Strasbourg, 20/01/2000 (Agence Europe) - As indicated in yesterday's EUROPE, EU Council President Jaime Gama and Commissioner Chris Patten took stock of progress in the Middle East Peace Process before the European Parliament on Wednesday. Mr Gama has been to Syria, Israel, the Palestinian territories and also to Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon. He met the secretary general of the Arab League. Yasser Arafat will be in Brussels on the fringe of the General Affairs Council on Monday 24 January, and Mr Gama, Mr Patten and Mr Solana will be taking part at the meeting of the multilateral negotiations group to be held in Moscow early February. It is important, the Council believes, to reactivate the multilateral process, and, even if the Union is not part of this process, said Mr Gama, it is the main trading partner for the region and the countries of the region are perfectly aware of this. At medium and long term the Union will have an "incomparable" role in consolidating peace in the Middle East, was Mr Gama's view. He was convinced of the need for permanent collaboration between Council and Commission in this field, as well as between these two institutions and the European Parliament.
Mr Patten points out what the EU can do if given the appropriate financial means
All sides, including the United States, have acknowledged the fact that the EU has an important role to play in the peace process, said Commissioner Chris Patten, who feels this role must not only be that of "banker", but should support the consolidation of peace in the region. The Union "is no slouch when it comes to financial support (…). We are the largest of all donors to the Palestinians. We have also offered very substantial support to Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Egypt. With the Israelis we have established closer cooperation in a number of areas of particular interest to them", he said. He recalled that the EUR 600 million granted by the EU from 1994 to 1998 have helped the Palestinian Authority to reconstruct infrastructure, and that the fate of Palestinian refugees has been facilitated by the 50 million paid by the EU annually to the UN agency for refugees. The Palestinian Authority, for its part, has tried to improve budgetary transparency, and Mr Arafat must be encouraged, next Monday, to improve the Palestinian administration and to bolster the rule of law. In addition, EUR 20 million were committed in 1999 for regional cooperation projects between Israelis and Arabs. Community support could be usefully put to other aims during the next phase of the peace process, he said, giving as an example: - helping to consolidate a Golan settlement (by contributing to security arrangements and by supporting demining and the rebuilding of communities in the Golan Heights); - assistance to the Syrian economy to facilitate the transition from a wartime to a peace economy; - reconstruction and rehabilitation of Southern Lebanon and support for economic reform and social development in the Lebanon as a whole; - a solution to the Palestinian refugee problem; - improvements to the supply, distribution and management of water resources, - and encouragement for closer regional cooperation in a number of areas. The current financial resources are not, says Mr Patten, sufficient for the magnitude of support required, necessitating "a gear change in the support that we shall be asked and expected to provide" but "this is inevitably going to be a tough process with difficulties and disappointments along the way".
All MEPs taking part in the debate urged for a major Union role in the peace process, including Mr Galeote-Quecedo of Partido Popular, who recognises the cost of peace; Mr Schori, Swedish Socialist, who insists on the role of Syria; and Belgian Liberal De Clercq, who sees true effort on the part of Israel and Syria for settling their differences as a key to the success of the peace process. The problem of availability and distribution of water resources is a cause of concern for many MEPs, including Swedish Green member, Mr Gahrton, who feels that the responsibility for delays is mainly incumbent upon the Israeli occupation forces, an opinion shared by Greek Communist Mr Alavanos. Mrs Morgantini (United Left, Chair of EP/Palestinian Legislative Council delegation) considers peace is not possible unless the Palestinians are able to move freely: the Union, however, must not enter into collision with the United States for having a greater role in the region, she believes. Mrs Napoletano (Democratici di sinistra) considers Council and Commission should understand the major concern felt by the Mediterranean area: that EU's enlargement to the east will make it forget how important this region is.
EU financial commitment must have clear presence on political scene as corollary
In the resolution voted on Thursday morning, the European Parliament affirms that the Union's financial commitment to the region must have as corollary a clear presence on the political scene, without, he specifies, this being detrimental to the "discreet and effective" action of the EU Special Envoy for the Middle East, Mr Moratinos. The European Union should be involved in all peace process negotiations, the Parliament therefore states, welcoming the major impetus recently given to peace which should guarantee the accomplishment of the legitimate aspirations of all the countries of the region, and mainly of Israel, states the Parliament. It goes on to add that, in order to fully ensure Israel's security, any future Palestinian State must be viable. The EP undertakes for its part to do everything possible to support the two parties in their peace efforts, and mainly welcomes the effort made by Israel and Syria for resolving their differences, trusting that the Lebanese government will join negotiations and that all the non-Lebanese forces will withdraw from Lebanon, in order to guarantee national stability (on this last point, the EP, with the adoption of an amendment by the Liberal Group, modified the original text which called for Israrel to pull out of Lebanon). Finally, the EP invites all the countries of the region to support the peace process and to combat violence and terrorism and welcomes the meeting of the multilateral steering committee for the peace process, on 1 February in Moscow.