Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-06-14-Speech-4-355-000"
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"en.20120614.27.4-355-000"2
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"Mr President, the Sahel is one of the poorest regions in the world. After ten years or so, climatic degradation has had severe repercussions in terms of famine and population displacement.
At the same time, it has become a no-go area where trafficking of all kinds has spread: it has become a hub for drug trafficking to Europe, and above all, trafficking in human beings and arms, and exploitation of migrating populations. The Libyan conflict and the Malian
the latter undoubtedly being in part connected with the former – have only made things worse.
All the same, this area is full of potential in terms of natural resources, but that only whets outside appetites, whether of certain states or of some big multinational companies, especially French ones. Even when that does not actually make things worse, these companies’ interests are, to say the least, far from those of the local populations, a number of them having means sometimes greater than those of the states themselves.
In March 2011, the EU set up a strategy for the Sahel that is supposed to focus around security and development issues. With regard to what has happened in Mali, we might question the relevance of the actions carried out. Some observers have even wondered whether this security policy aimed at supporting the official military forces has not, on the contrary, made things worse and, indirectly and in part, stoked rebellion in the north of the country. It would be worth exploring that issue further, but time does not allow me to do so.
We have to recognise that the EU, and France in particular, are losing influence in the regions. Libya and Algeria, for very different but related reasons, no longer play the roles they have done for a long time. New players are on the scene, starting with China, but also the United States, the South American countries, not to mention the countries of the Arabian Peninsula, which are building more and more Salafist mosques, upsetting the type of Islam – albeit moderate – practised by the local populations. This area is a powder keg and the local populations, more especially women, are its first victims.
The EU strategy for this region really must be reviewed because, for the time being, it is solving neither the development nor the security problems.
Genuine decentralisation is gradually being established under European influence. Decentralised cooperation, local development, support for a cooperative economy as recommended by the International Labour Office (ILO) should be the major themes in this reform of the EU strategy if we want to prevent this region from totally falling into chaos and if we really want to help the Sahelian population."@en1
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