Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-02-23-Speech-3-014"
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".
Mr President, I am very pleased to be able to participate in this debate on EU-Mediterranean relations. The European Parliament has always been a strong supporter of the Barcelona Process. I wish to express my gratitude, especially to many individual Members who are enthusiastic supporters of Euromed relations, for your role as a driving force behind the Union's active involvement in this region. I have had a great personal interest in this region ever since I became aware of how crucial the peace process is for the Middle East. As my colleague has just said, there is a real moment of hope, although we know that the process is a fragile one. I visited the region the day before Sharm el-Sheikh. I had the chance to see the leaders who have taken really courageous steps. I told them that we have to go on and that both sides have to consolidate this new path to peace in the Middle East, especially by seizing the opportunities of, on the one hand, the platform – the Quartet – and, on the other hand, the roadmap. A successful disengagement in Gaza is a priority for all of us. Two days ago, the Israeli Government took a very courageous decision when Prime Minister Sharon and his cabinet decided to do that. We know that this is a risky process, but we must do everything possible to make this happen.
I would like to give you some thoughts on the priorities for the years ahead. We should reflect on how we can best make use of the Barcelona Process to contribute to this new momentum in the Middle East peace process, as well as to safeguard peace once we have it. We should also address political reform with our partners – Members will be aware of the G8 initiative. I was at the Rabat forum – Members will be aware that Cairo will now be postponed to a later date. I want to go there because I believe we can do a lot to achieve the same goals in complementary and parallel ways.
We should address the practical aspects of counter-terrorism and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The European Union has an impressive record in democracy building, including in the new Member States. I think we should use this experience to build democracies and support these countries' reforms: what we Europeans have to do is to try to encourage reforms, not impose them.
Education is one of the most fundamental issues for the future of the region. Therefore, the European Union and our partners should increase spending on education, and I will do what I can with my own services to foster more education projects, at elementary level, at the level of vocational training or at higher, university and university exchange levels.
We should set a target date for eradicating illiteracy and focus on the critical issue of improving the quality of, and access to, education, especially for girls. Together we could organise schemes for student exchanges: I think this is crucial, if we consider what Europe and the United States have done since the war and how important that has been.
We should promote the study of European integration. In trade and economic relations, we should reconfirm the 2010 target for free trade; agree a roadmap with a timetable for free trade in agricultural and processed agricultural products; decide on a timetable for the liberalisation of services; accelerate south-south free trade – the Agadir process was very important; use the neighbourhood policy to help partners to eliminate obstacles to investment; and hold a meeting of transport ministers to extend transport corridors to the Mediterranean with the financial support of the EIB.
Finally, on the issue of migration and social integration, we should promote a joint cooperative approach to managing the movement of people. We should also implement European neighbourhood action plans and commitments on the social integration of migrants.
The broader Middle East and North African initiative is a very interesting one. The Commission will certainly be very much involved in it, in a complementary but parallel way, and I hope that together we can achieve important goals, in terms not only of democracy, reform and the modernisation of these countries, but also of a real common partnership.
In addition to the Mediterranean partnership, the tenth anniversary of which we will celebrate this year, the European neighbourhood policy, under which we have already adopted five action plans for the southern Mediterranean countries, is also
important. The European neighbourhood policy means emphasising our common bonds through geography, history, trade, migration and culture by bringing these countries, as a ring of friends, closer to the European Union. The neighbourhood policy does not replace the Barcelona Process, but is there to reinforce it by means of a tailor-made bilateral process.
Let me say a brief word now on Lebanon. We are all shocked and saddened by the assassination ten days ago of former Prime Minister Hariri. Mr Hariri was one of the main architects of the agreements that brought the long-awaited end to the civil war in Lebanon. He was a man committed to peace and reconciliation, to the reconstruction of the war-torn country and also to the promotion of cooperation and stability in the region. The best tribute to his relentless efforts would be to ensure that free and fair parliamentary elections, under full Lebanese sovereign control, take place in May.
It is in the interests of Lebanon and of the stability of the country that the circumstances of this criminal act, and the identities of those responsible for it, are clarified as soon as possible. I spoke out at a very early stage in favour an international investigation, which I believe the United Nations will now carry out.
The Commission has also attached the utmost importance to a full and prompt implementation by all parties of UN Security Council Resolution 1559. This resolution calls for free and fair elections without foreign interference, the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Lebanon, the disbanding and disarmament of all militias and the extension of government control to all Lebanese territories.
As we have already mentioned, 2005 will be
year of EU-Mediterranean relations. Since there are signs that the cycle of violence between the two sides can be broken, we have to do everything we can to consolidate the ceasefire and secure withdrawal from Gaza, and then move forward with the roadmap for a two-state solution.
In March, the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly will meet for the second time in Cairo. I regret that I will be unable to attend. However, three weeks ago I met the members of the political bureau of that Assembly in Brussels, where I also attended a debate. At the end of May, Euro-Mediterranean ministers will meet in Luxembourg for the seventh Barcelona Conference. In November, we will celebrate the tenth anniversary of the partnership, and the Commission is already in the process of preparing a communication to the European Parliament and the Council to mark the occasion, containing specific proposals.
I shall outline those proposals very briefly. The first is to increase the impact of our policies by contributing to the pursuit of reform, peace and stability in the region. The second is to bring the partnership closer to our citizens' concerns. The Barcelona Process has, to a large extent, been an intergovernmental process. It is high time that we asked ourselves what the partnership can do for people's concerns. How can we tackle more successfully such issues as education, employment, gender equality, democracy, the free movement of persons, and migration rights? These are the questions that affect the day-to-day life of our citizens, and our partnership should address them."@en1
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