Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-09-14-Speech-3-358-000"
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"en.20110914.27.3-358-000"2
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"Madam President, I have the pleasure of representing here the High Representative/ Vice-President Catherine Ashton, who cannot be in Strasbourg this afternoon. She is on a trip to the Middle East, as you probably know, to prepare for the UN General Assembly next week, so she has asked me to speak on her behalf and report back to her as soon as possible.
The EU’s response has been substantial, rapid and effective. As a whole, the EU has provided more than €152 million in humanitarian assistance since the beginning of the crisis. For its part DG ECHO has deployed teams to Benghazi and to the Tunisian and Egyptian borders and, as from 28 August, to Tripoli too. As a result, the EU’s assistance has included help in the evacuation of more than 24 000 third-country nationals, including from Misrata, and the provision of assistance to those fleeing the conflict. It has also included emergency health assistance, help for the war-wounded, protection of the civilian population, including humanitarian mine action, and the provision of adequate logistics capacity, coordination mechanisms and air transport to deliver relief aid to the beneficiaries.
As early as May, the High Representative visited Benghazi and opened an EU office there. The EU office has allowed us to maintain direct contact with the National Transitional Council (NTC) as well as to coordinate European assistance on the ground together with those Member States present in Benghazi. We also identified, together with the NTC, areas where early support could be provided: the strengthening of civil society and the media, capacity building for the new authorities and security sector support. These activities were launched rapidly.
Mr President, honourable Members, events in the past few weeks have moved with breath-taking speed. The regime has collapsed and those around Gaddafi have fled. Colonel Gaddafi has been ousted from power but he retains influence to destabilise the country. According to NATO, he still represents a threat to civilians. We are following closely the negotiations between the NTC and Gaddafi loyalists in the few pockets of resistance.
Libya is entering a process of transition. The challenges that the interim authorities face are huge: ensuring stability; restoring public services and the public administration; launching a process of democratic transition; support for the economy, initiating a process of transitional justice, disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration.
The coming months will be critical. The EU has been planning its support for Libya in the post-conflict phase for some time. We have been guided in this by a number of principles, including Libyan leadership and the need to ensure close coordination through the UN with all international partners.
As in the aftermath of every conflict, the Libyan authorities are in need of funds to satisfy the provision of basic services to their population. In order to support them we have already de-listed 28 entities subjected to EU autonomous sanctions. We are working, both in Brussels and in New York, to obtain the release of remaining frozen Libyan assets as soon as possible.
We are already in close contact with the NTC’s Stabilisation Team and with the UN through the Secretary General’s Special Adviser on Post-Conflict Assistance. We already have staff on the ground in Tripoli and, together with partners, are beginning the process of assessment of needs in critical sectors identified by the NTC. Good international coordination will be essential to significantly reduce the risk of duplication of effort, and the risk of the Libyan authorities being overwhelmed during this important transition stage. I am pleased to say that we have already agreed a provisional division of tasks for the ‘first needs’ assessments in Libya with our Libyan and international partners.
Finally, Madam President and honourable Members, I should like to thank Parliament for its strong support in the past months. The statements made and the resolutions adopted by this House, as well as the concrete actions taken by many Members of the European Parliament, have been instrumental in developing Europe’s thinking and making our position heard.
For Poland it is also an important signal that we take part in this debate on behalf of the High Representative, because Poland has been staunchly and seriously involved in the efforts of the international community to help Libya. You may recall that the first Foreign Minister who went to Benghazi was the Polish Foreign Minister, last May.
It is almost seven months since the revolution in Libya began. During this time the world has witnessed the extraordinary courage and determination of the people of Libya. We should take this opportunity to pay tribute to them.
Throughout these months, the EU has stood by the Libyan people and consistently demonstrated its support for their aspirations: democracy, justice and freedom to live their lives without fear.
The EU has focused its efforts on three main areas: first, the political and diplomatic arena; second, immediate support for those affected by the crisis and third, support for Libya as it moves into the post-conflict period.
At the beginning of the crisis an Extraordinary European Council was called, on 11 March, as a result of which the EU was able to articulate clear messages to the regime: the violence should stop immediately and Gaddafi should go. The legitimate aspirations of the Libyan people should be respected.
Since then, the EU has adopted a wide range of restrictive measures designed to ensure that money and arms do not reach the regime. Now that Gaddafi has fled Tripoli and many of his followers have dispersed, the focus today is on the progressive lifting of sanctions to allow the new authorities to meet urgent needs on the ground.
The EU has played a key role in the various international initiatives designed to bring about a resolution of the conflict. The High Representative participated in the various meetings of the International Contact Group on Libya and those of the so-called Cairo Group of international and regional organisations, which was established on her initiative. The EU will continue to engage energetically in the Friends of Libya Group established after the summit in Paris on 1 September.
In the past months we have also witnessed the considerable suffering of the Libyan people as a result of the actions of the regime. We have followed with profound concern the siege of Misrata, the violence in the streets of Tripoli and the flow of refugees from Libya into neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt."@en1
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