Election of the Council and the President of the Palestinian Authority and the role of the Union

Adopting the report by Mr COLAJANNI (PSE, I), the European Parliament trusted that the Council would ensure that the Parliament delegation was closely associated with the work of the European Electoral Unit and allowed to help monitor all stages of the electoral process. In addition, horrified by the assassination of the Israeli prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin, who paid for his commitment to peace with his life, and conscious of the fact that fundamental and nationalist extremists could compromise the success of the process, Parliament hoped that the European Union would make a clear, unconditional commitment to peace. It therefore recommended a political initiative to promote agreement between the Palestinian authorities and the Israeli government on the points still in abeyance and guarantee maximum support for this government at this difficult and decisive juncture. At the same time, it called on the Council to: - quickly prepare the legal, economic and commercial instruments needed for the economic development of the Territories under Palestinian jurisdiction; - start negotiations with a view to concluding a Euro-Mediterranean association agreement with these Territories; - intensify action by the European Union to mediate between all the countries in the region in order to help the peace process progress.