Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-12-17-Speech-3-028"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20031217.2.3-028"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:translated text |
".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to make a number of points on the issue of conflict prevention, management and resolution in Africa, a matter which has been at the heart of the Italian Presidency’s work regarding the African continent throughout these six months.
The Artemis operation – the first European-led military operation to take place outside the training ground – showed the effectiveness of a rapid intervention with trained, well-organised forces, which can stop a crisis situation of conflict and then allow a larger United Nations force with an appropriate mandate to address larger stabilisation tasks. The forces of the subregional African organisations too can play this role of rapid intervention to resolve a crisis with a view to being replaced by the slower, better-organised United Nations machine. This could be the case in Burundi, where the first wholly African peacekeeping force is currently operating, which could be replaced by the United Nations within a year from now.
Thus far, we have mentioned specific measures carried out by the European Union under pressure of crises and humanitarian emergencies. The most remarkable innovation is, however, the creation of a Peace Facility – allocated EUR 250 million and financed by the EDF – decided by the Council of the European Union on 18 November 2003. In this way, the European Union is giving itself a dependable rapid-intervention instrument which ties in with the strategic partnership relationship linking the European Union to Africa and with the principle of African ownership. The peace facility will make it possible, with all the guarantees provided by decision-making procedures, to fund a specified range of activities which are part of peacekeeping operations carried out by African forces. The request for this submitted by the Maputo African Union Summit thus met with a response from the European Union which made good the commitments and promises so often reiterated.
For at least a decade, along with the United Nations, we have been urging Africa to take control of its future and, with the support of the international community, to break the vicious circle of conflict and poverty. Now that the African leaders themselves have taken up the cry, as is shown by the new philosophy which underpins the creation of the African Union and Nepad, implementing the promises with appropriate decisions becomes a matter of political credibility. If wisely implemented, the Peace Facility could prove to be one of the most important instruments for the future of relations between Europe and Africa.
In conclusion, I would like to stress that, in the field of conflict prevention, management and resolution in Africa, substantial developments in planning and operation have been mapped out. We are trying to establish these developments through the revision of the base document, on which the overall action of the European Union in the sector has been based thus far: I refer to the European Union Common Position concerning conflict prevention, management and resolution in Africa of 14 May 2001.
The operation we have launched, which is underway, calls on us to integrate the current common position, updating it, first and foremost, with a reference to combating terrorism and organised crime, which are fuelled by situations of conflict; therefore, with a firm reference to the role of civil society and, within civil society, the role of women; then, with particular focus on the economic dimension of the conflicts themselves and, in this regard, on the unlawful exploitation of natural assets; lastly, with a reference to the very serious situation of what are known as ‘failed States’, or territories with no control or public institutions which can exercise the necessary authority and provide basic services.
This is an ongoing operation, which we entrust to the future Irish Presidency and which will firmly establish the European Union’s overall approach to the major issue of conflict prevention, management and resolution in Africa.
The most urgent task would, in actual fact, appear to be stabilising the continent, in other words preventing or eliminating armed conflict, where it is present. Indeed, everyone agrees that only by creating conditions of peace and security across the board can we promote development. Without these conditions, the eradication of poverty, the promotion of human rights, high-quality employment and environmental protection are empty dreams or short-lived achievements. There is to be no bartering of development for peacekeeping operations – we simply need to adopt an integrated approach. The United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, made this quite clear when he said at the African Union Summit in Maputo that a comprehensive approach is needed which focuses in turn on peace and security, human rights and democracy, reconstruction and development.
The first people to become aware of this were the African Governments themselves, which, already in the programme document for the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, stated that war and underdevelopment are two aspects of the same problem and fuel each other. On the basis of this hypothesis, they have set up the necessary bodies to prevent, manage and resolve their crises, in particular the Peace and Security Council and the joint committee of the largest African States.
The new political element which must be stressed is this new determination on the part of the Africans to shoulder their responsibilities in the field of peace and security too on the basis of the principle of ownership. This is an attitude which the European Union has consistently encouraged and supported with measures seeking to strengthen African capacity, at both pan-African level and subregional level, through ECOWAS, IGAD and SADC.
In the face of this changing political situation, the Italian Presidency has worked actively to encourage a European response that would be able to meet the challenge. To this end, we promoted, first and foremost, a theoretical reflection on conflict prevention, management and resolution in Africa, through a research seminar organised in Rome on 28 July. We reinvigorated the EU-Africa dialogue, which had come to a halt after the postponement of the Lisbon Summit, through two troika meetings, the second of which was held on 10 November in Rome. This reinvigoration focused principally on the issues of peace and security, on which substantial convergence with the Africans was recorded. Lastly, we implemented ongoing measures to support the peace processes underway in Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia/Eritrea, North Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, and so on. We sustained constant diplomatic activity, which took the form, not least, of a series of numerous EU Ministerial Troika missions to Africa.
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the results – the short-term results, at least – are largely positive. The real-time management of the Liberian crisis, both at political and diplomatic level and at financial level, contributed decisively to bringing the conflict to an end, to the conclusion of a peace agreement and to the establishment of the current transitional government.
In the same region, now that the recovery of Sierra Leone has been consolidated, it is Côte d’Ivoire which is facing the greatest trial. Côte d’Ivoire is the real driving force of the region’s economy and it is in this country that the most important battle is being fought out. The progress made thus far is appreciable. The creation of a national reconciliation government, the adoption of an amnesty law, the agreement of 4 July 2003 between the national armed forces and the rebels, are significant stages in a process which needs to be completed by the quartering and disarmament of the troops and the extension of the State’s administration to the whole territory until the presidential elections scheduled for 2005.
The European Union has done and is continuing to do everything in its power to ensure that a way out of the present
is found, that reunification becomes irreversible and that the implementation of the Linas-Marcoussis Agreements is completed. The declarations of 22 September and 9 December, the mid-October visit of a European Ministerial Troika and the work of the European Union representative in the Monitoring Committee are evidence of this. Thanks to the rapid intervention of the French armed forces and the ECOWAS troops, it was possible to avoid open conflict. However, the need remains for a more substantial United Nations peacekeeping force, within which African troops can continue to operate. This is the request made by ECOWAS at New York, and this request must be supported by the European Union.
These references to specific conflict situations make one appreciate the determination displayed by the Africans to manage their conflicts, on the one hand, and, on the other, the huge amount of work which needs to be done in order to strengthen operating capacities, particularly those for which subregional organisations are responsible. In this sense, the EU-Africa partnership can only evolve into tripartite cooperation between the European Union, the United Nations and Africa, in which each component complements the others."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples