Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-04-10-Speech-3-038"
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"en.20020410.2.3-038"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, I must first congratulate the rapporteur, Mr Esteve, on his wide-ranging and detailed report, which covers each and every one of the concerns and uncertainties regarding Euro-Mediterranean cooperation.
Re-launching the Barcelona Process is more necessary than ever in the interests of peace and stability. This should involve strengthening Euro-Mediterranean dialogue. We need to tackle crucial issues such as the need to promote democratic values and fundamental rights, so flagrantly disregarded in the conflict in the Middle East. Other factors to be considered include the terrorist threat and matters relating to economic cooperation, the environmental aspects of development, emigration and drug trafficking.
I shall focus on just a few areas in the short time available to me. Setting up a free trade area might seem the obvious way of stimulating the economy and ensuring that the people of the southern shores of the Mediterranean are not dying of starvation whilst on its northern shores we are being killed by cholesterol. It is important to ensure however that such a free trade area does not become a time bomb that would destroy all the efforts made by countries in southern Europe to achieve genuine convergence and genuine cohesion, something they do not yet enjoy.
The far-reaching changes anticipated within the European Union should be taken into account when establishing a free trade area. I refer to the reform of the common agricultural policy and to enlargement. Trade in agricultural products is both necessary and useful, but caution is called for.
It is important to promote political dialogue amongst our Mediterranean partners, in addition to dialogue between them and the Union. It does not seem logical to strengthen the Association Agreement without strengthening the South-South dialogue. Closed border situations in diplomatic relations cannot continue. International agreements must be complied with for the coastal nations to be in a credible position in relation to the Union. This is certainly true of the potentially explosive situation in the Western Sahara.
Further, the need to combat terrorism should not be used as a weapon or an excuse for doing away with a political opponent or an enemy. Yasser Arafat has to be present as a recognised interlocutor if peace is to be achieved. Following the attacks on 11 September, dialogue and mutual understanding have become essential. Those attacks resulted in a deep divide between the two cultures. This has to be bridged. Cultural and social exchanges must therefore be encouraged, through the promotion of mutual information by means of shared means of communication such as Euro-Mediterranean television.
In conclusion, the important role the regions in southern Europe are already playing and will continue to play with regard to Euro-Mediterranean cooperation should not be overlooked."@en1
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