Brussels, 12/01/2001 (Agence Europe) - During an extraordinary meeting devoted to European common security policy, the Bureau of the Party of European Socialists (PES) insisted, on Thursday in Brussels, on the need to build a "true global policy of European defence". The meeting, attended by the Defence Ministers of France, Alain Richard, Germany Rudolf Sharping and Belgium André Flahaut, as well as British Foreign Minister Robin Cook and EU High Representative for CFSP Javier Solana must be followed up by a seminar at the end of the month of March and by a publication of the PES group at the EP, that will be examined during the next PES Congress, on 7 and 9 May in Berlin.
Dutch Socialist Jan Marinus Wiersma, who chaired the meeting, pointed out that the European Socialists are hoping for a global policy that is not simply limited to military issues. "Defence policy cannot be envisaged in an isolated way", he said, specifying that this overall view of things must include economic, social, environmental aspects and all issues linked to EU relations with other countries, mainly the Third World.