Brussels, 06/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 3 June, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini announced that the Quartet (the EU, USA, Russia and the UN) would very soon issue its report to make the Middle East peace talks move forwards (see EUROPE 11489).
“We are finalising the work within the Quartet (…) on the report that will be ready in the coming days”, Mogherini said at the ministerial conference on the Middle East in Paris, adding that the report would be unveiled before 20 June when the next Foreign Affairs Council is being held, at which the ministers will discuss the situation in the Middle East. She said that the Quartet report is “not only on the lines, the trends and the situation on the ground that put at risk the perspective of the two states but also includes some substantial recommendations on what the parties can and should do to get to the solution of the conflict, and what the regional and international community can do to support these efforts, to support this process, to create the necessary incentives and guarantees for the parties to engage in this process productively”.
Mogherini stated that the EU had a role to play in settling the crisis, both as the first trading partner of Israel and as the first financial supporters of the Palestinian Authority. She added that the EU would continue to work within the Quartet, and with the 28 EU member states, to create the conditions for the peace process to be resumed. In her view, the EU's priorities for action in the peace process are firstly the revitalisation of the Quartet because “it is necessary to have and to build the unity of the international community”, and then the work with the regional actors. She added that the Paris conference was part of this perspective.
At the end of the Paris conference, the delegations reaffirmed, in a joint statement, “their support for a just, lasting and comprehensive resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict”. They underlined “the key role of the Quartet and regional stakeholders”, and also welcomed “the prospect of convening before the end of the year an international conference”. However, the joint statement does not set a precise timetable. According to the French foreign affairs minister, work will be launched “before the end of the month” “on the economic, cooperation and regional security incentives”, with the aim of achieving “a comprehensive package of incentives” that will apparently be presented to the Israelis and Palestinians during the conference. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)