Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-10-24-Speech-3-375"
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"en.20071024.41.3-375"2
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".
Madam President, Commissioner, Minister, the calls for a ban on cluster bombs are getting louder and louder. Use of these bombs in summer 2006 in the Lebanon war showed the extent to which they can cause a human disaster.
We therefore need a solid Oslo Process on the basis of which the states, the NGOs, the Red Cross and the international organisations can draw up and fulfil an ambitious agenda. For the moment, Oslo has been backed by 80 countries, including many developing countries, but it is far from clear yet whether this process will eventually result in a complete ban on cluster bombs.
What is clear is that we need an integrated, comprehensive approach that has a humanitarian slant and that focuses not just on disarmament, but above all on the protection of civilians, helping them to cope with the consequences of war while ensuring that the existing stockpiles of these bombs are destroyed and that the contaminated areas are cleared.
With a number of important events coming up, such as the Vienna meeting in December and the Brussels meeting the following week, as well as 5 November, the Global Day of Action to Ban Cluster Bombs, when there will be many events around the world, what are we going to do?
In this context I would like to ask the Commission and Council representatives what we are going to do, what our position will be? What is the European Union’s position on the state of the discussions in the framework of the Convention on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons?
Are we going to have a common position of the Council in this matter? What initiatives are we developing to encourage the Member States to adopt national measures aimed at prohibiting cluster bombs? What are we doing to support third countries in terms of clearing the areas affected by these munitions, providing education on the risks and destroying the stockpiles of munitions already prohibited?
Finally, is the Commission going to consider organising an international conference on the European Union’s role in tackling the socio-economic, humanitarian and development consequences following conflicts in which these weapons have been used?
They are weapons that are a danger to both civilians and military personnel, but in practice 90% of their victims are civilians. In addition, 10% of these deadly bombs do not explode: they remain in the ground and have the same effect as landmines.
Therefore, clearing the land contaminated with these munitions is dangerous, both for the populations and for the international peacekeeping forces. These bombs are not only used for war; they act as a long-term obstacle to transport and agriculture, and they create trade barriers and obstacles to humanitarian aid.
They are thus one of the main problems affecting the development of poor countries: it is the poorest countries that are most affected by them, and in those countries the main victims are the poorest and least-educated sections of the population.
We can no longer say that bombing one’s opponents from a height of 10 000 metres and showering them with bombs that remain in the ground is an efficient way of maintaining peace or taking military action.
The deployment of peacekeeping forces and humanitarian aid are today essential to stabilise and rebuild the areas affected by conflict and these bombs now lack any justification, including from a military perspective.
Today we are going to talk to the Commission and to the Council precisely about the initiatives that have come about as a result of the widespread change of attitude among the international community towards cluster bombs.
The European Parliament has repeatedly adopted a very clear position: we want to see international regulation of a global nature prohibiting the use, production, transfer, financing and stockpiling of cluster bombs. Pending this, the EU Member States should implement unilateral actions to prohibit the use and transfer of these bombs, as many states have already done and others are preparing to do.
Commissioner, Minister, the European Parliament wants to thank the Presidency of the Council, the Commission and the Member States for their efforts to negotiate a new protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons, which deals with all the humanitarian problems associated with the use of cluster bombs. Unfortunately, however, we must recognise that very little progress has been made to date."@en1
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