Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-01-19-Speech-2-145"
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"en.20100119.7.2-145"2
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"Thank you all again for an important and interesting debate. I will just try and capture some of the clear issues that honourable Members were most concerned about.
Honourable Members raised the question of the withdrawal of forces. President Obama has, of course, announced the withdrawal of all combat troops by August 2010 which, in practice, means that the withdrawal will begin soon after the national elections. That, again, is of significance and importance. I have indicated that we are sending the election assessment team shortly, which I hope will help us deal with the issues that honourable Members have raised in that context.
In terms of Camp Ashraf, we have consistently and repeatedly reminded Iraq that this complex issue must be managed in full accordance with international law, and indeed without any violence.
Going back to where we began, I am optimistic about Iraq. There are significant challenges, and honourable Members are right to remind us of those significant challenges. However, we can see, with the coming elections and with the opportunity for greater cooperation – an opportunity for the European Union, with its value system and the things we are particularly concerned about: human rights, the rights of minorities, the issues of capital punishment, developing strong cooperation on energy security and supply and working more closely with the government, while being clear about the expectations we have – a future for Iraq that will be peaceful and democratic. We must ensure that we work consistently towards that end.
I would begin by recognising the importance that Members attach to the issue of minorities. As Members will know, one of the fundamental parts of our work in the partnership and cooperation agreements is indeed to make sure that human rights is at the heart of our agreements. We hope to be able to initial this agreement with Iraq soon, and I do accept and undertake to make sure that, within what we do, the issues of minorities are understood. That is clearly of great significance.
I share, too, the objective raised by a number of honourable Members on the question of capital punishment. Our objective is indeed to get this abolished, for all the reasons that honourable Members have quite rightly indicated.
I agree, too, that we have to consolidate and strengthen the political processes, which is going to be of great significance in everything we do, and to make sure particularly that we have, with the forthcoming elections, an understanding of what it is we want to achieve. I understand the points raised by a number of honourable Members, including Mr Costa and Mr Stevenson, about the issues concerning the Committee decision on the barring of candidates.
The review of candidates was always part of the pre-electoral process. There is an appeals procedure, which I trust will be allowed to run its proper course. I should also say that we do plan to send our EU mission next week, which is six weeks ahead of election day, and that will enable us to follow first-hand and closely the pre-election process, which is of great interest. We trust and hope that the Iraqi authorities will ensure an inclusive electoral process, for all the reasons that honourable Members have made absolutely clear in what they have said.
A number of Members also raised the issue of the memorandum of understanding on energy and its importance and significance. We are very clear in doing this that Iraq is a unitary state and that all our cooperation is with the government of all of Iraq. We fully support Iraq remaining a unified and sovereign state. Within this area, it will be important to enhance cooperation – and I heard what was said, in particular, by Mr Rübig, who described the need to think further about enhancing that cooperation. I will feed that back to the Commissioners-designate.
I am also aware, when I say that there is an issue around the security question, that the issue of Kirkuk is a very important one, as well as other disputed boundaries. I described that as one of the major challenges which Iraq faces at the present time. I feel very strongly that Iraq has to solve these issues for itself. It is for Iraq to deal with. However, I am very keen to support the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq, which has made significant efforts to try and begin a dialogue and a process. To be cautious, though, I do not expect dialogue to be of any significant level pre the elections, at this particular stage.
Just a little bit more about energy cooperation too. We see this as being part of developing a comprehensive and integrated energy policy for Iraq. This is about the supply and security of supply between Iraq and the European Union and should, of course, include the development of renewable energy, particularly solar and wind energy, and to also enhance energy efficiency measures within Iraq. I hope, too, that we will see technological, scientific and industrial cooperation as well over the coming months and years. That point was well made.
Moving to the issue of the recent cancellation of the delegation, Mr Meyer raised the issue of future security concerns. We do want to see an improvement in the environment, as I have indicated, to allow the deployment of the election observation mission with the participation of MEPs. This will clearly be of enormous significance for honourable Members in the coming electoral process and, as I have indicated, we will be sending people out very shortly."@en1
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