Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-12-12-Speech-3-246"
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"en.20011212.8.3-246"2
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"Mr President, I think we will get the last speakers just before the break. On 7 February this year, the Commission published a communication on relations between the EU and Iran, in which it notes that dialogue, which began in 1995, has from 1998 onwards been in the form of half-yearly consultations between the troika and the Iranian Government and has taken on a comprehensive character, including global issues such as terrorism, human rights and the proliferation of nuclear weapons, as well as regional issues and cooperation in the areas of drugs, refugees, energy, trade and investment.
I expect the Council and the Commission to take a similar line. Women have struggled to gain a number of positions in parliament, government, administration and culture, more so, perhaps, than in other neighbouring states. On the other hand, regulations on clothing are imposed on them by male exegetes of the Koran, along with much else besides. Nor are they adequately represented in many areas of society. They are quite explicitly not on an equal footing as regards many aspects of the law, for example in family law. We must – and will – treat all this as a central theme, just as we will acknowledge any progress made.
I would like, in this context, to thank all my colleagues whose amendments have further improved this report. What mattered to me was that none of the facts should be passed over in silence, but also that the words used should not unnecessarily make the commencement of dialogue more difficult. It is important in the economic sphere that it be made clear to the Iranians that fundamental reforms are needed, such as, in external terms, conformity with the standards set by the WTO and the opening-up of the market to overseas investors and their products; collaboration in combating drugs is in the interests of both parties, and changes in Afghanistan mean that we must play our part in putting an end to their transit via Iran. There is an extensive agenda for this dialogue. We in Parliament want to make contact with our colleagues in the Iranian parliament. I hope I can count on your support.
According to this communication, the EU, with about 40% of Iranian imports, is Iran's biggest trading partner, but at the same time bilateral relations are impeded by the absence of the framework that a treaty could provide. The Commission recommends development of closer relations building on the progress made in the following areas: the rule of law, minority rights, freedom of the press, legislative and economic framework conditions and Iran's role in foreign relations and its position on security issues.
Since the communication was published, President Khatami has been confirmed in office by a seventy-five per cent majority, and the world's attention has been focused on Iran's immediate neighbours by the terrorist attacks in the USA, which Iran has unambiguously condemned. The draft Council decision on negotiation guidelines for a trade and cooperation agreement with Iran, drafted by the Commission, was delivered to the Council on 20 November.
In this report, I have especially tried to shed light on Iran's internal developments in the political, economic and social spheres and to draw from them political conclusions for our attitude towards Iran. My concern was to explore the EU's interests in enhanced commercial exchanges in view of the country's wealth of raw materials, but also in political dialogue on the fight against terrorism and the trade in drugs, and our respective contributions and potential contributions to resolving the Middle East conflict.
In addition, I would particularly like to make it clear that we in this Parliament take the Commission and the Council at their word, when they take progress in the rule of law, minority rights and press freedom as their benchmark when assessing to what extent relations should be stepped up. We welcome on principle the planned trade and cooperation agreement and do not make its conclusion conditional on the prior attainment of a specified standard when it comes to the rule of law and respect for human rights.
I wish to highlight two reasons why that requirement can be dispensed with. One is that we expect the agreement to include a human rights clause comparable to the Cotonou Agreement, which will help us at any time to effectively demand adherence to the international agreements Iran has signed on this subject. The formularies on this subject in the preamble to the draft mandate, and the general reference to the final provisions on the possibility of suspension in the event of grave offences against significant elements of the treaty do not strike me as adequate.
I am, moreover, convinced that Iranian civil society is capable of implementing under its own steam the reforms appropriate to a modern and developing Islamic society. Its intellectual potential, shown by its students, press and cultural life, is clear to outsiders. Looked at as a whole, this country, with its culture and natural raw materials combined with human resources has in essence every chance of opening up to a better future. However, the fact that elements in the judiciary and the clergy find it necessary to repeatedly ban newspapers, which then often re-establish themselves under new names, shows something of its dualism and contradictions and, in the final analysis, of the still-open question of who should wield power – a question which dominates in almost every area of this society.
The most recent example of this is the disappearance of the journalist and film critic Siamak Pourzand, to which the PEN Club drew attention on 5 December. We have seen appalling photos in magazines of death sentences being carried out, as they have been to an increasing extent. There have been repeated reports of stoning being used as a method of execution, and there have been many public floggings this year, all of which indicate that ever greater effort is required to keep civil society in check.
The most recent reports by the United Nations also, and also the report of 12 November by Maurice Copithorne, the Special Representative of the Commission on Human Rights, are noticeably more critical than their equivalents in previous years, in terms of their estimate of the situation and the language they use. All this makes it, in my view, a matter of urgent necessity that we should for our part build up our contacts and thereby strengthen the forces that the majority of the population know to be behind them. By that I mean the forces that are in Parliament demanding greater freedom for the press and more rights for women; and the economic sector, which wants to demolish the encrusted structures and to promote a constructive role for Iran in the Middle East peace process. It is our desire that these forces be encouraged by parliamentary dialogue, so that they may better do justice to the task committed to them by the electorate and to the hopes and expectations of society. The contradictoriness I have mentioned runs like a thread through other areas. I gather that Iran, although not actually at the table of the Afghanistan conference in Bonn, played a very constructive role behind the scenes. I think that should definitely be mentioned to Iran's credit. Iran could, on the other hand, exert a more moderating influence on certain groups tending to seek confrontation in the Middle East. The European Parliament will not, though, do a deal on human rights in exchange for participation in the anti-terror coalition."@en1
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