Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-12-14-Speech-3-559-000"
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"en.20111214.34.3-559-000"2
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"Madam President, I welcome the European Parliament draft resolution on the implementation of the EU strategy for Central Asia. It is a timely contribution for the review of the strategy which will be undertaken over the coming year.
As regards international financial institutions, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development continues to be a leading investor, to develop the private sector primarily, and we have expanded the mandate of the European Investment Bank to cover Central Asia, with a focus on energy and environment.
We have managed to open new EU delegations in the region: in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, and hopefully also in Turkmenistan in the not too distant future.
The region more broadly continues to face difficult chapters and much remains to be done in terms of our relations with the region.
The human rights situation is of general concern, as has been pointed out by Ms Alfano, and we need to see how best to make more of our engagements in this sensitive but very important area.
As noted, we need to open delegations in all countries, which is important for increasing EU visibility and for promoting EU programmes, views and interests more efficiently. And given our admittedly limited financial resources for the region, the coordination of assistance with other international donors is crucial and has to be intensified continuously. The fact that our resources are limited has also made it increasingly important to focus our assistance, as the European Parliament report rightly points out. This is already taking place with a limited amount of focal sectors per country.
Poverty alleviation remains a key objective and the poorest countries in the region – the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan – remain the primary beneficiaries of EU assistance.
The region is diverse and, while we promote regional cooperation, notably on crucial issues such as water management, border management and drug trafficking, we have bilateral agendas with the five countries following their respective tracks, depending on individual needs and ambitions in terms of moving towards the EU and reform objectives.
With Kazakhstan, for example, we just recently opened negotiations on an enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, which will be a first for the region.
Let me conclude by saying that the European Parliament has an important role to play as we move forward in our relations with Central Asia. We strongly welcome European Parliament visits to the countries and regular interparliamentary dialogue and the increased parliamentary engagement that the report envisages. Again, we welcome Parliament’s report which provides important input for our upcoming review and I congratulate the rapporteur.
Central Asia is a region of growing importance to the European Union. The region borders Afghanistan and faces security threats with implications for the EU. These implications include terrorism, drug trafficking and other cross-border crime.
Widespread poverty in some countries and incomplete political and economic reform processes pose challenges, not only for the countries themselves, but also for regional cooperation and security. At the same time, the region is rich in resources and has the potential of diversifying energy export routes to the EU and contributing to EU energy security.
There is significant interest among the countries in the region to strengthen relations with the EU. Since the adoption of the strategy on Central Asia by the European Council in 2007, the EU has managed with limited resources, and within a relatively short time, to significantly increase its role in central Asia.
Our key role in close cooperation with the OSCE and the UN in helping the Kyrgyz Republic to overcome its crisis last year and supporting the development of a parliamentary democracy there is a good example of the importance of our increased engagement.
The strategy on Central Asia has led to other important developments worth noting. We have established regular high-level political dialogue between the EU and Central Asia regionally, at the level of foreign ministers. We have established regular human rights dialogues with all five countries. On energy, we are closer than ever to making our trans-Caspian pipeline a reality, with the participation of Turkmenistan in the southern energy gas corridor.
In the sensitive area of water, we are now engaging in water policy dialogues to improve domestic water management polices, as has been done in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus.
On education, more Central Asian students than ever are coming to the EU and the EU is heavily involved with education sector reform in several countries.
Our technical assistance programme to support border management reform and combating drug trafficking remain among the leading international programmes in the region."@en1
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