Brussels, 07/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 8 March, the European Commission will publish a report on the means available to the EU to help Libya and other North African countries in flux to make a successful transition to democracy and greater social and economic well-being. The document is being prepared by the EU's External Action Service headed by Catherine Ashton and will be submitted to EU heads of state at a special European Council on Libya and the wider region, in Brussels on Friday 11 March. The idea is to review all existing EU aid programmes, agreements and policies and adjust them to match the current situation following the collapse of the dictatorships in Tunisia and Egypt and the revolution and civil war under way in Libya. On Monday, a spokesperson for Catherine Ashton said that everything was on the table to help North African countries turn into proper democracies. In addition to providing humanitarian aid and technical assistance to cope with immediate demands, it will be a question of adjusting the European neighbourhood policy (ENP) by introducing political and democratic requirements to be met before EU aid is granted, conditions like good governance, the rule of law, respect for democracy and fundamental freedoms and development of civil society. The aid package put forward by the Commission will include trade, social and economic measures (last week, EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht called for relaxation of trade rules for new North African democracies (see EUROPE 10329), and measures to allow greater mobility for individuals in Europe. New farming and energy initiatives will also be planned.
Van Rompuy's letter. In the invitation to the special 11 March summit, Herman Van Rompuy points out to the EU heads of state that they have to send a clear, positive message to the whole region, expressing full EU support for their moves towards democracy, pluralism and social inclusion. The summit will start at 11.30am with a working lunch where Catherine Ashton, José Manuel Barroso and the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, will brief the politicians on EU action undertaken in various domains in reaction to the events in Libya and the wider region. A discussion of urgent matters will follow (humanitarian aid, potential military support, getting Europeans out of the area, refugees and illegal immigration into Europe, etc). The EU27 will then discuss longer-term measures to back the democratic transformations, encourage reform and promote regional security and prosperity in all the EU's southern neighbours, explains Van Rompuy in the invitation, adding that adjusting the ENP to introduce a new partnership with the countries in question should be a priority. He added that the meeting would also provide an opportunity to renew the Union for the Mediterranean.
John Dalli rocks the boat. Meanwhile, EU Health Commissioner John Dalli has been forced to express regret at comments he made that suggested that he did not share the view of President of the Commission José Manuel Barroso that Colonel Gadaffi had to go (see statement in EUROPE 10327). In a written statement published on Sunday evening (6 March), Dalli says he regretted the fact that one of the comments he had made on Friday gave the wrong impression that he did not support the view expressed on Wednesday by President Barroso on the situation in Libya. Dalli said that obviously he fully supports the views expressed by Barroso on behalf of the Commission. On Monday 7 March, a Commission spokesperson welcomed what she described as Commissioner Dalli's “very useful clarification”. On Friday 4 March, Commissioner Dalli said at an economic forum in Malta that he did not think that he or anyone else was had the right to say whether Gadaffi should resign, with AFP reporting that he thought that decision was for Gadaffi himself to make. (H.B./transl.fl)