Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-04-23-Speech-3-190"
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"en.20080423.19.3-190"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Mrs Ferrero-Waldner is unable to attend this meeting. On her behalf and on behalf of the Commission, I would like to say a few things about Burma.
In a couple of weeks, on 10 May, the Burmese people will be asked to approve or reject a constitution. The European Union and its partners believe that in the preparation of the draft constitution there was insufficient involvement of the various political forces and ethnic groups that exist in the country. The ruling junta has done exactly as it pleases in this process.
As a consequence, the constitution stipulates that 25% of the members of parliament will be appointed from the military while the remaining 75% will be elected. It is possible that Aung San Suu Kyi may be able to vote in the elections scheduled for 2010, and perhaps even stand as a candidate, but the regime seems to want to prevent her from becoming President of the Union of Myanmar some day. China, India and ASEAN have some influence: their main concerns are the country’s stability as well as trade relations and investment.
With the assistance of discreet Chinese diplomacy, Mr Gambari, the UN Special Envoy, was unable to open up the political process any further and he stated that he was going to concentrate on economic, social and humanitarian issues.
Given the absence of tangible projects, on 29 April the General Affairs Council will discuss all the possible operations the European Union could carry out to influence the situation in Burma. I would like to stress that the European Union’s aim is to promote a balanced approach to the Burmese issue; above all we want objective results. On 19 November 2007 the Council adopted a version of the common position which introduced new sanctions. The EC Regulation entered into force on 10 March and its annual review is due to take place at the end of this month.
The European Union’s sanctions reflect our dissatisfaction with the slow rate of progress towards democracy, the persistent detention of numerous political prisoners and the violation of fundamental freedoms. Nevertheless, the impact of the sanctions must be examined regularly to ensure that they are having a direct impact on the members of the regime and their resources. The Commission has established assistance programmes under the general cooperation policy and these focus on health and education. I am pleased to note that the European Parliament has expressed its support for these measures under its right of scrutiny.
This is in addition to ECHO’s humanitarian aid to assist neighbouring countries and the Burmese refugees in the region. We continue to support Mr Gambari’s mission. The European Union is part of the ‘Group of Friends’, which brings together in New York the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, the ASEAN Chair, India, Japan and Norway, which are all involved in monitoring the situation in Burma. The EU Special Envoy for Burma, Mr Fassino, plays a key role in supporting Mr Gambari’s mission. That is the information I wanted to pass on to you on behalf of Mrs Ferrero-Waldner."@en1
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