Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-02-12-Speech-4-006"
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"en.20040212.1.4-006"2
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".
Madam President, I would like to apologise to the honourable Member at the outset for missing the first minute of his speech. But I would like to say how much I agreed with the rest of it, particularly what he said about the continuing priority that we must give to Afghanistan. I also agree very strongly with what he said about the commitment, the dedication and the courage of some of those who are implementing our programmes in Afghanistan.
As I am sure the House is aware, in May 2003 the Afghan Government adopted a robust anti-narcotics policy embracing alternative livelihoods, institution building, effective law enforcement and demand reduction. The Commission has worked closely with the Afghan Government, the UK – the lead donor on anti-narcotics – and the UN to help develop and implement this strategy.
In particular, in 2003 the Commission committed EUR 9 million to promote alternative livelihoods in the Eastern region; EUR 3 million to reinforce border control along the Afghan-Iran border; and EUR 65.5 million to support the police in delivering effective law enforcement across Afghanistan. In addition, the wider EUR 100 million committed for rural development for 2003-2004 will help to provide long-term legitimate employment for those currently involved in poppy production. This underlines the huge importance we attach to curbing the drug economy. I have asked Commission services to report back on how this will be taken forward following the Drugs Conference a few days ago on 8 and 9 February. I hope to have substantive discussions on this when I return to Kabul with the Ministerial Troika next week.
Building a secure Afghanistan will not be achieved overnight. We all know that the road ahead is far from easy. But we cannot afford to let reconstruction fail in Afghanistan and it is critical that the international community underlines its strong and continued support for President Karzai at the upcoming International Conference.
I would like to finish by thanking this House for its unwavering commitment to Afghanistan, especially as regards the budget. I look forward to building on this over the coming year and to informing the House, in due course, of the conclusions I arrive at after my next visit to Afghanistan.
I very much welcome this opportunity to discuss Afghanistan in the week before I go there again and in the run-up to the most challenging goal set in the Bonn Agreement of 2001 – the free and fair election of a democratic government in Afghanistan. There was enormous optimism at Bonn about building a strong and democratic Afghanistan, and delivering a peace dividend to the whole population. Since then there have been huge strides forward, but there are still formidable challenges ahead of us.
Last year I suggested that Afghanistan was at a critical crossroads and that the international community should redouble its efforts to help President Karzai extend his authority across the country. It is increasingly clear that this also means stamping out opium poppy production. The 2003 UN opium poppy survey makes extremely disturbing reading: not only has production risen by 6% from the bumper levels seen in 2002, but cultivation has spread into new areas – it now affects almost 90% of provinces. This pernicious trade – valued at about EUR 2.5 billion – undermines the efforts to build a functioning plural democratic state and also fuels ongoing instability and conflict.
But before discussing how the international community is working with the Afghan Government to tackle this, I would like to highlight what Afghanistan has achieved in the last twelve months. Firstly, a new constitution – which recognises women as equal to men – has been agreed by the Constitutional Loya Jirga. Next, the process of disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration has started, and there have been some encouraging early results on the reduction of heavy arms in Kabul and the Panshir valley. There has also been a start to the election registration process, though we need to speed up the pace.
On the economic front, GDP growth raced ahead by 30% in 2002, with a figure of 20% expected in 2003. The new currency introduced in late 2002 has remained stable and the Afghan Government has succeeded in increasing the flow of tax revenues to Kabul.
The international community has also continued 'to do more' than we promised at Tokyo. Total European Union commitments in 2003 exceeded EUR 835 million, of which just over EUR 300 million came from the Commission. As in 2002, over 70% of the Commission’s support has been contracted in year, which is an impressive track record by any standards.
The Commission’s development programme has ensured that health services are delivered in six provinces, covering 20% of the population; travel times on the Kabul-Jalalabad road have already been cut by up to half, and work to fully reconstruct the road is now beginning. Key public sector workers – including doctors, teachers and the police – are back at work. The rural economy continues to grow, reflecting the provision of improved seed, animal vaccination and the widespread rehabilitation of irrigation structures. De-mining continues to enable people to return to their own homes. In addition, funding from ECHO of EUR 127 million has helped to support the return of 2.5 million refugees to Afghanistan since 2002.
However, Afghanistan’s future depends critically on security. The escalating violence in 2003 has, as the honourable Member said, claimed the lives of aid workers, ISAF troops and many Afghan citizens. It has left large parts of the south and south-east off limits for international staff. By the end of 2003, EUR 13 million of Commission projects in high-risk areas had been temporarily suspended. We must recognise that insecurity and burgeoning opium poppy production are two sides of the same coin. Without better security, reconstruction will certainly stall, and we will find ourselves struggling to hold open and credible elections. So I strongly welcome Member States' engagement in the Provincial Reconstruction Teams, as well as their continued support to ISAF. I strongly hope that NATO will be able to provide more troops.
I also welcome the role that France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom are playing in helping the Afghan Government to build an efficient army, police force, and judicial system, as well as to implement an effective anti-narcotics policy. Without stronger institutions and better law enforcement, we will get nowhere in the fight against drugs. This is exactly why the Commission committed an extra EUR 50 million to support the police in late 2003, and why we will continue to play our part in delivering security, including tackling opium production."@en1
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