Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-01-29-Speech-3-109"
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"en.20030129.5.3-109"2
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"Madam President, Parliament has long been concerned about the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Great Lakes Region in Africa in general. Fortunately, armed conflict in the region has ended. It is now time to launch the process of reconstruction.
The future of the Democratic Republic of Congo and peace in that country depend on establishing democracy and sustainable development. As regards establishing democracy, we trust the Pretoria Agreement will prove an effective measure and will be implemented in sensible stages. The Pretoria Agreement is truly an all-encompassing and inclusive agreement. An all-embracing system of democracy can only be established if all associations and political groupings are included in the process. This is especially important in the Great Lakes Region where a breakdown in social order was the root cause of the wars that laid waste to the region.
I welcome the meeting of the General Affairs Council held in Brussels yesterday and also the Commission’s decision to send a significant amount of humanitarian aid to the worst affected areas.
A number of major problems are still outstanding, however. They must be resolved to assure the future of the region. Such problems can only be tackled through sound political institutions, once implementation of the agreement is under way. The major problem I have in mind is that of a system of justice. Impunity is incompatible with democracy and there can be no peace without a system of justice. In this connection, I would like to table an amendment to indent 4 tomorrow. I would like to replace the phrase referring to other places, when these acts have been committed with one referring to other places, including the acts committed.
The other element crucial to the future of the Democratic Republic of Congo is sustainable development. The countries and the companies of the European Union have a key role to play in this process. Companies can play their part by adopting an ethical code of conduct demonstrating commitment to sustainable development. Countries can be involved by establishing measures to limit the importation of goods of dubious origin.
The Group of the Party of European Socialists will relentlessly pursue its campaign demanding transparency and ethical standards from multinational companies in the developing world. In this regard, we attach great importance to compliance with rules on child labour, the ILO labour standards, the sustainable exploitation of resources and the OECD’s guidelines on multinational companies.
The United Nations report adopts a clear stance on the illegal exploitation of natural resources in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We hope Member States, the Commission and Parliament will all insist on implementation of the report’s recommendations."@en1
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