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The plenary assembly of the European Parliament ended its own debate on the Iraqi conflict on 27 March without adopting any resolution. The shocking lack of any agreement between the political groups, together with the presence of splinter groups among the ranks of both the People’s Party and Socialists, prevented the EP from assuming any official position on the war in Iraq, contrary to the expectations of the Parliament’s president Pat Cox and especially contrary to the position assumed at the end of January by the EP itself, voting by an absolute majority against the concept of “preventive war”. Of the seven Resolutions presented, that of the European People’s Party that shouldered Saddam with “ultimate responsibility” for the war obtained 207 votes in favour, 286 against and 25 abstentions, while that of the Socialists that strongly deplored “the unilateral decision” of the USA and Great Britain to go to war was rejected by 218 votes in favour, 255 against and 46 abstentions. “If the Europeans are not able to listen to each other, how can we expect others namely the USA to listen to the Europeans?”. With these words Pat Cox, President of the European Parliament, concluded his intervention in the course of the parliamentary debate on the war in Iraq. “The images that are reaching us from Iraq, however filtered, are beginning to trouble our consciences Cox had earlier remarked and if in Copenhagen less than three months ago all the heads of state and of government of the Fifteen and of the candidate countries had unanimously claimed the existence of “one Europe”, I now ask myself what’s become of this Europe and I am especially worried by a possible willingness to let it slip from our hands”. Cox did however stress that the Resolutions presented by the political groups, but rejected by the EP due to very strong and dissident minorities within the political groups, would all have emphasized the need to preserve Iraq’s frontiers, to send a clear message to the Turkish government of the EU’s utter opposition to an invasion of Iraqi Kurdistan (unless within the 20 km limits agreed by the UNO for aid to refugees), the dramatic urgency of humanitarian aid, the EP’s support for the multilateralism of international relations, and the decision to entrust to the UNO a strong and central role in the post-war reconstruction of Iraq. Presenting the conclusions of the European Council of the previous week, Greek Premier Costas Simitis defended the action of the Presidency against the attacks from some MEPs on the alleged hypocrisy of a Summit that did not take a stance against the Anglo-American intervention. “The role of any Presidency of the Union said Simitis consists neither in opposing or supporting the one side or the other, nor in taking initiatives without the agreement of the whole Council, but in trying to find a compromise between the various points of view in order to express as common as possible a position on the basis of certain rules”. The President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, pointed out the undeniably serious rift between the European States, and stressed the need for Europe to be the maker of its own destiny by maintaining the positive aspects of its alliance with the United States. “If we don’t put an end to our divisions declared Prodi the world will not pay much heed to Europe”. Asked about the role of Europe in post-war reconstruction, Prodi said in reply that he did not want to speak of any post-war scenario “without knowing how the war ill end”, though adding that the priority commitment must go to immediate humanitarian relief”. According to the President of the European Commission, “there exist many aspects of post-war Iraq: the material reconstruction and the political and civil reconstruction of Iraqi society; and in this task not only the UNO and the European Union but also Iraqi society will play a moral and political role of primary importance”.———————————————————————————————————– Sir Europa (English) N.ro assoluto : 1193 N.ro relativo : 23 Data pubblicazione : 28/03/2003
