Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-03-01-Speech-3-042"
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"en.20000301.5.3-042"2
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"Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, it is a great pleasure for me to appear before you again, here in the European Parliament.
Secondly, we must look at the capacity which each country has so that this total force of 60 000 soldiers is distributed in an orderly and efficient manner between the fifteen countries.
Thirdly, we must look at the differences between the Headline Goal and what each country can provide. We may not have enough between the fifteen countries which will have to make an additional effort to meet the proposed needs. How can we do this? This should be decided by a Conference of the fifteen countries to look at the gap between what we want and what we have and to see how to distribute what we need among the fifteen Member States.
Madam President, the timetable must ensure that, by December of this year during the French presidency, the process can be completed with a major conference of forces from all the countries to ensure that the needs and capacities match. We will then be able to say truthfully that we have a plan of what we must do between the end of the year 2000 and the year 2003 which is the date we have set for having this capacity available. This is what we are doing and we are committed to this. We have worked hard in recent months and weeks and will continue to do so for the rest of this year during the Portuguese presidency, which is clearly carrying out excellent work, and during the French presidency which will undoubtedly continue working with the same speed and skill as it has demonstrated on other occasions.
I would like to say that in the meantime there will be at least four European Councils, those in Lisbon and Feira and two during the French presidency. On these four occasions, the Heads of Government will also be ready to continue examining these issues so that we do not lose the momentum and so that, by the year 2003, we are able to deploy what we have agreed, if necessary. Madam President, we are therefore working on this issue with determination, energy and the full support of all the governments and all the Heads of Government.
I have two further points to make on this process. The European Union must carry out this whole operation in collaboration with the third countries to which I have referred which, although geographically in Europe, are not members of the European Union. We have to work with these countries and involve them so that if such a crisis arises, which I hope will not be the case, all forces and all countries will be more than welcome. Secondly, we have to be able to establish a smooth and transparent relationship with NATO. The operations to be carried out in the future will be of three types. The first type will be operations in which European forces are involved within the framework of NATO. The second will be operations involving European forces and directed by them, but using the means and infrastructure of NATO. The third will be operations in which the European forces act alone. In the first and second types we will need to cooperate with NATO and must therefore establish a transparent, positive and confident relationship between ourselves and NATO, as appropriate, which will be good for both the Alliance and ourselves.
Madam President, I have talked about the military capacity which we are ready to provide, the timetable which we want to apply and what has been achieved in recent months. However, we must not forget that these crisis operations must be tackled from a civilian front as well. As far as possible, we are also providing or trying to provide solutions to any humanitarian crises and public order crises such as those which are currently unfortunately occurring in Kosovo and the Balkans. We are working in this direction with the Commission and Commissioner Patten. On Saturday morning I will meet with all the Ministers for Home Affairs of the fifteen Member States to try and make them see the need to mobilise a police force as well. There are times when a crisis which started out with a military need develops so that, after a few months, a police force is needed rather than a military force. Then, in the final moments of the crisis, it is perhaps courts or bodies to create democratic institutions which a country may need more than police. In this respect we are also working closely and positively with the Commission.
I am not going to say much more on these issues. Many other events have taken place in recent weeks which I should like to mention, such as in Kosovo, the Middle East and Chechnya. There are also many other issues which I should like to discuss with you. However, I would prefer, Madam President, to stop at this point and allow questions to be asked so that I have time to answer them.
However, before this happens, I must tell you about a telephone conversation which I had a few hours ago with the Council of Europe representative on the subject of Chechnya. Mr Gil-Robles returned this morning from Chechnya where he visited Grozny. When we spoke he gave me his initial impressions which are not good, as you can imagine. The situation in the refugee camps in Ingushetia is poor and deteriorating. In most cases there is no hot food during the day as the Russian authorities are failing to provide this and are leaving this work to the non-governmental organisations. In Grozny, there are now approximately 20 000 people in a desperate situation who have to walk miles and miles to get something to eat. Yet there is one positive point which I must share with you. Mr Gil-Robles told me that, when talking with the Acting President and the Foreign Affairs Minister last night, the Russian authorities had agreed to allow Council of Europe representatives to be involved in the humanitarian mission which is in Grozny at the moment and which is being directed by the Russian authorities. The latter were also in negotiation with the Chairman-in-Office of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe to allow OSCE representatives to be involved as well, if feasible. These are the only positive aspects which I can tell you about at the moment. I hope that in the next few hours we will have more information from Commissioner Gil-Robles and, in particular, better news from the Russian authorities.
Madam President, this brings me to the end of my speech. I would just like to repeat what I said at the beginning. I am delighted to be participating in the work of this House and to be informing you about the work which is being carried out collectively by all the countries and with the Commission. This work has one clear objective of allowing our European Union to participate as effectively as possible in the international sphere in peacekeeping operations. Europe does not want to make war anywhere but rather to cooperate so that peace and stability can be achieved throughout the world.
Much has happened since the last time I was here to talk about foreign and security policy issues in our continent. Sometimes we may feel that too much has happened. This afternoon I should like to share with you some ideas, particularly on the Common Foreign and Security Policy. The world has certainly moved on significantly in recent months and many events have occurred. However, I will wait for question time to give specific answers to any questions you may have for me.
