one that I have particularly pressed on Palestinian officials, even this week, is the judiciary. We would also like to see elections held by the end of the first phase of the Roadmap.
The Commission has done a lot of work with the Palestinian authority, especially with the Finance Minister, Salam Fayyad, which I am pleased to say has led to a successful reform process. This is by no means completed, and we therefore continue working closely with the Palestinian authority on reform conditions for our support during this year. Minister Fayyad has confirmed that with our latest help he has succeeded in consolidating public-sector revenues and there is much greater budgetary transparency with monthly budget execution reports available, even on the Internet.
The reforms, together with external financial assistance, have allowed him to increase expenditure in Gaza and West Bank since the beginning of the year by meeting arrears and salary payments. Boosting aggregate demand was, in his view, the most important contribution that could be made at this stage to alleviating the severe constraints on the Palestinian economy. As a possible next step, easing restrictions on freedom of movement, including to Jordan and Egypt, would greatly help to revive economic activity.
Further progress is needed. Next week, the European Union-Palestinian Joint Committee will be discussing all these issues. We will also explore ways and means of making better use of the Interim Association Agreement.
As a member of the Quartet, the European Union will need to look at the monitoring mechanism.
All Quartet partners should be able to contribute. The Commission is certainly ready to support this important work through our experience and activities in reform and institution-building, but also in the areas of economic and humanitarian issues."@en1
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