Brussels, 03/09/2004 (Agence Europe) - European Commissioner Chris Patten addressed the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee for the last time this week before leaving the College of Commissioners on 31 October 2004 (when he will be replaced by Austrian Benita Ferrero-Waldner). The MEPs asked him what he thought were the European Union's main foreign relations achievements over the past five years, and what were Patten's greatest regrets.
In terms of the greatest achievements, Christ Patten modestly only wanted to mention one - the 'huge progress' in the EU in terms of effective management of its foreign aid. We are talking here, he said, of total expenditure of EUR 4 billion a year. I don't get very many complaints about how this aid is provided and dispensed on the ground. This is a very satisfactory achievement, although I don't expect it on the front page of newspapers, added Patten.
In terms of regrets, the Commissioner mentioned a series of burning international issues. Firstly the Middle East and the tragic development in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. When I arrived at the Commission, there was a lot of optimism about the Middle East, but today we see that we are going round and round in circles and more and more people are getting killed in the region. One of the reasons for this is that there is not the political will necessary in the European Union to make a difference in the Middle East, said Patten. The real question is political will. I say this with a lot of respect, but the two European members of the Security Council do not agree, and if Germany doesn't agree either, it is very difficult to have a common foreign and defence policy, said Patten. The EU has an important role to lay in establishing peace in the Middle East, but the key role has to be played by the US, he said. Chris Patten's second biggest regret is Iran, which he described as a hugely important country regionally, but also globally. The major efforts by the European Commission to build coherent relations with Iran in terms of respect for human rights and developing the rule of law, combatting nuclear proliferation and building on business and trade relations have not, unfortunately, been as successful as planned. On the contrary, said Patten, relations between the EU and Iran have gone backwards. We have seen deeply concerning reverses in the human rights area, he said, and Iran does not meet IAEA requirements in terms of nuclear technology. Despite this failing, Patten warned against the temptation (particularly in the United States) to isolate Iran internationally.. Such ideas, he said, may be successfully during an electoral campaign (referring to the US), but I don't think this is a good policy long-term. The EU should tell the Iranians that if they meet the IAEA requirements, it is prepared to get them more integrated internationally, and I hope we can persuade the United States of this, said Patten. His third big regret is the fact the EU has to been able to establish more harmonious and constructive relations with Russia. I suspect partly because Moscow is being encouraged to play off one Member State against the other. Unfortunately enough, we still have not enough credibility as Europe in dealing with Russia, regretted Patten. Another regret mentioned by the Commissioner was Afghanistan. Afghanistan is a horrendous problem and it greatly disappointing to see that things are not improving there despite the huge financial commitments made by the international community, he said. One of the reasons for the instability and disorder in Afghanistan is that the people who led the military operations in 2002 to liberate the country thought they had bought off the local warlords, but they now realise that they just rent them, said Patten.
In his discussion with the MEPs, Chris Patten also said the EU should act quicker with regard to establishing a free trade zone with Mediterranean countries and should sometimes make more aggressive use of the financial instruments in the Mediterranean to achieve progress in the rule of law and respect for human rights. In terms of relations with the United States, the EU had to be coherent and effective if it wanted to improve transatlantic relations and have any chance of influencing Washington in the direction of multilateralism and taking its responsibilities seriously in a world which needed stability, security and peace, said Patten. It is not enough to criticise the United States, said the Commissioner, but Europe's role is not to put up with everything the United States does either. I think the right approach for the EU with regard to Washington is to be found somewhere between Paris and London, added Patten.