Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-09-16-Speech-4-012"
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"en.19990916.2.4-012"2
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"Neil
Mr President, with your permission, indeed at the suggestion of the House, I would like to make a Commission statement on Kosovo. Naturally I value the work and the words of Mrs Pack and particularly the force and clarity with which she put a very convincing argument. I will respond properly to her report at the end of this morning’s debate.
Fourth, the European Union, and obviously the Commission, will also contribute to work in the other pillars: pillar 1 with UNHCR on humanitarian issues, pillar 2 with the UN and pillar 3 with OSCE on institution-building and democratisation.
We will strive to ensure full cooperation between the different participants where there are clear overlaps between civil administration and reconstruction.
Mr President, following the Council’s recent decision on the easing of sanctions relating to the Kosovo crisis the Commission is putting forward a proposal for the exemption of Kosovo and Montenegro from particular EC sanctions against the former Republic of Yugoslavia. The oil embargo and the flight ban will therefore be lifted.
Cooperation from all relevant authorities in Kosovo will obviously be vital in order to establish effective controls on end use and to avoid circumvention.
Mr President, in recent years fellow Europeans have again been perpetrators and victims of appalling violence and attempts at ethnic extermination, sometimes described, in a euphemism which bewilders me, as “cleansing”. As ever, the worst results of such horrors are suffered by the innocent and the effects will blight their lives for many years to come. I know this House does not need convincing, but as a direct and leading contributor to relieving suffering and rebuilding normality and as a coordinator of the efforts of others, the European Union must make the maximum possible commitment. In those and other efforts, by working with people of all ethnic backgrounds we are for them and also working for the purposes and values that bind us together. In giving help as humanitarians, we hope that we are giving an example as Europeans too.
The Commission welcomes the fact that international civil and military administrations have been established and have begun the very difficult task of rebuilding in Kosovo. It calls on all parties to respect Security Council Resolution 1244 and the military agreements and undertakings in full and hopes that complete KFOR and UNMIK deployment will be completed without great delay.
The Commission supports the creation of a democratic and multi-ethnic Kosovo and deeply regrets the continuing ethnic violence. It condemns, in the strongest terms, violence perpetrated by any ethnic group and calls for maximum efforts to secure the reconciliation and cooperation which are essential to stability and security for all in the region. The Commission’s roles in the massive efforts to restore infrastructure and civil society in Kosovo will be of interest to the House. Broadly, there are two such roles: engagement in the major reconstruction programme and collaboration in the framework of UNMIK coordinating initiatives with other international donors. Clearly the first element will be discussed, particularly as this House debates the report by Mrs Pack, and I therefore highlight just a few of the relevant elements at this juncture.
Firstly, a total budget of EUR 137 million is foreseen for 1999 under the Obnova Programme of which EUR 46 million has been committed and implementation is under way. However, the Commission counts on the active support of this Parliament, which I am sure will be forthcoming, in obtaining both the remaining EUR 92 million for 1999 and the additional funding which will be required in the coming years. At present we estimate that some EUR 500 million will be needed in 2000 and EUR 500-700 million needed in 2001 and 2002.
Secondly, efficient implementation will obviously be of crucial importance. The Commission proposes, therefore, the creation of a locally established reconstruction agency to ensure the effective application of the Community’s reconstruction programme in Kosovo.
Thirdly, the creation of the agency must clearly be well prepared and a taskforce has therefore been set up for that explicit purpose. The taskforce has programmed and is implementing the first EUR 46 million tranche of reconstruction assistance. Landmine clearance, customs and the procurement of essential supplies for rehabilitation of housing, public buildings and, in particular, Mitrovica Hospital are the main focus of attention. Later tranches will concentrate on preparing roads for winter conditions, municipal twinning in which assistance from Member States is being requested, and subsequently public utilities, public buildings, economic reconstruction and institution-building.
The second element of the Commission’s involvement goes beyond the implementation of Community assistance and extends to the wider international effort in Kosovo. It naturally includes a variety of activities. I refer to some of them for purposes of illustration. Firstly with the other participants in reconstruction and the major international financial institutions, the Commission is involved in damage and needs assessment. Indeed the Commission is conducting the only province-wide methodological assessment of physical damage. The initial results of that exercise relating to damage in housing and local infrastructure were issued at the conference arranged by the Commission and World Bank donors last July. A more comprehensive report, focusing on large-scale infrastructure, will be completed by the end of this year.
Secondly, the Commission shares responsibility for donor mobilisation with the World Bank and at that July conference of donors over EUR 2 billion was pledged. A second conference is scheduled for next month.
Thirdly, as the House is aware, the European Union has a special responsibility for reconstruction within the United Nations Civil Administration, UNMIK. These activities are organised in the so-called Pillar 4 which is headed by a Commission official, Mr Dixon. Thanks to the strenuous efforts made by Mr Dixon and his colleagues, Pillar 4 is working well, though faced with enormous problems due to the legal and institutional vacuum in Kosovo. The current priorities are putting the banking system in order, working closely with other pillars and KFOR to provide essential supplies, shelter and transport in advance of winter, preparing with the World Bank and the IMF a simplified budget and working on fiscal issues and drawing up with the World Bank a medium-term investment framework to be presented to the next pledging conference."@en1
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