A clear text. Once again, at a difficult and delicate time, faced with a serious threat, the Europeans have discovered or rediscovered the importance of being united and rekindling their integration. The declaration that the Heads of State or Government, the presidents of the European Parliament and the Commission adopted on 14 September expresses the unanimous desire to push forward those aspects of European unity politically the most sensitive and significant: the common foreign, defence policy and legal area: What a scathing denial to those who would have us believe that the EU has no ambition and is but a technical and bureaucratic body, be they journalists or Ralf Dahrendorf.
The 14 September Declaration was published in full in our bulletin of 15 September, pp.3/4. It affirms the intention of the Fifteen to: develop a common foreign and security policy (Cfsp) so that Europe speaks with a single voice; render operational "as soon as possible" the European security and defence policy (Esdp); step-up the creation of a common legal area. The EU will also try to give rise to a world system of security and prosperity and a strong and sustainable anti-terrorist movement at international level. At the same time, the will to punish the terrorists is strong and global, in the sense that it aims at both the perpetrators and organisers of these cowardly and cruel deeds against civilisation carried out in New York ("we shall not admit that they find refuge wherever it may be"), as well as those protecting them. The text says: "those that bear the responsibility for aiding, supporting and harbouring the perpetrators, organisers and commissioners of these acts will have to answer for them".
What is important, are not words but actions to put these into practice. And all goes so quickly. The European Commission has presented its proposal on a uniform definition of terrorism, essential to implement the European arrest warrant being proposed, and the Council has dealt with this on Thursday already. Parliament and the Council have begun procedures to overcome their technical differences on the plan aimed at strengthening the fight against money laundering (at present, European intervention is limited to money to the control of money gained from drug trafficking, but will be extended to all offences o organised crime, including terrorism). The control of illegal or dubious financial transactions is on the menu of the informal EcoFin Council in Liege. Friday evening, the extraordinary summit will discuss the actions of the different specialised Councils.
Where the real shock lies. As for Cfsp and Esdp, the question is not to adopt new texts, but of applying existing texts to actual situations. The external chapter of the declaration of 14 September urges the EU "to find solutions to conflicts that all too often serve as pretexts for barbarity", the fist of these conflicts obviously being the one between Israel and Palestine. It is significant that the Heads of Government should have inscribed the Middle East as the only item of their agenda Friday evening, other than terrorism and its consequences. The pressure in favour of an equitable agreement in the Middle East will increase. The second objective aims to rekindle "all the negotiations were are embarked on" with the Mediterranean countries, as Pascal Lamy has just declared, while adding: "of course, our partners too must meet their part of the contract".
At the same time, the refusal to consider Islam as such and Arab or Muslim countries in general as responsible for the horrors of New York is being more clearly stated: the West's response will be considered and targeted. And the Muslim world must contribute.
I shall add some thoughts resulting from the ongoing reflection:
Terrorism is a deathly poison that contaminates anyone who has anything to do with it. Whoever gives in to the temptation of getting involved, whatever the reasons or circumstances, one day or another will become a victim.. In its time, the United States backed the Afghan terrorists to harm the USSR as much as possible; it armed and financed those who today are striking at the American soil;
Anarchists of times gone by have nothing to do with the current terrorists. They plunged knives into kings, they took on the powerful. Last century, an anarchist decided not to throw his bomb because children were playing alongside his victim and he was hanged. For the Muslim fundamentalists of today, the presence of children is rather an added attraction;
Some Arab countries are also the victims of fundamentalists: Egypt, Algeria. This allows one to believe that the real "clash of civilisations" is not between the Islam and Western civilisations, but that it is situated within each of the two civilisations, between those who acknowledge the values of tolerance and the respect of the other, and those that sow hate and destruction. (F.R.)