In recent months, since the last time I appeared before you, important events have occurred in this House and also in the European Union. I would remind you of two of these events, one of which is very dear to you all as members of this Parliament, and particularly to the President. These are the opening of the Intergovernmental Conference and the starting of negotiations with the future members of the European Union. The events in Kosovo and the Balkans in general have certainly stirred our hearts and minds. There are also important issues at stake in the Middle East in which the President of this House played a major role on her recent trip. Certain important steps have been taken to secure progress in the summit between Europe and Africa in which I was pleased to participate in cooperation with the Portuguese presidency. A vital meeting has also taken place in Portugal, in Vilamoura, with the eighteen countries of Latin America to try and develop a deeper relationship between the European Union and Latin America. Chechnya has also been one of our main concerns and I will speak briefly on this at the end, in the light of an important conversation which I had this morning with the Council of Europe representative, Mr Álvaro Gil-Robles, on his recent visit to the region. However, I realise that you asked me here to talk to you more specifically about foreign policy and particularly security policy in Europe since Helsinki. I will speak of this briefly. If you wish to ask questions at the appropriate time, I will be pleased to answer them.
The Helsinki Summit under the Finnish presidency took place a little over two months ago. Decisions were taken at this summit which are fundamental for foreign and security policy in our continent. These were essentially of three types which I will describe. The first was the decision to establish within the European Union three committees for decision making relating to crisis management. The first is a political and security committee, the second is a military committee representing the Chiefs of Staff of the fifteen Member States and the third committee is to make decisions on the European Union’s relations with third countries and other organisations. This basically involves relations between the European Union and the Atlantic Alliance and relations between the European Union and those countries which, although geographically in Europe, are not part of the European Union, or at least not at the moment.
I will restrict myself to these three points in order to bring you up to date with events.
Firstly, with regard to the decision-making bodies, the Political and Security Committee met for the first time this morning, 1 March 2000. This committee was established by the last General Affairs Council. Therefore, two months after the Helsinki declaration and decision, a Political and Security Committee meeting has taken place for the first time within the European Union. I was able to attend this meeting this morning and met with the representatives at lunch. You can be satisfied with the progress made. The fifteen countries have appointed diplomatic experts at ambassador level in order to tackle one of the most important issues which we will face in the coming months.
Secondly, the Military Committee, which represents the various Chiefs of Staff of the fifteen countries, will hold its first meeting on 7 March which will be just over two months after the Helsinki declaration. This Military Committee, as you can imagine, will have various duties. In the interim stage, its basic duty will be to advise the Council and myself and to take initial decisions on how to set up the final bodies which we will, of course, try to have in place by the end of this year or the beginning of next.
Thirdly, the Military Staff will represent senior military personnel from the fifteen countries. Together with myself, this staff will form the civil and military secretariat whose task will be to prepare, with the assistance of the Military Committee, any operation needing to be organised in due course in the context of crisis management within the European Union. This crisis management will not be a strictly military affair but the military representatives and the Military Committee will be responsible for advising on the logistics of any humanitarian operations which may require the involvement of military forces. Mozambique is surely an excellent current example of how intervention may be required in terms of military logistics, not for military purposes, but with strictly humanitarian ends. We are therefore working diligently in this respect. Madam President, if, a few months ago when I had the pleasure of appearing before you for the first time, I had told you that I would be able to announce on 1 March 2000 that the first meeting of the Political Committee had been held today, that the Military Committee would be up and running within a week after that and that tomorrow the first members of the Military Staff would start to arrive at the building which we are to use, many of you would surely have thought that the High Representative was going mad. We are not mad. What we have done is to work long and hard, with determination and, without a shadow of a doubt, with the support not only of yourselves but also of the Heads of State and Government of the countries which you represent. Few initiatives within the European Union can have been progressed with such determination, drive and commitment as has been achieved in crisis management since Helsinki. In less than two months we have established the mechanics for cooperation with the Commission. I must thank Commissioner Patten who is here today for his support and the tremendous energy that he has also invested in trying to ensure that all these issues could be settled in such a short time.
I will now move on to the second issue which I should like to discuss with you. We have already looked at the bodies which we have set up but we also have a fundamental obligation in terms of our credibility. Europe must be able to provide the military capacity to act in times of crisis. I must repeat that the European Union will not be using this military capacity to make war but to bring peace. It will participate in crisis management in order to help where there is war or situations of conflict, to re-establish calm and to take the heat out of these situations and also to avoid them. As you may recall, it was in this respect that the Helsinki Summit intelligently agreed to form a force of 60 000 soldiers from all the Member States. It will be possible for this force to be deployed at any given moment within 60 days, or two months, to prevent a crisis and for it to remain in action to prevent conflict for a period of one year. This is a major operation and an important objective but I can say that we are in a position to meet this challenge which the Heads of State and Government posed in Helsinki. On Monday, just two days ago, in Sintra, a beautiful city very close to Lisbon, the Defence Ministers of the fifteen Member States met and took some important decisions towards implementing this Headline Goal defined in Helsinki. The proposed timetable is tight but essential and will require great determination from all of us, including this House. I will set this out in five points. Firstly, before the next General Affairs Council which will take place this month, we shall be able to define precisely the detailed and specific meaning of the Headline Goal, bearing in mind the views that the military planners may consider appropriate. To say that we will deploy 60 000 soldiers in a peacekeeping operation is not the same thing as organising an operation to achieve peace. We must therefore have considered all possible scenarios so that we can do this job and do it well. Before 24 March we will therefore have established this timetable so that the General Affairs Council can, on this date, do its job and do it well."@en1
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