Brussels, 22/01/2001 (Agence Europe) - Broad consensus was reached during the debate open to the public at the General Affairs Council on Monday, in Brussels, on the role that the EU should play in conflict prevention, said Council President, Anna Lindh. "I hope that by the spring we shall be able to begin discussions on the potential centres of conflict. The other issues should be finalised by the Gothenburg Summit in June, on the basis of the Communication on conflict prevention that the Commission is to present in April", she added.
In response to the four questions raised by the Swedish Presidency (see EUROPE of 19 January, p.5), the ministers appealed as one voice for better coordination between the EU and the UN, as well as with the other international organisations, mainly the OSCE. They unanimously supported the idea of defining EU priorities for prevention during an annual policy debate by the General Affairs Council on foreign policy. The debate must be prepared in advance, preferably by the Political and Security Committee, by setting in place an early warning system and developing the EU's analysis and reaction capacities, stressed the ministers. The framework programme for each country, drafted by the Commission, which summarises the different external actions - commercial, humanitarian, etc. - will be one of the key elements of this analysis capacity, noted several ministers. The main lines of the debate were on:
International coordination Ministers unanimously insisted on the need for better coordination with the UN. Spanish Minister Josep Piqué recalled the importance of the formal agreement concluded at the end of 2000 between the EU Member States, on the basis of a French/Spanish initiative, in order to ensure coordination between European States that belong to the Security Council and the others. French Minister Hubert Védrine, suggested that contacts should be developed with the UN Secretary General through the Troïka, as was the case during the French EU Council Presidency. Italian Minister Lamberto Dini pledged, for his part, to develop synergy between the European debate and that on conflict prevention within the G8, in the context of the Italian Presidency of the group of most industrialised countries (Ed.: the G8 summit will be held in Genoa, from 20 to 22 July this year). The High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP, Javier Solana, insisted for his part on the coordination needed with the OSCE, and was approved in this by the Austrian and Portuguese ministers in particular. Some, and above all the Danish minister, stressed the importance of other regional organisations, such as the Organisation for African Unity. He recalled the latter's role in the settlement of the conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia. Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel, followed by the Greek Minister, insisted that a distinction should be made between the international organisations and the non-governmental organisations, "whose role and responsibilities are increasingly intertwined". "Politicians cannot palm off their responsibilities onto NGOs", he stressed.
Definition of priorities. - Combating poverty, developing civil capabilities and controlling arms are the main priorities identified by ministers. These priorities should be specified at regular intervals, at least during the annual debate on common foreign policy. Ireland and Austria, in particular, also called for regular reports to be presented to the Council in the context of the early warning system. The French and British Foreign Ministers, Hubert Védrine and Robin Cook, followed by the Greek Minister, insisted on the close link that exists between conflict prevention and under-development (which means that "the slightest conflict is settled by force", said Mr Védrine). The liberal concept of a weak State, that dominates our established democracies, is a luxury that countries where the "State is not even able to provide basic services" cannot afford, remarked Mr Védrine, who cited the case of Indonesia and that of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The United Kingdom, Greece, Denmark, Finland, and Portugal, called for enhanced controls on arms sales, and, speaking of the UN conference on the dissemination of light weapons, the British, Belgian and Austrian ministers insisted on the need for joint action in this field. Furthermore, France, Denmark and the United Kingdom, among others, stressed the importance of a civilian police force, the "missing link" in recent peace-keeping operations, according to Mr Védrine. The conflict in the Balkans showed it is necessary to be able to fight against organised crime, stressed Mr Cook.
Geographical coverage of European actions. - Several ministers, the French and British for example, felt the cases of Africa and the Balkans were of prime importance. Finnish Minister Erkki Tuomioja, Europe must pay close attention to the Balkan and Caucus regions. The Dutch Minister, Jozias Van Haartsen, nevertheless felt that the European action must not be limited to its disaster area. "The instability in Indonesia for example, can also affect EU interests", he underlined. A point of view supported by the Italian Minister, Mr Dini. Several Ministers felt that the EU's enlargement policy is in itself an example of conflict prevention.
Financial aspect: better to avoid than to cure, noted the Ministers, in line with the new Danish Minister, Mogens Lykketoff, who noted that "crisis management is too costly for us to be blocked on prevention". The Austrian Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner felt that the financial budget needed should cover the civil, military and humanitarian aspects and Mr Dini noted with regard to this that more the conflict is distant, more the range of instruments available must be great and that crisis management must not occur to the detriment of resources aimed at development aid. Van Haartsen called on his colleagues to convince their finance counterparts: "the political will must be true, independently from costs", he noted.
Commissioner Patten specifies content of future Communication on conflict prevention
The European Commissioner for External Relations, Chris Patten, outlined at the opening of the debate, the key elements of the Communication on conflict prevention and the use of Community programmes to this end, which will be presented mid-April in view of the Gothenburg Summit: (1) the reinforcement of peace, democracy and social stability objectives in the European aid programmes, (2) the taking into account of indicators of political exclusion, on a social, geographic or ethnic basis, for example, (3) the association with the initiatives of the G8 to fight against organised crime, (4) the use of instruments in terms of immigration stemming from the Justice and Home Affairs pillar, (5) the development of new instruments enabling to rapidly mobilise Community resources; (6) the development of ties between development aid and reconstruction aid.