Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-01-18-Speech-3-409"
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"en.20060118.24.3-409"2
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".
Mr President, first of all I should like to greet my colleague Mr Verheugen, who is behind the neighbourhood policy. It is a happy coincidence that he is here today.
Many of you will know that our assistance to Belarus is characterised by a two-track approach. There is also a strategy for more democratisation and human rights to meet the needs of the population at large, and a decentralised programme. That means new funding for support to democratisation, which is available under the EIDHR and direct work, for instance as regards the radio station and the possibility of directly influencing information through our independent broadcasting to Belarus. That is already under way. But we are also working for higher education and for training, if you bear in mind the closure of the university in Minsk and our work in Vilnius.
The whole question of the Transnistrian conflict has been mentioned. In line with the commitment in the action plan, we have taken a much higher profile in supporting the mediation process. Since October 2005 we have tried to work, together with the US, as observers. We now have a special representative for Moldova, Ambassador Jacobovits de Szeged, who is working for a solution to the Transnistrian conflict. In this connection we set up the Moldovan-EU border assistance mission on 1 December. It is designed to assist Moldova and Ukraine in ensuring transparent management of their common border, thus stepping up cooperation on border issues and trying to combat corruption and the misleading of customs.
I disagree with those who say that the Barcelona Summit was a failure. I really regret the media reports about Barcelona. I was there from the very beginning until the very end. I can tell you that Barcelona was excellent in its substance. There is a report on migration. Please read it. There is a common position on combating terrorism. There is the substance that the Commission, in our communication, brought forward in April. One should look at why various heads of state did not attend. For instance, it may have been somewhat difficult for the King of Morocco to go to Spain because of the differences they still have. King Abdullah II of Jordan had to change his government. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria was in a hospital in Paris and still is, as far as I know. President Mubarak had just had elections in Egypt and was not in the best of conditions to go to Barcelona. However, many prime ministers attended and it is they who have to implement policy.
Twinning and TAIEX, the two excellent instruments that have helped the enlargement countries a great deal, are also there for the neighbourhood countries, and we will use them.
There were many other questions, but I cannot go into more detail now owing to time constraints. However, if those questions are raised again in the Committee on Foreign Affairs then I would be pleased to answer them.
Secondly, I should like to repeat that I am very appreciative of the very broad support for the report by Mr Tannock and for the neighbourhood policy. It is indeed a very broad policy and it was therefore a broad discussion. This is a policy directed towards the EU’s neighbours in the East, but also towards its neighbours in the Mediterranean. I will come to that in a moment.
On the European perspective, it is clear that the neighbourhood policy is one that is distinct from enlargement, but at the same time I should also say that the future is not set in stone. At this stage we have a policy totally distinct from enlargement. I could not be clearer in distinguishing and defining that policy.
There is also a regional perspective. This is very clear, for instance, in the Mediterranean process, Euromed. It is regional and the neighbourhood policy is the bilateral, complementary part of it, so the two work together. For instance, we have always very strongly supported the south-south Agadir Cooperation between the countries.
Naturally, with regard to the East, that aspect can still be broadened. There is still a lot to be done. However, I can also tell you that during the energy crisis the regional dimension was also apparent. We have also very much enhanced, helped and encouraged Ukraine to help Moldova in the very times it has experienced recently.
In the energy field as a whole we are trying to work towards an integrated energy market. In the Mashreq there is an integrated gas market. There is also the cooperation between Palestine and Israel, which is at least aimed at more effective integration.
Let me answer a few specific questions. Many have been asked here. First, the inclusion of the southern Caucasus countries in the neighbourhood policy – something originally demanded by the European Parliament – is very welcome. The report suggests fully utilising the ENP to promote inter-state confidence building. That is very important. It is crucial for the southern Caucasus countries to create stability. I agree with everyone who has said that we have to promote and reinforce the currently-frozen conflict solution in those countries. That is what we are trying to do.
The development of the ENP, as regards the southern Caucasus, remains a high priority. You all know that technical missions have been going to those countries in order to negotiate the action plans, notably because we also want to contribute to regional stability and reinforce EU support for resolving the conflicts there. We know that this will take time, but it is highly important that we are fully engaged in it.
Another question referred to Belarus. To date the Commission has been represented through its delegation in Kiev, which is accredited to Belarus. I have requested, as a first stage, that a regionalised delegation mission be established in Belarus, headed by a chargé d’affaires under the head of mission of Kiev. I am still awaiting a positive reply from the Belarusian authorities. However, my understanding is that if we have a delegation there then we can work much more closely with the government in Minsk and try to reinforce our own criteria."@en1
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