EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 2004 2009 Committee on Foreign Affairs ACTIVITY REPORT (6th Legislature: 2004 – 2009) ----------------------- 30 April 2009 AFET Secretariat CM 782818EN.doc PE 423.951 CM 782818EN.doc PE 423.951 FOREWORD BY JACEK SARYUSZ-WOLSKI, CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS (2007 – 2009) The report before you represents the culmination of the past five years (2004 – 2009) of intensive and productive activity by the Committee on Foreign Affairs. Simply looked at in terms of 'raw' statistics, the Committee's work in the course of the 6th legislature has been pretty impressive by any standards: in addition to our regular committee meetings held at least twice-monthly, we have held 72 extraordinary meetings to respond to crisis situations and issues, and prepared, debated and adopted a total of 259 reports, opinions and resolutions which were then voted on in plenary. The Committee was addressed a total of 397 times by visiting speakers from outside the EU and from within, including 176 exchanges with the Commission and the Council, notably with the High Representative for CFSP, Javier Solana (10 times), Commissioners Rehn (17 times) and Ferrero-Waldner (15 times), and all 20 EU Special Representatives over the 5-year period. Regular briefings by the Council Presidency-in-office post-GAERC or on Presidency priorities (63), as well as preparatory visits by AFET's Enlarged Bureau to the Member State holding the forthcoming Presidency (8), meetings of the Conference of Foreign Affairs Committee Chairmen (COFACC) held in the Presidency country (9), and regular bilateral meetings in Brussels between AFET and representatives of the foreign affairs and defence committees of national parliaments (6), have strengthened the Committee's contacts and involvement with each Presidency and fostered its involvement in CFSP issues. Members have also participated in ad hoc delegation visits (11) to candidate countries or to other countries which have been the object of AFET scrutiny. AFET's capacities have also grown with the creation of two new sub-committees (one for security and defence policy (SEDE), and one for human rights (DROI), to support AFET in its tasks in those areas), and of new Working Groups (one on the UN and one on the Western Balkans). At the mid-term point of the legislature, the AFET Bureau expanded from 4 to 5, to reflect the new increased membership. But what has the committee actually achieved? The raw data certainly tells its own powerful story, for example, the large number of visiting speakers from third countries attests to the high level of interest there is in interchanges with AFET. However, the ensuing report attempts to look beyond the figures and to consider how the Committee has built on the strong foundations of the previous legislature, and acquired - and used - new powers in a way which has established AFET as more of an equal partner of the Council and the Commission than ever before, and in so doing, has helped make the European Parliament a more influential global presence. We have continued to build on our work on key thematic issues (CFSP/ESDP, enlargement, the European Neighbourhood Policy, transatlantic relations, EU-UN relations, human rights and democratisation, electoral assistance), and geographical areas (the Western Balkans, Russia, the Middle East, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Central Asia, South East Asia, China, and Latin America). CM 782818EN.doc PE 423.951 At the same time, as an organ responsive to the geo-political climate, the Committee's focal points have necessarily shifted since the 5th legislature: energy security, Russia, ENP East (Ukraine, the Black Sea, and the South Caucasus) and ENP South (the Barcelona Process, Israel and Syria), and EU-UN Relations, have all come much more strongly to the fore; enlargement has continued to occupy the Committee, albeit with a new strategic focus/approach considering questions such as the scope and pace of future enlargements, which has resulted in a specific Commission report on the EU's integration capacity and provided a strong incentive to the Commission to develop the forthcoming Eastern Partnership. We have maintained our strong links with the High Representative for CFSP and the Council Presidency, and developed these still further, thereby strengthening our powers of democratic scrutiny in the domain of CFSP and our involvement in regional issues. Parliament's powers of scrutiny have been further enhanced during the 6th legislature with the introduction of a structured regular dialogue between Parliament and the Commission on strategic political priorities under the External Financial Instruments. In order to increase efficiency and ensure that Parliament could react within the deadlines foreseen, AFET organised its scrutiny at the level of specially created Working Groups (or, in the case of the IPA, of the existing Working Group on the Western Balkans), generally with the