Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-11-06-Speech-3-079"
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"en.20021106.7.3-079"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the Commission and standing in for Commissioner Patten, who sends his apologies, I would like to make a statement on the current situation in the Middle East and on what the Commission is doing about it.
Additional financial resources are also required for the preparation of elections, and, in this regard, I hope that the Commission can count on Parliament's support. This is of great importance in terms of the ad hoc liaison meeting that is to take place in December, at which the international donor states will be discussing the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories and the state of the reform process, as well as the need for measures of support and financial aid.
Mr Solana has already spoken at length concerning the progress of the discussion on the road map being planned by the international community, represented here by the international quartet. The work you have done, Mr Solana, has been done under the most adverse conditions imaginable and no doubt also against the clock; I wish to congratulate you on it and promise you the Commission's continued support. The road map towards which we are working must incorporate a specific timetable and have as its objective the outcome outlined in the Seville Council Declaration, that is, the creation of a viable Palestinian state. I am confident in the future success of the efforts of the Presidency and of Mr Solana to this end, which involve agreement with the other international partners in the quartet on a workable solution. Yet before the road map is laid down, which it is expected to be in December, there are aspects that could even now help to reduce the tension in the situation. These are the unreserved confirmation of the two-state solution that we seek, and even more so the ending of all use of force and provocation by both sides. This would include vigorous action against terrorist organisations alongside the immediate halting of settlements and the bringing under control of settlers' incursions into land owned by Palestinian civilians.
It is equally important that the Palestinians should persevere with their efforts at reform, and the Israelis with the implementation of symbolic responses to them, such as the resumption of regular transfer payments, which they have already announced. The relaxation of restrictions on movement and easier access for humanitarian aid organisations could accentuate this positive trend.
The most recent Israeli Government reshuffle has resulted in a marked shift to the right. It remains to be seen, however, whether the effect on the peace process will actually be as is feared. In any case, the road map remains an international initiative with the prospect of long-term success in the form of a two-state solution. It is to be hoped that the new Palestinian cabinet will continue with the reform work it has started and will, with the help of the international community, not only intensify it, but also use it to bring about marked improvements in the people's conditions. It is precisely here that there are difficulties.
It has been primarily in the area of financial management that the reform process has met with its first successes. The conditions attached to the use of EU funds to support the budget have brought about consolidation and resulted in Palestinian financial arrangements becoming better controlled and more transparent. The Commission will continue to work closely with Salam Fayad, the new Palestinian Finance Minister, and will use further conditions to exert a positive influence on the reform process.
In other fields, regrettably, the reform process has come to something of a halt. This is true, specifically, of reform of the administration and of the justice system, both of which play an important part in establishing a democratic state, and preparations for the elections announced for mid-January have not got very far either. Although a chairman of the electoral commission has been appointed, many Palestinians, and also representatives of the international donor community, believe that postponement of the elections can no longer be ruled out. One of the tasks of the international Task Force will be to bring obstacles to the election preparations to the quartet's attention and suggest ways of dealing with them.
Together with Member States, the Commission continues to be fully involved in preparations for the elections, and is endeavouring to ensure that all necessary support is given when they are actually held. Neither international efforts at laying down a promising road map, nor the Palestinian Authority's efforts at reform have, however, been able as yet to bring about any improvement in the situation on the spot. On both sides, innocent people are still dying. Daily life is lived in fear of the terrible suicide bombers and of reprisals and against a backdrop of frustration and despair.
So far, it has not been possible to meet the Israeli people's need for security, or to satisfy the Palestinian people's demand for a more normal everyday life, to put an end to the restrictions on freedom of movement, or to improve the atrocious living conditions. It is the human needs involved that give great cause for concern. International observers on the spot are all agreed that the restrictions on freedom of movement and the lack of access for aid organisations have helped to bring about the present humanitarian crisis. It is quite simply not acceptable for aid missions financed by the EU to be turned back or prevented from doing their work.
Twenty-three instances of this have occurred in the last couple of weeks alone. To give just one example, on 17 October, two Commission officials were stopped on their way out of Israel, and the documents and laptops they were carrying were taken off them, being returned to them only after some considerable time. You will no doubt be well aware that the Commission has sought to have EUR 50 million released from the emergency reserve in order to be able to make additional aid available to towns and villages cut off from the outside world."@en1
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