Brussels, 03/12/2009 (Agence Europe) - At its meeting in Brussels on Wednesday, the European Parliament committee on foreign affairs took stock of relations with Syria. Dominique Baudis (EPP, France), the new rapporteur, has been entrusted with following up this dossier under the new legislature. Euro-Syrian relations, which have been in the limelight since the end of 2008 with the initialling of the association agreement after this had been swept under the carpet for four years, have again been put back on the shelf. According to Hugues Mingarelli, Deputy Director-General for Relex, Damascus has stated its decision to carry out a further impact assessment. He is not expected to give an answer until next March, he said, albeit confiding: “I am willing to consider signing tomorrow, if the Syrians so wish”.
Negotiations, Mingarelli pointed out, were ended in 2004 but never finalised given the “political difficulties” raised by Great Britain and France, with the latter planning at the time to “punish” Syria after the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. The relative normalisation of relations between Damascus and Beirut and the opening of secret, if not discreet, talks with Israel through Turkish mediation had helped to bring Syria out of the situation of ostracism to which it was confined. The end of its isolation was sealed by the marked presence of President Bashar Assad at the Paris summit on the Union for the Mediterranean in July 2008. To calm things down within the EU27, the Swedish EU Presidency managed to have the Council adopt a unilateral declaration on human rights, annexed to the agreement with Syria. It also invited this country to sign within ten days, a time limit that even Mr Mingarelli considered too short and, at any rate, diplomatically hardly justified, and used by the Syrian authorities as a pretext to suspend endorsement. They undertook consultation with Algeria, Egypt and Jordan in order, as Damascus says, to better measure the impact that the agreement would have on the country's economic fabric and its external trade balance. The Commission's offer was refused. It made an offer of assistance and, as Mr Mingarelli has reiterated explicitly, acknowledges that adverse effects are to be expected in the short term and that assistance is precisely conceived to remedy this.
The debate held at the European Parliament on Wednesday could, in this spirit, not contribute to appeasement. Accusations have been made against Syria. José Ignacio Salafranca (EPP, Spain) asked why the member states considered their declaration on human rights to be sufficient. Hans-Gert Pöttering (EPP, Germany) underlined that it was a duty to ensure respect of human rights while, at the same time, showering praise on the country for the free exercise of religions, that he said he had personally noted. Charles Tannock (CRE, UK) underlined the risk of seeing Syria acquire weapons of mass destruction, mainly nuclear weapons, and the risk that it might support terrorism. He also pointed out that the country could be condemned by the UN under the terms of the investigation on the subject of the former Lebanese prime minister. Mr Mingarelli sought to be reassuring, saying that the text of the agreement ready for signature answers all such concerns. He also sought to be reassuring for the Syrians, given the fear of commercial and budgetary loss and the fear of competition with EU exports: “Any country that opens up (experiences such difficulties). That is why reform is necessary and the EU is willing to help”, he said. When asked about the political situation, after hesitating briefly, Mr Mingarelli was to the point, saying: “It is stable”. (F.B./transl.jl)