Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-12-12-Speech-3-247"
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"en.20011212.8.3-247"2
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". – I very much welcome this report and congratulate the rapporteur, Mr Gahler, on his excellent work. I hope the House will understand if I am not able to be here until the end of the debate, but the Commission will be represented.
In reply to some of the queries in the report, I can confirm that there will of course be a clause on human rights in the agreement, as there is in all our agreements with third countries. Equally, we will include provisions on readmission of illegal immigrants, while also developing our cooperation with the Iranian authorities on the broader issues of migration.
Finally, I share the honourable Member's pre-occupation with the drugs control issue. I know that our Iranian counterparts do as well. So I expect that the agreement will also help us extend and deepen cooperation in this area. And in terms of the structure of our dialogue with Iran, I wholeheartedly support the suggestion of closer parliamentary contacts.
To conclude, let me thank Mr Gahler again for a very well-argued and balanced report on EU-Iran relations. I take note of the constructive comments, and am pleased to see that the report encourages the line pursued by the Commission, including the establishment of contractual relations with Iran. I will report back to Parliament on the progress that is made.
As a regional power, Iran has an important influence on developments in its area that has sometimes been called the arc of crisis. We in the European Union have every interest in encouraging the authorities in Teheran to use this influence constructively, to promote stability, cooperation and development in the region. And as the process of reform and liberalisation goes forward in Iran, we also have every interest to develop our bilateral relations as we tried to do with our troika visit a few weeks ago.
Over the past few years, and especially since the first election of President Khatami in 1997, the European Union has engaged in a broad dialogue with Iran. It has been useful but now we should go much further. That is why we recently presented draft directives for the negotiation of a trade and cooperation agreement. Once we have a contractual basis for our relationship, we will be in a much better position to develop exchanges not just in the economic area, but also on matters such as migration, drugs, energy and the environment.
That will also give us a sounder basis, with real shared interests, for continuing and deepening our political dialogue with Iran on regional and international issues.
We have welcomed Iran's constructive and measured response to the atrocities of 11 September, to which the honourable Member referred. Even before those terrible events President Khatami launched a very useful initiative in the UN for a Dialogue between Civilisations. I was interested myself to have an exchange with the president about the works of Nicolo Machiavelli.
I have the impression that Iran fully understands the importance of implementing UN Security Resolution 1373 in the financial fight against terrorism, the need to ratify the twelve existing anti-terrorist conventions, and the need for a comprehensive convention.
In the aftermath of 11 September and in line with the efforts of the global coalition against terrorism, there will be increased scrutiny and less tolerance of states attempting to build arsenals of weapons of mass destruction. In this regard Iran has adhered to the relevant treaties and conventions, but we want to see additional steps and increased transparency. Full compliance with these agreements is essential. We will also welcome co-operation to ensure a better future for Afghanistan under a new, broadly based administration.
We wholeheartedly support and encourage the process of reform in Iran. But unfortunately things have slipped in the last year. We share the concerns expressed by the UN Special Rapporteur, Mr Copithorne, in his recent report on human rights in Iran. So we still have to adopt UN resolutions on this subject. I believe we should explore other ways of conducting a more effective human rights dialogue with Iran, and I have begun this dialogue with the Iranian Foreign Ministry. I have repeatedly told my Iranian interlocutors that we are keen to do that, if they also show a real commitment to reform. The growing contacts of the Iranian authorities with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs Robinson, is a promising sign, as is the recent agreement between the UNDP and the Islamic Human Rights Commission on human rights covering monitoring and capacity building. A lot more can and should be done, and the Commission will watch these developments closely and contribute in whatever way we can.
The potential for EU/Iran cooperation in trade, energy and economic matters is enormous. That is recognised in our draft mandate for a trade and cooperation agreement. The discussion among Member States in the Council has already got under way and I hope it will soon lead to a decision allowing us to start negotiations. As always, there will be some difficulties on detail, but I am confident that everyone accepts that we have a strategic opportunity to develop our relationship with Iran."@en1
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