Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-09-06-Speech-3-146"
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"en.20060906.21.3-146"2
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".
Mr President, the conflict in Lebanon, the violence in the Palestinian Territories, the suffering of civilians in northern Israel: these past months the prospect of a comprehensive peace has seemed further off than ever, and yet, paradoxically, these conflicts – especially the misery suffered by ordinary Lebanese, ordinary Israelis and ordinary Palestinians – have once more highlighted the need for a negotiated regional solution. They are a stark and cruel reminder that security and stability cannot be imposed unilaterally without dialogue or diplomacy. This is a moment of distress and suffering in the Middle East, but I believe it is also one of opportunity, and we have to seize that opportunity.
The Lebanese population must also feel the tangible benefits of the cessation of hostilities. A Beirut-driven reconstruction process will help to strengthen the role of the Lebanese Government. For this, and in order to really start the reconstruction phase, the lifting of Israel’s air and sea blockade is crucial. I join again with Secretary-General Kofi Annan in calling for its immediate removal.
Over the longer term, the international community must remain engaged, with a focus on supporting institutional recovery and promoting Lebanese state-building efforts, including those undertaken via the national dialogue. That means pursuing the political, social and economic agenda already outlined in the EU Lebanon Action Plan. It is not an exaggeration to say that the measures we identified together before the conflict are now more important than ever.
We must also work collectively with our Lebanese counterparts to ensure that conditions for long-term stability are met, including removing the ambiguity surrounding the disarming of Hizbollah – which can only realistically be achieved as part of a process of political integration – and clarifying the status of the Shebaa farms.
We must not lose sight of the broader picture across the region. While international attention was drawn to Lebanon, the violence and suffering continued in the Palestinian territories and Qassam rockets continued to fall on Israeli towns and villages. I was in Israel with the Finnish President after the Rome Conference. We went to Haifa, where there was constant danger from rockets.
In the Palestinian territories, in order to avoid further escalation we need a return by the Palestinian militants to the ‘calm’ that held for most of 2005, the release of hostages, detainees and prisoners, as well as progress on basic issues of movement and access, which, as we know hold the key to Palestinian economic recovery and to the creation of a viable Palestinian State. This should start with the rapid re-opening of the Gaza crossings, in particular the Rafah border, supported by the EU border assistance mission. The Commission is, in principle, ready to take further action to upgrade the infrastructure and strengthen capacity on the basis of the access and movement agreement of last November.
The context must be our long-standing aim of building up the institutions of a future Palestinian State, working with the Palestinian Authority, which in turn means that the EU should be ready to respond pragmatically to the formation of a Palestinian national unity government. I repeat that we will engage with any government ready to work for peace through peaceful means.
We must not and we do not forget the plight of the Palestinian people. We have, as you know, via the temporary international mechanism, ensured access to clean water and sanitation in the Gaza Strip. We kept hospitals and healthcare centres going through the summer and we have now also provided social allowance payments that have benefited more than 600 000 Palestinians directly and many more indirectly. But with the continued political stalemate, closures and also frozen fiscal revenues, the TIM can only provide temporary relief. We cannot go on much longer like this. We must seek ways to improve access and movement to get Israel to unblock the withheld Palestinian revenues that now amount to EUR 500 million and to get the Palestinian Authority to ensure public order and security. We owe it to the parties and they owe it to their own people.
The rapid escalation of violence this summer produced no victory, only victims. We see once more the failure of military action to resolve the long drawn-out conflicts of the Middle East.
Yet the status quo – which includes the slow chipping away of the credibility of a two-state solution, continued occupation and endemic violence – is itself a recipe for instability. It is also a recipe for interference by third parties and radicalism, fuelled by injustices, either perceived or real.
There is, then, really only one choice: we need to renew the political perspective upon which the peace process depends, including for example our position on the primacy of the 1967 borders. We must do everything possible to bring all the parties back to the negotiating table. By focusing on some concrete and pragmatic measures that can bring about some positive and tangible results, we can help to create the appropriate climate and facilitate a re-engagement between the parties.
It is specifically by mobilising the very considerable resources of the European Union, from the political and security to the technical, economic and financial, and by deploying them in close cooperation with the rest of the international community, that we may be able to put the peace process back on its feet.
Decisive action is needed to get the parties back on track towards a negotiated peace. I have called for an early meeting of President Abbas and Prime Minister Olmert. I hope they can address the issue of hostages and detainees, as well as other pressing questions of violence, access and finances.
It is time for Israel and Lebanon to establish channels for dialogue, and for Syria to be brought back into the equation, as they show readiness to play their part in the implementation of the relevant Security Council resolutions. Iran must also take its responsibility and demonstrate its readiness to contribute to peace and stability in the region.
Many ideas have been floated on a comprehensive approach to peace in the Middle East. The Arab League initiative in particular deserves our full attention. At the Gymnich meeting last weekend, many voices called for greater EU leadership in the Middle East. I believe they are right. We have to turn the tragic events of this summer into an opportunity for a long-term settlement of the still open conflicts in the region. Our credibility, and that of the Quartet and the UN, is at stake.
As the President-in-Office said, the European Union is playing an unprecedented role. Europe is fully engaged with Lebanon and determined to play a strong role in supporting the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701 and in finding lasting peace for the region. EU Member States are making a decisive contribution to the expanded UNIFIL peacekeeping force in support of the rapid extension of the Lebanese Government’s authority throughout Lebanon. The European Union is at the forefront of diplomatic efforts to remove the continuing air and sea blockades of Lebanon.
From the outset of the conflict, the European Commission has been very active on the ground, supporting our partners and their people when they most needed us. Over the past six weeks, the Commission has mobilised and coordinated a very important European response to the urgent needs caused by the conflict. From the second week of the conflict onwards, we provided rapid humanitarian assistance. I was glad and grateful to learn that Parliament had agreed to our request to mobilise further resources from the emergency reserve. This will allow ECHO to continue its action in support of essential early recovery, notably for water, sanitation and housing, thus bringing our total humanitarian support to over EUR 50 million.
The Commission also helped to coordinate and support evacuation efforts, providing EUR 11 million in support of the evacuation of third-country nationals caught up in the conflict, in response to a request from the Foreign Minister of Cyprus to provide urgent assistance to help launch this operation quickly.
On the ground, the Commission also played an important role in assessing the situation and setting up the first coordination exercise among donors. We are already working with the Lebanese Government, as well as with the United Nations and the World Bank, to ensure that in this post-conflict phase this coordination will be led and informed by the Lebanese themselves – it is a question of ownership.
The Commission has also responded to the environmental disaster and has supported the Lebanese Government through the Community Civil Protection Mechanism in order to tackle the huge environmental damage. Now we are working to assess and to address the needs relating to the reconstruction of Lebanon with a view to restoring its infrastructure, and promoting economic recovery, social development and political cohesion.
Last week at the Stockholm Conference, I announced a package of EUR 42 million to support early recovery until the end of the year. This brings the Commission’s contribution so far to just over EUR 100 million. I believe the European Commission has shown that it is ready to act and to act quickly.
The European Union’s contribution to meeting specific and immediate needs is crucial in order to support the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701 and to support a lasting settlement to the conflict between Israel and Hizbollah that has for too long destabilised Lebanon and also threatened Israel. The Middle East needs a strong, sovereign, unified and politically independent Lebanon, able to consolidate the fragile peace that has returned and to contain the very real risk of spill-over of tension that remains."@en1
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