Luxembourg, 08/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - According to French Minister Hubert Védrine, the European Union's Foreign Ministers welcomed the French proposal of an action plan for Afghanistan (presented the French parliament by Prime Minster Lionel Jospin last week (see EUROPE of 4 October, p.7). However, the Ministers did not choose between the French plan and similar plans put forward by Germany and the United Kingdom. At a press conference, German Minister Joschka Fischer also called for an action plan, highlighting the need to prepare for 'after the Taliban'.
The French proposal stresses that Afghanistan has been wracked with 20 years of war, that 7 million of its 25 million population are refugees and that apart from drugs, agriculture is in ruin. The plan aims to help Afghans rebuild the country and includes 1) emergency humanitarian aid for refugees and displaced persons; 2) a consultation framework between the EU, the United States, Afghanistan's neighbours, the relevant United Nations agencies and NGOs working in Afghanistan; 3) the implementation of an interim structure (of the United Nations and Afghans) in Afghanistan to cope with the most pressing requirements; (4) engagement of a political process, under the auspices of the former King Zaher Shah and with the backing of the United Nations, in view of setting up a transition administration representative of the Afghan people; (5) the offer by the EU of expertise in view of establishing a reconstruction programme with the assistance of international institutions; (6) setting up of a co-ordinating structure for international aid, especially involving members of the UN Security Council and the EU.