News Release
Chris Patten
No. 55/03
September 3, 2003
Speech on
Iraq
The Rt. Hon.
Chris Patten
EU Commissioner for
External Relations
European Parliament
Strasbourg, France
“May I join my Council and Parliament colleagues
in paying tribute to the bravery and dedication of Sergio Vieira de Mello and
his staff. I knew Sergio well, first when I worked with him for five years in
Hong Kong when he was helping us at UNHCR with the problem of Vietnamese migrants,
then when he was Special Representative in Kosovo and again during his extremely
successful tenure as UN Representative in East Timor. He was an outstanding international
civil servant a man of integrity, dedication and wisdom.
“The
19 August bombing was an appalling attack on all of us who see international co-operation
backed by the authority of the UN as the best way of resolving the world's problems.
I am pleased that the Security Council has now decided that attacks on UN and
humanitarian organisations will be treated as war crimes.
“I
was looking forward to working with Sergio and his team in Iraq: in just two months
his impact on the transition process in Iraq was clearly visible. The tribute
paid to him by Richard Holbrooke, former US Ambassador to the UN, and in particular
Mr. Holbrooke's reminder of how valuable was Mr. Vieira de Mello's work to every
country in the world (including the world's only superpower), was wholly deserved.
It is precisely the vital importance of the UN's work that explains the purpose
of those responsible for the appalling attack on its Headquarters in Baghdad.
The murderers want this transition and the building of Iraq's democracy to fail
through a strategy of creating chaos. Last Friday's horrific bombing of the mosque
in Najaf using the same store of explosives and with equally tragic results is
further proof of the aims and methods of the men of violence.
“So
I hope that our debate today can send them a clear message: whatever our past
disagreements and important as they were, there is limited point today in focusing
on them - we all have a stake in the emergence of a prosperous, stable and democratic
Iraq. All of us should be committed to trying to make that happen.
“I
have no intention today of going back over old ground and old arguments, though
I appreciate that some of those who raised doubts and criticisms in this Parliament
and in the political institutions of the country I know best will not feel to
put it mildly that events have proved them wrong. The question before us is not
whether we should be involved in the reconstruction of Iraq,
but how we should be involved and what is required for it to be a success.
“It
requires security, as we know from previous examples of nation-building. In passing,
I would add that we have not come close to cracking the problem in
Afghanistan, another country where regime change has proved rather more straightforward
than building a pluralist nation.
“Success
also requires recognition that the non-military commitments to security and nation-building
must be as great or, in the long term, greater than the military ones.
“It
requires a sustained political and financial commitment to cover the gap between
rhetoric and reality. You cannot build a modern, democratic, open society on the
cheap.
“It
requires international commitment through the UN and its associated bodies. If
we want to see the maximum international involvement then we have to take account
of how most countries think that involvement can be most effectively legitimized
and made to work.
“And
it requires, as the International Crisis Group has recently pointed out, in a
characteristically thoughtful and well-informed analysis, early and substantial
involvement by Iraqis themselves.
“So
what has the Commission been doing to help this process? Our first priority was
to provide humanitarian assistance and I would like to pay tribute to the work
of ECHO (European Commission Humanitarian Office) who have maintained their work
activities in Iraq before and during the entire crisis, undeterred by the military
conflict and recent attacks on humanitarian personnel. This Parliament should
be proud of the work that ECHO does professionally and bravely.
“Alongside
this important contribution, the Commission has been preparing its proposals for
an EU approach to reconstruction in Iraq, as requested
by the European Council
in Thessaloniki. We are prepared to help, if and when security conditions
allow, provided that there is an adequate multilateral umbrella for our contribution,
one that is separate from but co-ordinated with the work of the Coalition Provisional
Authority. This is a message which I have personally made clear in meetings over
the summer with US Secretary of State Powell and Under-Secretary Larson. I have
been wholly consistent on this point, and I do not believe it has been either
inappropriately controversial or unreasonable to be so. Let me give one example
of political reality. I do not believe this Parliament would support any other
approach. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe my political judgement is way off the mark. But
I don't actually think so.
“Over
the summer, Commission officials have been participating in the international
needs assessment missions as part of World Bank and UN teams and I would like
here publicly to thank them for their willingness to do this in difficult security
conditions. Two of our staff missed being victims of the 19 August attack by a
matter of minutes.
“Alongside
this crucial needs assessment work, the Commission and Presidency have been participating
in weekly teleconferences of a Core Group, together with the US, Japan, UAE, World
Bank, IMF and UNDP. There is a meeting of this Core Group in Brussels
today to prepare a Donors' Conference for the period to the end of 2004. It will
take place in Madrid on 23-24 October, and Spain has joined the group as host.
I welcome that, and have assured the government of Spain that the Commission will
do everything possible to make the conference a success.
“All
members of the Core Group have agreed that we must not allow our timetable to
be delayed by the violence on the ground. But I can't pretend that attacks of
the kind we are now seeing won't inevitably have some effect on international
reconstruction efforts. In Madrid, we will be faced
with discussions on what specific contributions we and others will make to the
reconstruction of Iraq
at a time of uncertainty about what can be implemented on the ground.
“It
is with this perspective in mind that I have made some initial contacts with the
Chairs of relevant Committees to look at the budgetary implications for 2003-4,
though in these difficult circumstances, we have not yet begun discussing detailed
figures. Whatever the final conclusion of the assessments, we know the needs are
great. But as ever we have to work within the existing financial perspective.
That is the iron law that I have had to learn, whatever my political reservations.
And we must still be in a position to respond to the hopes and needs of other
parts of the world, for example Afghanistan
and Palestine.
When we make our proposal, you, as the Budgetary Authority, will have to decide
whether we've got the balance right.
“I
sincerely hope that we have all learned lessons expensive and painful lessons
over Iraq. For Europe, I hope we can all now recognise
that the EU is more effective when we work together especially on the biggest
issues in contemporary politics. If we can do that now, in Baghdad and Basra and
beyond, then perhaps we can help to ensure that the removal of a wicked dictator
leads to a better life for the people of Iraq.”
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