Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-07-07-Speech-4-109-000"
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"en.20110707.5.4-109-000"2
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"− Madam President, I have to say first of all that it is a disappointment that there has not been time for a full debate in plenary of this important matter. It has widespread support from all political groups, and I would like to thank all the shadow rapporteurs for their excellent cooperation.
One outcome of the seminar was unanimous agreement that the Commission should revert to a single budget line for mine action. But given the difficulties that we are facing today – the economic difficulties in so many of our countries – a key message of the report is for a more focused approach to mine action, prioritising those states which are most in need of help while encouraging afflicted states that can afford it to commit more of their own resources to combating the scourge of anti-personnel landmines.
Many countries, such as Angola, rely too heavily on international financial assistance and could make a greater national contribution themselves, and there are other states, such as Bosnia, where conflict is over but where there is a massive residue of explosive remnants that is holding back economic progress. Such countries should make greater use of their own armed forces for mine action, training units specifically for humanitarian demining tasks.
In conclusion, I reiterate our belief that, through better international coordination and prioritisation, improved management, survey and demining practices, better reporting and more astute and better use of funds, a world free of the anti-personnel landmine threat to life, livelihood and economic development is a realistic possibility within a finite period.
When many of us set out in the 1990s to bring an end to the use of anti-personnel landmines, we were conscious of the fact that thousands of lives were being lost through them every year and that the lives of thousands more victims were blighted by injury. Our armed forces had agreed that anti-personnel landmines were no longer an essential element in their armouries.
There was an enormous international mobilisation of political will and the resources of governments and NGOs to overcome a scourge that not only costs lives but obstructed development in so many of the poorest countries recovering from armed conflict.
Many of us who contributed to the Ottawa Declaration and were involved in the sponsorship of the original ‘mine actions’ entertained the hope that this great problem could be overcome in a finite period. We have to ask why this has not been the case – although there has been enormous progress.
Fourteen years on, more than 90 countries are still afflicted by anti-personnel landmines and other explosive remnants of war to some degree. Still there are casualties, and still huge resources are being spent on mine action. We therefore thought it appropriate to draw attention once more to the issue, particularly since the European Union institutions are heavily involved in mine action. I pay tribute to the role of the Commission in this, being one of the leading contributors – along with many Member States, the United States, Canada and others.
Our focus throughout the report has been on anti-personnel landmines, while recognising that explosive remnants of war may include cluster munitions as well as other munitions.
In drawing up the report I was very conscious that the Western democracies are on the side of the angels. We try to help. Our motives are good, and nothing is served by unnecessary self-flagellation: the research underpinning the report reflects this. Instead we highlight those governments – Burma and Libya, for example – that have recently laid anti-personnel landmines, and insurgent groups such as the FARC, which are continuing to produce their own devices, and other terrorists and insurgents that have made increasing use of improvised explosive devices, which are a threat not just to our armed forces on operations but to the local civilian population as well.
Our attention therefore needs to focus on those whose actions continue to impact on innocent civilians going about their everyday lives.
We consulted widely in this report. We held a seminar in January, which was attended by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, the Geneva Centre for International Humanitarian Demining, the International Committee for the Red Cross, the Slovenian-based International Trust Fund for Demining, HALO Trust and the External Action Service, and we have also had written contributions from many others."@en1
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