The committee adopted the own-initiative report
drawn up by its chairman, Elmar BROK (EPP-ED,
DE), in response to the
Council's 2004 annual report on the EU's common foreign and security policy.
In this wide-ranging report, MEPs expressed annoyance at the lack of "ex
ante" consultation and information of Parliament by the Council in this
area, and decided to see whether legal action could be taken. They asked
Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee to look into whether action could be
taken against the Council at the European Court of Justice for a breach of
Article 21 of the EU Treaty, which explicitly states that Parliament must be
consulted "on the main aspects and the basic choices of the common
foreign and security policy" and that its views must be taken into
account. The report also called on the Council High Representative, Javier
Solana, to participate actively in the annual debate on the CFSP. It urged
the Council to report to Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee on every
Foreign Ministers Council meeting and every high-level summit with key
international partners.
More generally, MEPs said that the future priorities of
the CFSP should be the Mediterranean, the Middle East, the Balkans, Eastern
Europe and relations with the US, as well as conflict situations, the
promotion of peace, security in all its aspects, the fight against terrorism,
disarmament and the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. They
added that security also included aspects such as energy, climate change and
the spread of poverty.
Turning to more specific issues, the report called for a
solution to the future status of Kosovo which respects its territorial
integrity, upholds minority rights and does not endanger the EU's overall
policy for the Balkans. Special attention should also be given to the
development of Africa. MEPs expressed their
deep concern over the massive war crimes and human rights violations "which can be construed as
genocide" in Darfur. The
committee criticised the present partnership with Russia as reflecting "common economic interests without
achieving any progress as regards human rights and the rule of law".
It said that the EU policy towards Belarus
had achieved few results, and new measures should therefore be proposed to
strengthen links with the people of Belarus. Relations with China
should be advanced in such a way that progress was also made on human rights
and democracy. MEPs called on the Council to renew efforts for a revival of
negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians and to set up a comprehensive
strategy for the broader region of the Middle East.
Regarding Afghanistan, MEPs warned that ISAF's reconstruction mission should
not be merged with the US Enduring Freedom operation.
Finally, the committee recommended that joint costs for
military operations in the framework of the European Security and Defence
Policy should come from the Community budget, doing away with the current
Member States' subsidiary budgets or start-up funds. This should also be the
case for any future ESDP operations in the fight against terrorism.