Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-02-12-Speech-4-012"

Predicate	Value (sorted: default)
rdf:type	lpv_eu:Speech2
dcterms:Date	"2004-02-12"^^xsd:date2
dcterms:Is Part Of	lp_eu:Afghanistan2
dcterms:Language	"nl"^^xsd:language2
lpv:document identification number	"en.20040212.1.4-012"2
lpv:hasSubsequent	lp_eu:2004-02-12-Speech-4-0132
lpv:speaker	lp:Joost Lagendijk2
lpv:spokenAs	unknown; GroenLinks (1999-07-20--2004-07-19)3 member; Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy (2002-01-17--2004-07-19)3 chair; Delegation to the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee (2002-02-07--2004-07-19)3 member; G/EFA (2002-01-08--2004-07-19)3 member; Conference of Delegation Chairs (2002-02-07--2004-07-19)3 substitute; ECON (2002-02-26--2004-07-19)3 member; Delegation for relations with the countries of south-east Europe (2002-02-07--2004-07-19)3
lpv:translated text	"Madam President, the excellent report by Mr Brie needs little comment. In my opinion, it gives a good account of the problems with the new constitution. It makes it clear that there are good reasons for possibly delaying the elections by a few months, and emphasises once again the need to further improve the situation of women. The tragedy is, however, that, with this report in our hands and the Commission’s good intentions, we have sadly found ourselves in a position where we may well be full of good intentions and have excellent plans, but neither the European Parliament nor even the European Commission has any influence on the circumstances under which those plans have to be carried out, namely the lack of security. There is a growing number of reports from NGOs stating that twelve aid workers were killed last year, for example. A growing number of reports from NGOs reveal that there is a very large number of good projects that they are unable to carry out. The Commissioner, too, referred to EUR 30 million of projects that, sadly, cannot be carried out owing to the lack of security. This week, we have once more seen the newspapers full of splendid plans for rapid reaction forces. That is great when it comes to preventing bloodshed in Africa, but it must not be at the expense of less sexy projects, so to speak, such as the difficult development work in Afghanistan. After all, the Member States of the European Union now have a good deal to say for themselves in the way of promises, magnificent things that should be done, but soldiers are not going there, they are going there far too little, and that is the key problem. I believe that there are hardly any fellow Members from the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats still here, but I should like to call them to account on a mistake they made in December, in my view. They convinced Parliament that we should cut the aid to Afghanistan – yes, you heard right – because drug trafficking is not being tackled. The fact that drug trafficking is not being tackled is a direct consequence of the omission on the part of EU Member States to send any troops to Afghanistan, which contributes to dependence on warlords for the maintenance of order by such troops as are there, and consequently makes those troops reluctant to tackle opium trafficking. We must avoid a situation where we fail to keep our promises again, where Afghanistan sinks into an opium economy, led by warlords, and – my greatest concern – where the hopes of many Afghans, particularly Afghan women, are dashed once again. We must not allow this to happen."@en1

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