Brussels, 18/02/2003 (Agence Europe) - Originally organised as an informal extraordinary summit, the meeting of the fifteen Heads of State and Government on 17 February was transformed , as the Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis explained, into a formal meeting of the European Council on Monday evening, just in time to adopt conclusions it is hoped will be translated into a common position of the European Union on the Iraq dossier. In keeping with the spirit of the General Affairs Council conclusions from 27 January, the text reaffirms the central role to be played by the United Nations and, in acknowledgement of the major demonstrations across Europe at the weekend, emphasises that war is not inevitable. The member states, however, recognise that this could be a last resort if the Iraqi regime they wish to issue with a final warning does not conform to the United Nations resolutions. Drawn up with a view to demonstrate new-found unity, these conclusions contain the flexibility needed to avert crisis within the Union whilst assuring the United States of European solidarity. The text aims to provide the US with pledges of good-will in the hope of gaining time for diplomatic action and the inspections, but the Fifteen warn that these cannot continue indefinitely.
Here is the entire text of the European Council conclusions:
"The European Council held an extraordinary meeting to discuss the crisis over Iraq. Its members also met with the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan and the President of the European Parliament, Pat Cox. We reiterate the conclusions of the GAERC of 27 January and the terms of the public demarche of 4 February 2003 to Iraq, which remain valid.
"The way the unfolding of the situation in Iraq will be handled will have an important impact on the world in the next decades. In particular, we are determined to deal effectively with the threat of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. We are committed to the United Nations remaining at the centre of the international order. We recognise that the primary responsibility for dealing with Iraqi disarmament lies with the Security Council. We pledge our full support to the Council in discharging its responsibilities.
"The Union's objective for Iraq remains full and effective disarmament in accordance with the relevant UNSC resolutions, in particular resolution 1441. We want to achieve this peacefully. It is clear that this is what the people of Europe want. War is not inevitable. Force should only be used as a last resort. It is for the Iraqi regime to end this crisis by complying with the demands of the Security Council. We reiterate our full support for the ongoing work of the UN inspectors. They must be given the time and resources that the UN Security Council believes they need. However, inspections cannot continue indefinitely in the absence of full Iraqi co-operation. This must include the provision of all the additional and specific information on the issues that have been raised in the inspectors' reports. Baghdad should have no illusions: it must disarm and co-operate fully and immediately. Iraq has a final opportunity to resolve this crisis peacefully. The Iraqi regime alone will be responsible for the consequences if it continues to flout the will of the international community and does not take this last chance. We recognise that the unity and firmness of the international community, as expressed in the unanimous adoption of resolution 1441, and the military build-up have been essential in obtaining the return of the inspectors. These factors will remain essential if we are to achieve the full co-operation we seek.
"We will work with the Arab countries and the League of Arab Nations. We will encourage them, separately and jointly, to bring home to Saddam Hussein the extreme danger of miscalculation of the situation and the need for full compliance with resolution 1441. We support Turkey's regional initiatives with the neighbours of Iraq and Egypt. In this regional context, the European Union reiterates its firm belief in the need to invigorate the peace process in the Middle East and to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We continue to support the swift implementation of the road map approved by the Quartet. Terror and violence must end. Building settlements must end too. It is necessary to speed up Palestinian reforms in this connection. The declaration of President Arafat, according to which he will appoint a Prime Minister, constitutes a welcome measure that goes in the right direction. To deal with these problems, it is vital that the international community is united. We are determined to work with all our partners, in particular with the USA, to obtain the disarmament of Iraq, peace and stability in the region, as well as a decent future for the people who live there.
Speaking about this result, the President of the European Council, Costas Simitis, estimated that the adoption of these conclusions demonstrate that it "is possible to do something concrete if we really want to". He did, nonetheless, stress that "it is not up to the EU to decide instead of the Security Council" and that the States of the Union, which are its Members (France, United Kingdom - permanent members - Germany and Spain maintain their responsibilities in this respect. The President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, declared that "Europe had succeeded in sending a message to the world, which affirms the pre-eminence of the United Nations and "that its voice must be heard". CFSP High Representative, Javier Solana, mentioned "Europe's good contribution to peace and world security".
