EU Commiss. Patten over de EU in Irak.

[Pascal L.]

Een artikel door EU Commissaris Chris Patten, Vandaag in de Israelische krant Ha'aretz, over of de EU dan al wel niet de heropbouw in Irak meet moet financieren en steunen. Zijn antwoord, een overtuigd ja.

Must we help reconstruct Iraq?

By Chris Patten


Should we help to reconstruct Iraq? Divisions
before, during and after the conflict inevitably
mean that each step the international community
takes has to be weighed carefully, each decision
scrutinized minutely. My answer is a resounding
"yes," for three reasons. First and foremost, we
have a moral obligation toward the Iraqi people.
Secondly, because our assistance will support a
rapid transition to an independent and democratic
government in Iraq. And thirdly, because it is
very much in all of our interest to contribute to
regional stability in the Middle East.




Today in Madrid 60 countries
will set out their initial
contributions to the
reconstruction of a country
torn apart by 30 years of
brutal dictatorship and
conflict. Attention in the
run up, and on the day
itself, will no doubt focus
on hurried tallies of just

how far the combined sums reach or, inevitably,
fall short, of the huge figures bolted together
from the careful assessments of the World Bank,
UN and others by observers eager to decry
failure. But crude cumulation of the
contributions misses the point. This is not a
bargain sale, where we needn't mind the
quality, just feel the weight.

Take the contribution from the European Union's
budget, for example. This is money that comes
from the joint pot of money for external
spending, into which the member countries have
already contributed. The European Commission
and the EU's member countries have agreed to
contribute 200 million euros until the end of
2004. Together with EU countries' individual
contributions, the EU as a whole will be
contributing some 750 million euros to
reconstruction in Iraq over the next year, when
its needs are likely to be greatest. This comes
on top of the 100 million euros that we have
already earmarked for humanitarian relief in
Iraq, and have been spending since March this
year.

The level of assistance from the EU budget is
comparable to our annual commitment in
Afghanistan, although in that case we were able
to set out a pledge for a five-year period. We
are setting out today our proposed funding for
Iraq until the end of 2004. Last week we also
undertook to report to EU foreign ministers in
March next year, setting out the Commission's
medium-term strategy for Iraq. I hope and trust
that we will be able to accompany that report
with plans for future reconstruction
expenditure.

It will clearly be easiest to consider possible
multi-annual pledges when the political and
security situation is clearer.

Our experience in Iraq, together with that of
other organizations, has shown that conditions
on the ground will be key to eventual success,
and that they are difficult. I value in
particular the advice and experience of the
United Nations, whose tragic loss of Sergio
Viero de Mello and so many other dedicated UN
personnel in August brought home in unspeakable
terms just how dangerous the situation remains.
And we know from our experience operating in
difficult countries across the world that it is
no good offering vast sums, if there is no
realistic prospect of seeing them spent where
and how they are needed. That is why we have
spelt out the circumstances that need to be in
place for the money pledged today to be put to
good use.

We need an improvement in the security
situation, which will need more effective
action by the military, and efforts to expand
and improve civilian policing. We need a clear
commitment to the establishment of a sovereign
Iraqi government, which I am glad to say moved
closer with last week's UN Security Council
Resolution. We need the creation of a
transparent and operational multilateral
framework for reconstruction, recognized by the
establishment of a UN and World Bank
Multi-Donor Trust Fund to channel
reconstruction funds. And we need the
involvement of Iraq's neighbors, to establish
the context of regional cooperation essential
to long-term stability in Iraq.

These are not outlandish conditions. They tally
with the findings of the UN-led "Needs
Assessment" report, which found an inadequate
safety environment and noted that "the scale of
the needs identified across all the sectors
would require a level of planning and
implementation capacity that would tax even the
most advanced economy."

I draw two lessons from this. First, we have to
be realistic in our ambitions for the short
term, and focus on getting Iraq back on its
feet. Second, and more hopefully, I look
forward to Iraq being once again an advanced
economy, and being in a position to govern and
administer its own development. That after all
is our collective goal. The possibility is
there. In the late 1970s Iraq's GDP per capita
was greater than Portugal's. Before Saddam's
murderous dictatorship it nurtured a long
tradition of valuing education and commerce.
And it is of course rich in natural resources,
albeit unable fully to exploit them for now.

The EU is well placed to respond. The Commission
spends over 6.5 billion euros every year to
give support on all of these issues, and
others, in every region of the world. We work
in partnership with governments in the
recipient countries, and coordinate our work on
the ground with other donors. In the Middle
East alone we spent some 550 million euros last
year.

The EU will not, of course, be alone in Madrid.
Countries from across the globe - including, I
am very pleased to see, some of Iraq's regional
neighbors - have shown that they can come
together in peace despite the divisions of the
war. They are responding to a clear need to
reestablish shattered infrastructure and
decayed public services, to provide roads,
power, water, health care, education policing
and a range of other needs.

We should go into today's conference with a
down-to-earth view of what we can achieve in
the short term, while allowing ourselves a dose
of optimism at the thought of what the Iraqi
people can do in the longer term. Of course, we
should not let them down by pretending that
simply throwing money at this problem will fix
it. We should make sure that we apply the
lessons we have learned about spending money
wisely, and that we remain committed and
engaged to ensuring a democratic and prosperous
future for the Iraqi people. After so much
suffering, we owe them at least that.



The writer is the European Commission's
commissioner for external relations.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/353271.html