Brussels, 28/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - EU MEPs, experts and academics discussed the “European Union and the use of force: intervention criteria” during a public hearing organised on 23 February by the European Parliament's sub-committee on defence and security. Representing the Austrian EU Presidency, Franz Cede pointed out how much the international context has changed considerably since the creation of the United Nations and, he believes, the sending of a European Union military force does not today require any explicit United Nations mandate. Stefano Silvestri, from the Italian research sector, took an interest in the preventive use of military force. In his view, the “idea of waiting for a crisis to arise is suicidal and would result in more frequent, less controlled and less effective use of force”. Preventive military action can only be triggered at the invitation of the parties involved, recalled Jamie Shea, Director of the Policy Planning Unit at the NATO Secretary General's cabinet. Johannes Becker of the Conflict Study Centre, felt military intervention “has never provided a long term solution to the world's problems”. He called on the EU to set a “shining example for the world with a sound policy in the fields of the environment, trade and development”. Chairing the sub-committee, German Christian Democrat politician Karl von Wogau again deplored the lack of control on the part of the European Parliament when it comes to taking decisions relating to European defence policy. The Parliament could discuss the EU's military intervention criteria, during one of its plenary sessions in March, and adopt a resolution on this theme, the MEP said, hoping that the Parliament would take a stance on this point before the EU decides to send a mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). (Source: our publication Atlantic News).