Verklaring Catherine Ashton in EP over nieuw Europees actieplan voor Afghanistan en Pakistan (en)
Catherine Ashton
High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice-President of the European Commission
Statement at the European Parliament debate on the new EU action plan for Afghanistan and Pakistan
Figures and graphics available in PDF and WORD PROCESSED
European Parliament
Strasbourg, 16 December 2009
Let me start with Afghanistan. We are at an important point in our relations here. Our future support must help build a Government responsive to the needs and concerns of the Afghan people. As the situation is volatile, we need to both work with and to influence the situation on the ground. That’s what the international conferences starting in London next month are all about.
We are ready to put in more resources. The Commission is raising its development assistance by a third to 200 million Euros. We need these extra resources to repeat successes like the extension of the primary healthcare system to 80% of Afghans - including far better treatment for women and girls - and recent success in turning provinces poppy free. Our Member States have also committed to help get our police training programme up to strength.
But all that’s just the start. We need to deliver this as part of a coherent EU contribution within a coordinated international response. This response must have the Afghans working with the UN at the centre of it.
The Action Plan agreed by the Council in October gives the opportunity to do this. Together with US efforts and NATO security operations, it sends a strong message to the region and international community about our commitment. It also dovetails the priorities set out by President Karzai, particularly in the fields of improved governance and anti-corruption.
The Plan confirms that we will continue to place key sectors such as the rule of law and agriculture at the centre of our engagement.
We are already assisting the Afghan government to improve the skills of administrators in Kabul. We will now start to roll these skills out across the provinces to help the Afghan people manage their own affairs and ensure the government provides - and is seen to provide - services to them.
The Plan sends the message that we will support the integration of insurgents who are ready to respond to President Karzai’s call to work with his government.
The European Electoral Observation Mission also presents its report in Kabul today and I would like to pay tribute to Thijs Berman and his team for a job well done in a difficult circumstances. We will ensure follow up, since it is clear the credibility of the government and political system rests upon a major overhaul of the electoral system.
Finally, but perhaps most importantly, we are streamlining our structures on the ground. Member States will align policies with the resources to back them and I hope to merge the EU Special Representative and Head of the EU Delegation into a single post as soon as possible. This will help us build a coherent approach that can serve as a model for elsewhere.
Turning to Pakistan, our overriding interest is that Pakistan should be a stable democracy free from terror and able to join with its neighbours in defence against common threats.
The Action Plan underlines this and builds on existing commitments made at June's EU-Pakistan Summit, including humanitarian aid, reconstruction support, assistance to the police and judiciary and strengthening democratic institutions and civil society to improve human rights as well as agreements on trade and socio-economic development. We will also continue to support implementation of the recommendations of the 2008 Election Observation Mission.
The Action Plan is backed up by a substantial financial resources of just under €500 million from the Commission until 2013 plus a €100 million renewable energy l oan from the European Investment Bank ) as well as commitments to deepen our trade and political relations. The Action Plan also specifies intensified dialogue on all these issues and there should be second Summit next year within the Spanish Presidency.
The Action Plan also makes clear that the EU will use its expertise in regional integration to help Afghanistan, Pakistan and their neighbours kick-start economic relations, particularly with India. There will be no overnight solution to current tensions but we must make a start in overcoming distrust. The potential gains from this kind of regional cooperation in terms of trade and investment would dwarf anything we can do as the EU.
In conclusion, implementation of the EU Action Plan for Afghanistan and Pakistan is central to our future engagement in these countries. It is a joint endeavour between Member States and EU institutions, and it is the first of its kind which, if successful, can help shape the international civilian response to crises that have so far largely been defined in military terms.
The Action Plan amounts to a major commitment not only to Afghanistan and Pakistan, but to South and Central Asia as a whole. But we need more than ideas to deliver. We need the right people, with the right skills. They need security in order to work. There must be a stronger political engagement by the host governments, and stronger coherence among donors including internally among EU Member States.
South Asia faces extremism every day, whether on the battlefield in Helmand or on the streets of Peshawar, Lahore and Rawalpindi. We will not tackle this through military action alone but by helping build a secure and safe environment free from the tensions and inequalities that feed extremism.
Europe has much to offer from our own experience of building regional cooperation out of the ashes of war. The Action Plan provides us the opportunity to use this experience to help others and I hope that you will support it.