Brussels, 26/04/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Union should announce further aid of around EUR 100 million to Colombia during the international conference of the support group to the peace process in Colombia, to be held on Monday 30 April in Brussels, under the aegis of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the European Commission. Some 200 representatives of 30 countries and international organisations (IDB, World Bank, IMF, Andean Development Corporation, etc.) are expected to attend this third meeting for support of the process launched by Colombian President Andres Pastrana in 1999. The meeting will be opened by Commissioner Chris Patten, Swedish Secretary of State for Cooperation Gun-Britt Andersson, Colombian Foreign and Finance Ministers Guillermo Fernandez de Soto and Augusto Ramirez Ocampo respectively, as well as Colombian High Representative for Peace Camilo Gomez. The United States delegation will be represented by the under-secretary for international relations, Marc Grossman. The countries of the region, and Venezuela, Brazil and Mexico in particular, will also be represented at a high level.
The EU pointed out that it would like the representatives of the Colombian opposition and the candidates to the next presidential election mid-2002 to be present on Monday (President Pastrana will not be able to send a representative under the terms of the Constitution), say Community sources. "The Colombian government would be the first interested in having the opposition there, which is already taking part in the Common Front for Peace in Colombia, but candidates are not expected to attend because of agenda problems", noted Colombia's Ambassador in Brussels, Roberto Arenas Bonilla.
Work will be devoted during the morning to drawing up a political balance sheet of the peace process, and, during the afternoon, to evaluation of aid already promised and of new commitments. At the political level, the "European Union will confirm its firm political support of the peace effort made by President Pastrana", announces the Commission in a press release, recalling that several EU Member States are part of the "facilitation group" of the peace process that accompanies negotiations between the government and guerrilla groups. Community sources, however, state that it is not a matter of giving support to the "Colombian Plan", for which certain military aspects financed by the United states are contested, but of specific EU support to the peace process. Last October, the Council had defined the European policy line, consisting of only supporting social and economic aspects of the peace process (see EUROPE of 26 and 27 October 2000).
At the financial level, EUROPE has reason to believe that the European Commissioner for External Relations, Chris Patten, should announce on this occasion new aid of EUR 100 to 105 million over six years, which will come in addition to the EUR 115 million in aid (105 million for development aid and 10 million for humanitarian aid) announced during the last conference for Colombia, on 24 October.
Commissioner Patten is expected to take stock of the first projects financed and those that may benefit from European aid. After the two evaluation missions on the ground, the Commission defined a series of school and health development infrastructure projects, and land development in the state of Magdalena Medio, in the centre of Colombia. This State, which is less concerned then southern Colombia by drug crop production and armed conflicts, was selected because rapid preventive intervention is possible there, on the basis of projects already well defined by the Inter-American Development Bank, it is stated at the Commission, noting that it will be a "peace laboratory, a good test". The Commission also identified projects in the human rights field, that should benefit from aid of some EUR 10 million in the context of the 100 million package that is to be announced on Monday. "Should aid be made contingent upon respect of human rights in Colombia, or should it contribute to ensuring respect of human rights? We believe that the two approaches should go hand in hand", notes one Community source.
The Swedish Presidency will, on Monday, also present a general report of aid provided by EU M ember States, either at bilateral level, or through United Nations agencies. According to data provided by the Colombian Embassy in Brussels, Spain pledged last July to provide EUR 100 million (70 million credits and 30 million in the form of grants), Sweden pledges 16 million, Italy 15 million, Finland 2 million, and Portugal 300,000. The commitments of the international community have hitherto amounted to EUR 871 million, for a peace process whose total cost is evaluated at $7.5 billion by the Colombian government (EUR 8.3 billion).