Gerhard Schröder: "Classic compromise", which will not compel Germany to renounce its opposition to any role in military action
Gerhard Schröder, the German Chancellor said that the declaration was a "classic compromise" and admitted that Germany had to make concessions because until now it had refused to accept that military force could be used. Mr Schröder explained that the pacifist policy of the German government coalition would "not change after the adoption of this EU common position. The Foreign Affairs Minister, Joschka Fischer, explained that this meant that Germany would not take part in any military action, even if there were a resort to force, which is demonstrated to be the only option. Mr Schröder repeated that "For Germany, it was essential that the European Union considers that the objective must be a peaceful solution and that the application of resolution 1441 should be ensured by using peaceful means". The Chancellor also focused on the importance of the sentence, "war is not inevitable", contained in the conclusions. The German Premier stated that it would be false to claim that Germany systematically refuses to use force, as it had actively taken part (and is participating in) military action when this is really necessary (the Balkans for example), "but in the case of Iraq, our starting point is that there is a chance of resolving the crisis peacefully". The Chancellor stress that Iraq had to be disarmed "entirely" but by peaceful means, which meant that the inspectors had to be allowed the time they judge necessary and which the UN Security Council believes indispensable for accomplishing their work. "The inspectors want more time and we should grant them this additional time"; Germany is also ready to make resources available to them. Mr Fischer added that three was no time limit for the inspectors' work. Mr Schröder also referred to the massive demonstrations of last weekend and welcomed that fact that the Fifteen had not ignored this "impressive peace sign", given by the European people. Mr Schröder also said that he agreed with President Chirac when he asserted that a second Security Council resolution was not needed.
Mr Chirac condemns the pro-US alignment of Future EU Members
The President of France, Jacques Chirac, has severely criticised the central and eastern European countries that are seeking accession to the EU for their alignment on the US position in the Iraqi crisis. He believes that they have "missed a good opportunity to keep quiet" and their behaviour had not been very responsible. Mr Chirac declared to the press that "In any case, it is not very well brought up" and that their dangerous approach of these countries risked "reinforcing a feeling of hostility" towards them from public opinion in the Fifteen. He also noted that the "mini crisis in Europe had been, it appeared, been overcome" thanks to the agreement that had come during the night of 17 February and welcomed the genuine rapprochement (approving with good humour) the comments made by Donald Rumsfeld about the "old Europe". Mr Chirac believed that the mini-crisis that had Europe had experienced would not prevent the continent from future construction. The French President also emphasised that the UN Security Council was able to take decisions on the means of doing it and that resolution 1441, "remained the current preoccupation entirely and nothing would change that". According to Chirac, this resolution "opens the way to disarmament by the inspectors and there was no change today in this strategy". Asked about regime change, Mr Chirac asserted that he had no sympathy for Saddam Hussein. He also added in an allusion to the US position, "wanting to change a regime is to assume the right to- and perhaps a single country alone will assume the right to when it sees fit - to intervene to change the regime of a country it doesn't like…There are many regimes I don't like. But it's not because of that that I consider that we should take up arms to replace them", concluded the French President.
Tony Blair welcomes agreement but acknowledges divergences persist
At the end of the summit, Tony Blair recognised that, they all had acknowledged the threat represented by weapons of mass destruction and the link between these weapons getting into the hands of terrorists. Mr Blair insisted on the unanimity of the Fifteen in supporting resolution 1441 and pointed out that for the instant it had not been entirely carried out by Iraq. The British Prime Minister hopes that areas of agreement, despite the differences, is sending a strong message to Iraq. Tony Blair claims that he does not understand how some Member States recognised that Iraq was not applying "fully and immediately" resolution 1441, but at the same time refused to consider that there had been a "material breach" of the resolution. He also emphasised that that differences persisted among Member States that considered that time was needed to check everything and countries, like the UK, which considered, rightly (according to Mr Blair) that this involved the time needing for judging whether Iraq was going to cooperate. Mr Blair pointed out that, If Iraq cooperated, this question of time for the inspectors would not have been an issue in South Africa; where nine inspectors were able to finish the work in three years. He also declared that whether Iraq was disarmed peacefully or by force would depend entirely on Saddam Hussein. Mr Blair stated that, he had always been very sceptical about the possibility of seeing Saddam disarm because we they had been waiting for twelve years. Asked about France's position, Mr Blair simply replied that he wanted to remain "diplomatic" and refused to make any comment.
