Debates of the European Parliament 1
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09-03-2011 EN Debates of the European Parliament 1 WEDNESDAY, 9 MARCH 2011 IN THE CHAIR: JERZY BUZEK President (The sitting was opened at 08:35) 1. Opening of the sitting President. – Welcome to the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. Ladies and gentlemen, we are making an early start today because we have an important debate. 2. Request for waiver of parliamentary immunity: see Minutes 3. Composition of political groups: see Minutes 4. Implementing measures (Rule 88): see Minutes 5. Documents received: see Minutes 6. Southern Neighbourhood, and Libya in particular, including humanitarian aspects (debate) President. – The next item is the statement by the Vice-President of the Commission and High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on the Southern Neighbourhood, and Libya in particular, including humanitarian aspects [2011/2616(RSP)]. As you know, the situation in North Africa is a crucial test for the European Union. Now that the European External Action Service is operating, we have new tools for working outside the borders of the Union. We are persuaded, of course, that these activities are fully justified, both with respect to Tunisia and Egypt as well as Libya. Today, we are going to talk mainly about Libya, but not only about Libya. We also have a duty to our citizens, who expect us to present an action plan for the Southern Neighbourhood, a programme for cooperation and support for the short, medium and long term. We have to think about this now. Also present in the European Parliament today are representatives of the Transitional National Council of Libya. This means we have a great opportunity to make direct contact and talk with the Libyan opposition. We have to start by overcoming the humanitarian crisis. Madam Vice-President/High Representative, we are convinced that all the activities of the European Union as a whole would be very supportive of the southern part of our continent and of our neighbours on the opposite side of the Mediterranean Sea. Catherine Ashton, Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. – Mr President, honourable Members, thank you for the opportunity to discuss with this House the circumstances in our Southern Neighbourhood and, of course, with particular reference, as the President has said, to the situation in Libya. 2 EN Debates of the European Parliament 09-03-2011 Let me begin by stating the obvious which is that the Southern Neighbourhood is changing fast and across the region, people are standing up for that core human aspiration: to be able to shape their own lives, economically and politically. They call for political participation with dignity, accountability, they call for justice and they call for jobs. I believe we have to respond to those calls. I believe they are just and I believe that we need to make sure that we act quickly. A crucial aspect of what is going on is that the demand is coming from within. In my visits to Tunisia and Egypt, I heard many, many times: this is our country; this is our revolution. We want to do things our way but we want to engage with you and we need help. Those principles, I believe, should guide the actions that we take: these democratic transitions must belong to the people; they must be home-grown. They will determine what happens next. But we have to be ready to offer the support, ready with creativity and determination and to do so on a scale that matches the historic nature of the changes we are seeing. In a fluid situation like this, we have to have our actions rooted in our core values and our core interests. We have every reason to back the changes under way. Tunisians, Egyptians, Libyans and others are demanding respect for those values that actually are at the heart of the European ideal. The emergence of the democratic societies will help to sustain security and provide shared prosperity in our neighbourhood and that is why we have moved between us, the Commission and myself, to produce a joint paper for the European Council that meets on Friday which includes measures that we hope will contribute to that: more European Union financial support available from within the institutions, but also by mobilising the European Investment Bank – and I pay tribute to Parliament for moving so swiftly to recognise the need to assist the Investment Bank with its mandate to be able to put that support at the disposal of people – and that has been extremely successful. We need your help to do more for the EIB and also for the EBRD, both of whom have been talking with me about the capacity that they have to alter their mandates and be able to put new support at the disposal of this neighbourhood – not, I hasten to add, at the expense of the work that they currently do, but in addition. With the European Investment Bank, we know that we can mobilise a further EUR 1 billion. Just so you can appreciate the amount that that will give, the current work of the Investment Bank in Egypt is EUR 488 million. This would be able to allow them to double the investment at least and that would enable some of the big infrastructure projects which are clearly needed and wanted by the people to be set in place. We also want to see, through the paper, support with the training and exchange of students. These are young populations. One of the common factors across the Southern Neighbourhood is that it is a young society; those young people, some of them highly educated, some of them wanting further opportunities in education and training – we should respond to them as well, and we will be inviting Member States to consider that and I invite the Parliament to do so as well. The emergence of a vibrant civil society: meeting with civil society in Tunisia, I met with people who had never been in the same room before because it had not been allowed. Their willingness and desire to establish themselves more fully as NGOs, as organisations able to work on issues of concern in their society and to hold their government to account, that is an extremely important part, as you know so well, of the development of this society. 09-03-2011 EN Debates of the European Parliament 3 From that stems more inclusive governance: the ability of people to feel that they have a stake and a say in the governance of their society. Of course, too, food security, a huge and growing issue in the region; further trade openings; the ability to get greater market access and mobility partnerships – all of these are included in the overall package that will be put to the European Council. I stress again, as I have done before, we want to see this as an incentive-based approach enabling people to move quickly, but also to differentiate. These countries are all different and they are at pains to say, ‘Please do not put us all together and see us as the same. We are different countries; we wish our societies to develop as differently as yours have. Yes, there are similarities but our distinctive difference is something we wish to ensure that you respect and you work with’. We want to take an approach which says that we give more for more; that those partners, those countries who want to go further and faster with reforms, should be able to count on greater support from the European Union. In the coming days and weeks, as we have already been doing, we will be discussing with our international partners how we can coordinate so that we do not overlap and so that we are able to respond more quickly. On 23 February, I held a senior officials’ meeting with officials from the institutions, the World Bank, the Investment Bank, the EBRD, the IMF, but also senior officials from China, Russia, from Australia, from Korea, from the 27 Member States, from the United States and from Arab countries. The purpose of that meeting was not to decide what we would do to these countries but to be ready to be able to offer support quickly. Honourable Members know that one of the criticisms which can be made about us is that sometimes we take a long time to respond. I want us to be ready and my conversations with, particularly, the Arab League and with the countries concerned have been aimed at making it really clear that my purpose is to make sure we are ready to be able to respond and that that response is coordinated and effective and uses the best that we have available, not only in Europe, but across the world. After the Foreign Ministers meet tomorrow, and the European Council meets on Friday, the NATO meeting I will attend tomorrow and then the informal Foreign Ministers’ meeting over the weekend in Hungary, I will then fly to Cairo to meet with Amr Moussa, the Arab League and to debrief all of them on what has happened in our discussions and also to meet a new Egyptian Foreign Minister whom I have already spoken to. But, colleagues, I know there is a specific desire to talk about Libya so, having given that backdrop of the work we are doing, let me move on to the issues that concern us all in Libya. I see two immediate priorities: first of all, to address the humanitarian crisis and assist with the evacuation, and second to make sure the violence stops and that those who perpetrate that violence are held to account.