News Releases

No. 28/08
April 3, 2008

EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT BARROSO ADDRESSES NATO SUMMIT

Speaking at the NATO Summit in Bucharest today, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso highlighted the European Union's ongoing support for Afghanistan as well as future priorities.

"The time is right for the international community to reflect on what we, working together with our Afghan partners, can do to enhance our efforts. We strongly support the aims set out for ISAF [International Security Assistance Force] of building an enduring, stable, secure, prosperous Afghanistan which respects human rights. [...]

"It is understandable that, for the time being, the international community in Afghanistan is primarily focused on the challenges of security and development. We believe that to fight the Taliban, we need soldiers, yes, but we also need doctors, teachers, judges, lawyers, police. That is why we, European Commission, are focusing on these areas.

"Let me reassure you that the European Commission is in Afghanistan for the long haul. We need tenacity. After all, we are here assisting Afghanistan, defending our common values: freedom and democracy. We already have our strategy and our financial commitment in place until 2013 with at least some 610 million euros ($952 million) allocated in the initial period up to 2010.

"We are strong supporters of donor co-ordination and ready to work to improve that. But a factor which will determine the success or failure of our efforts is the capacity and political will of the Afghan authorities to take full responsibility for the reconstruction and development of their country.

"We increasingly look to the Afghans to intensify their work tackling key issues such as corruption and narcotics which threaten to undermine all our efforts.

"So what of the Commission’s future role?

"The Commission committed and spent 1 billion euros ($1.5 billion) up to 2006. We have a new assistance strategy for 2007-10 with a budget of at least 610 million euros ($952 million).

"As regards our priorities, we will maintain our long-term commitment to the health sector and, in the East and North-east to our rural development and alternative livelihoods program.

"For the future, our major priority is an increased emphasis on the rule of law and governance. Our approach has three elements:

"Firstly, we will continue our support to the Afghan National Police through the Law and Order Trust Fund (LOTFA). The EC has already contributed 200 million euros. Such support must go hand-in-hand with substantive reforms of the police service. Here, the new EU police mission in Afghanistan which, at full capacity, will have 200 police advisers and mentors, has an important role to play.

"Secondly, justice. The Commission has embarked on a new justice program to help set in place the reform framework for the judiciary and prosecution service. At the Rome conference last year, we pledged up to 60 million euros for this over the next 3 years. [...]

"Thirdly, we support civilian activities of Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) which are led or supported by EU Member States. We of course greatly value our cooperation with NATO and ISAF on this program. [...]

"The Commission has put security and governance at the heart of its activities.

"But for our efforts to succeed, we need to see strong political will from the Afghan Government. We thus wish to see enhanced Afghan leadership and responsibility. Without that, we will not be able, together, to address the remaining challenges and create a stable, peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan.

"I am sure that our discussions today and at the Paris conference to come will contribute greatly to mapping out the long road ahead.

"One thing is for sure, we must all intensify our efforts, to the good of Afghanistan and the world at large."

For more information, please visit:
http://www.eurunion.org/partner/euusterror/EUandAfghanistan.htm .

Further Contact Information:
Press and Public Diplomacy
Delegation of the European Commission
2300 M Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037
http://www.eurunion.org/PressRoom
Tel: 202-862-9552
Fax: 202-429-1766