Jean-Claude Juncker believes Iraq has a last chance to disarm peacefully
Luxembourg Prime Minister, Jean-Claude Junker welcomed the success of the European Council, which had allowed differences to be ironed out, which had been dividing the EU. He did, however, warn that Saddam Hussein should not have any illusions and had to disarm and he now had a last chance to avoid war…Peace did have a chance, war was not inevitable but the Baghdad regime had to respond and take action. He also explained that it was up to the Security Council, which had to keep a monopoly on the use of force to decide how much additional time the inspectors should have for completing their mission and what means they needed to accomplish it. Luxembourg, like Germany and the great majority of Member States is strongly opposed to the mention of "time is running out", which was contained in the Summit draft conclusions. Mr Juncker believed that that sounded "very American", as only the United Nations Security Council could fix the deadlines for diplomatic efforts or the inspectors' work. Mr Juncker concluded that one thing was clear, the moment for stopping inspectiond and throwing themselves into military action, had not yet arrived. He also stressed that he hoped that the four countries of the EU that are currently represented at the Security Council (United Kingdom, France, Germany and Spain) respect the spirit and letter of the conclusions approved on Monday evening in Brussels.
José Maria Aznar welcomes the demonstration of "unity" of the EU
The Spanish Prime Minister, José Maria Aznar declared that he was pleased with the conclusions adopted by the Summit, which marked a very important sage for the European Union. He explained that they had listened to the appeal of Kofi Annan to make a common effort and achieve the goal of disarming Iraq, which had quite clearly demonstrated their unity. Aznar explained that there had not been any question of the "letter from the Eight" during the meeting. Overall, Mr Aznar focused on the responsibility of the Iraqi regime and using the terms of the conclusions, stressed that this was a last chance for the Iraqi regime if it did not face up to its responsibilities and would be responsible for the consequences. Asked about the demonstrations over the weekend, the Spanish Prime Minister said that they had the complete right to demonstrate, as well as the freedom of expression guaranteed by democracy and acknowledged that the anti-war feeling was a shared feeling.
Silvio Berlusconi says demonstrations have been counter-productive
In a statement to the press, the Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi claimed that the demonstrations last weekend were of little use and even worse, they had given Saddam Hussein the impression that he could continue to play around as he had done over the last twelve years. Overall, he welcomed the unity demonstrated by the Fifteen and explained that any divisions between them would have undermined the credibility of the Security Council. He also stated that he was counting on a common position of the European Members of the Security Council in the future and that if this were not forthcoming, it could trigger off unilateral action that would undermine the credibility of the UN.
Belgium expects France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain to defend the "unanimous" position of the Fifteen at the Security Council
The Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt was satisfied with the unanimous position of the Fifteen "in such a difficult dossier", a position, he said, which placed the crisis firmly in a United Nations context. "We agreed to continue the inspections and on the need to arrive at a peaceful solution", he noted, adding that if all else failed, as a last resort, "other means, such as resort to force, could be used". If the summit conclusions give no idication of a date for the end of the inspections, this is, according to Mr Verhofstadt, because it is not yet the right time to do so. "To place a deadline on the inspections would mean that we are entering into a war mindset", he said, adding: "it is up to Hans Blix and the United Nations Security Council to decide, and not the EU". For the time being, "I expect the four EU member states who are also members of the Security Council to defend our common position there", stated the Belgian Prime Minister, whilst acknowledging that there was no guarantee of this. "They are not there as representatives of the EU. This is maybe something to be reformed in the context of the Convention", he suggested.
The Netherlands are satisfied that Gerhard Schröder finally accepts the notion of using force "as a last resort"
The Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkendende was "very happy" to note that "the EU is no longer divided" on the Iraqi crisis. "Iraq must respect the UN resolution", otherwise military action could not be ruled out, he said. Like his Belgian counterpart, the Dutch Prime Minister explained the absence of a deadline for the inspections in Iraq by the fact that "the EU and the UNSC have different responsibilities", and that the decision lies with the latter. For his part, the Dutch Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jaap de Hoope Scheffer, was pleased that Gerhard Schröder had finally accepted the idea that force could be used as a last resort, despite having initially rejected the possibility.
Mr Durao Barroso insists on transatlantic solidarity
Whilst welcoming the common position on Iraq reached by the European Council,the Portuguese Prime Minister, José Manuel Durao Barroso, stressed that it was "very important" to respect transatlantic solidarity. "Peace and safety are the main things to be preserved", he told the press, adding: "today, we have an atlantic security system, we do not yet have a European one. The only organisation guaranteeing our safety is NATO. I am not about to throw away a fifty-year alliance (with NATO) because of a crisis such as the one in Iraq", he proclaimed. Before the summit opened, Mr Durao Barroso had intended to declare that no government in Europe was more pro-European than the Portuguese one, but that "Europe and its unity cannot set themselves against transatlantic relations".