direct involvement of the relevant rapporteurs. Thanks to AFET's initiatives in this area, Parliament has become a recognised partner in the implementation of the EU assistance and co-operation instruments, thus breaking the monopoly formerly exercised by Member State governments in providing political guidance to the Commission. Another key AFET initiative in the 6th legislature has been the formalising and increasing of AFET's relations with the UN, aided by the creation of a UN Working Group. This Working Group has striven to develop strong contacts within the UN General Secretariat and UN agencies, programmes and funds and is now a recognised partner of the UN in fields such as UN reform, peacekeeping operations and election observation missions. The report which follows explores all these fields and others in greater detail, and I believe it will help to provide a clear sense of what the Committee on Foreign Affairs has attempted to do, what it has achieved, and of its continuing evolution into an ever more effective and influential entity; equally, that it will serve as a pointer for the work that still lies ahead in the forthcoming and subsequent legislatures. Before closing, I would like to thank colleagues, old and new, on the Committee, for their work, their commitment, and their support over the past five years. I would also like to pay tribute to my predecessor as chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Elmar Brok, for steering the Committee through seven and a half years (from 1999 to 2007) of always challenging times. I salute the work he has done especially on promoting a more efficient, coherent and visible CFSP, and on enlargement, and, more generally, his tireless efforts to advance AFET's – and thereby Parliament's – role and democratic scrutiny powers. Thanks are also due to the AFET secretariat, who have compiled this Activity Report, and especially to Christian Huber who, as head of the secretariat since 1999, has been a steady and ever-present hand on the AFET tiller through all the daily challenges and crises the Committee has faced. CM 782818EN.doc PE 423.951 Contents: Activity Report (6th Legislature: 2004 – 2009) Contents 1 Activities of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET): An Assessment of the 6th 3 Legislature Annex VI.1 of the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament 19 Composition of the Enlarged Bureau 20 Composition of the Secretariat 22 Statistical information: Visiting speakers by Institution/Region and EU Institution Breakdown (pie charts) 23 Parliamentary scrutiny of EU Institutions 24 Breakdown of Presidency Visiting Speakers, Visiting Speakers by Theme (pie chart) 25 AFET Extraordinary Meetings 26 AFET Delegations and reports on Delegations in Committee 27 Summary of Official Documents 28 Annotated List of Reports and Resolutions 29 ANNEX Additional statistical information and raw data I. Visiting Speakers: List of Visiting Speakers by Institution/Region 60 List of Visiting Speakers by Theme 68 Chronological List of Visiting Speakers (with dates) 79 II. Official Documents: List of Reports 98 List of Resolutions 105 List of Opinions 106 List of Policy Papers 111 III. Meetings: List of Extraordinary AFET Meetings 124 List of AFET Hearings and Workshops 129 IV. Delegations: List of AFET Delegations 136 List of Reports on Delegation Visits in Committee 141 CM 782818EN.doc 1/144 PE 423.951 CM 782818EN.doc 2/144 PE 423.951 Activities of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET): An Assessment of the 6th Legislature This Report1 covers the period of the 6th legislature from 2004 – 2009. At the beginning of this period, some significant changes were made to the structure of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET). Firstly, two sub-committees were created; the Sub-committee on Security and Defence Policy (SEDE), and the Sub-committee on Human Rights (DROI). The subcommittees support AFET in monitoring more closely these two crucial foreign policy areas, pursuant to Annex VI.1 of Parliament's Rules of Procedure.2 Other significant changes were increases to the size of the Committee from 69 members to 78 (on 21 July 2004), and then from 78 to 86 (on 1 January 2007), and to the size of the Bureau from four members to five (at the beginning of 2007), in order to reflect the increased size of the Union following the EU enlargements of 1 May 2004 and 1 January 2007. At the mid-term point of the legislature, in February 2007, the Chairmanship of the Committee passed from Elmar Brok (Chairman 1999 – 2007) to Jacek Saryusz-Wolski (Chairman 2007 – present). Below is a discussion of AFET's work and influence in the Committee's areas of responsibility as designated in Annex VI.1: the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP), institutional scrutiny, relations with third countries, especially those in the immediate vicinity of the Union (through the European Neighbourhood Policy), enlargement, and human rights and democracy promotion.