For Mr Rasmussen, the inspections should end in a couple of weeks
The Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen welcomed the summit conclusions, stating: "the EU set itself the objective of the disarmement of Iraq, and the way to achieve this is by maintaining pressure on Saddam Hussein". Believing the EU's message to be very clear, Mr Rasmussen too said that it was for the UNSC to set a date for the end of inspections, but that he believed "we should be talking weeks, not months".
Finland and Sweden satisfied that the Fifteen have reiterated the importance of the UN
The Finnish President, Tarja Halonen, and the Swedish Prime Minister, Göran Persson, both pronounced themselves extremely satisfied that the Fifteen had managed to adopt a common position and reiterated the prime role of the UN. Tarja Halonen felt the text could have been worded slightly differently, but the main thing was that there was a common text. She was very pleased that the summit gave back to the United Nations "the role they should always have had". Göran Persson stressed that the inspectors should have as much time as they and the Security Council deemed necessary. He also refused to comment on how much time should be granted to Iraq, emphasising that this was a question for the UNSC and not the EU. The Swedish Prime Minister admitted that he was "not very optimistic" about the possibility of averting war in Iraq.
According to Ireland, the Fifteen have achieved true unanimity
Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern told the press that he now expected there would be no more initiatives like the letter signed by five Member Sates and three applicant countries. In his view, there is true unanimity that all must honour. Furthermore, the Taoiseach said he was certain that no result could have been reached on the ground without military pressure. In answer to questions on the amount of time that should be given to inspectors, Mr Ahern said this depends on the inspectors and on the Security Council.
Wolfgang Schüssel: "Major success for Greek Presidency"
Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel spoke before the press about a "major success" for the Greek Presidency, which took the risk of convening the extraordinary Summit when many Heads of Government, including himself, doubted the likelihood of reaching a common position. He admitted that the debate had been calm and constructive as everyone was aware of the fact that it was important and urgent to speak with a single voice, not only to prevent further division within the European Union but also to prevent the EU's political weight and image on the international scene from being harmed. Mr Schüssel said that, now the extraordinary Summit is over, the problem of Iraq is still far from being resolved as the key to peace is to be found in Baghdad, but at least, he said, "Europe is again speaking with a single voice".
Pat Cox: Political will is needed to fill the gap between European ambitions and European capacities in the field of foreign affairs
Speaking before the press, the president of the European Parliament, Pat Cox, considered the meeting of the Fifteen highly appropriate. He recalled the importance of Saddam Hussein's role, as, he said, he is the one who can lead his country to peace or to war. While recalling the European Parliament's opposition to any kind of unilateral military action, Mr Cox stressed the need to keep the possibility of resorting to force in order to put maximum pressure on the Baghdad regime. Mr Cox also pointed out that he had appealed to the Fifteen in favour of a reference to the settlement of the Middle East conflict on the basis of the roadmap adopted by the Quartet. In his view, the Iraqi crisis creates "a gap between our aspirations and capacities" in the field of foreign affairs. He went on to warn that the institutional and constitutional creations being developed within the European Convention could end up "nice but empty" if there is no political will.
Kofi Annan urges Fifteen and international community to avoid division
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan called on the Fifteen to avoid the temptation of disagreeing. Along the lines adopted by the Fifteen he stressed that "war is not inevitable" but that it is up to Iraq to prevent it by showing active cooperation. He insisted that, what is needed, is cooperation, assistance and constant pressure. He said he believed that, if the Security Council manages to successfully and effectively resolve this crisis, then its credibility and its influence will have made great progress. He expressed great concern for the tension that is emerging between countries and the tension in transatlantic relations - "tension that we cannot allow ourselves", he stressed. He therefore called on the international community to close its ranks to encourage Iraq to comply with its obligations, by disarming and by cooperating in an "active manner". For now, the Security Council has not noted that there has been "material infringement" entailing "serious consequences", according to the terms of Resolution 1441 of the Security Council. Neither did Mr Annan evoke the time allowed for the work of the inspectors. Nonetheless, if, at a given time, the Security Council considers that it is "wasting time", it may decide to bring the mission to a halt, he warned.