Mr President, at a time like this we Europeans who are working together here must remind ourselves of the fundamental elements that unite us, and we must remember that we are working for a united, democratic Europe which combats racism and xenophobia. Let us remember what President Mitterrand said in his last speech in this House: ‘Le nacionalisme c'est la guerre’. This is an essential principle of our co-existence which we must state loud and clear today. (Applause) Furthermore, Mr President, I believe – and I address this to my respected friend, Shimon Peres, who said yesterday in Madrid that he was worried about the growth in anti-Semitism in Europe – that we also all have to be concerned about the demonstrations of intolerance we are seeing on our continent. All we European democrats, all we European citizens must combat this blight, this cancer which has caused so much misery throughout our history. (Applause) Having said this, Mr President, I would like to thank you for giving us the opportunity to speak with Mr Burg, President of the Knesset, today. We have held a frank and tough debate in our group with our Labour colleague, Mr Burg, and we hope that President Abu Alá can come here to speak to us very soon. Here we have to build bridges towards peace in the Middle East. Turning to the report by the President-in-Office of the Council, I would like to say that, with regard to the Euromed Conference, you know that we share your objectives. You have said that it was a wonderful idea, but you failed to mention that the idea was not an orphan, but that the last Spanish Presidency started it. Perhaps you could convey a compliment to Mr Solana, who is not here, and thus treat him as you would like him to treat his successor. In any event, what the President-in-Office of the Council has said today contains one essential idea: a network of association agreements is being created little by little, the agreement with Algeria has just been signed, and that is very positive. The problem is – and I also address this to the President-in-Office of the Council – that no notice has been taken of what Parliament said in its last resolution, because we are everybody’s friend and we want to be partners and associates of all the countries of the Mediterranean. That is the fundamental principle and when we have two associates who are in conflict with each other, the least we can say to one associate is: ‘Do not keep them in such a stranglehold and let them breathe a bit’. It is an absolutely fundamental principle. That is why we are asking for the Association Council to be convened. The Secretary of State, Mr de Miguel, stated very enthusiastically in this House that the Spanish Presidency maintained this principle. I would like to know if he still maintains this principle. We also said other things: we are in favour of an intervention force, we are in favour of blocking arms exports. These are ideas which I believe the Council should develop, because it makes no sense to come to Parliament to complain that our diplomats are being treated badly and then say that all options are open. We must be a bit more decisive. I agree with the pertinent observations of the Vice-President of the Commission, Mr Patten, when he states clearly that in Jenin there is a human and historic responsibility to shed light on what has happened, and that Mr Ahtisaari is a completely honourable person like the other Members and we cannot allow vetoes, not because they are European, but because we are all subject to the principles and under the aegis of the United Nations. We are also willing to work on the reconstruction of the Palestinian infrastructure, but we do not understand why it has been destroyed. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that it will not be destroyed again. Our partners must give us guarantees. We believe that it is absolutely essential to obey and respect the authority of the United Nations. I will conclude, Mr President, by saying that we are clearly in favour of the Quartet plus the Arab League – and Europe must play an important role here, Mr President-in-Office of the Council – carrying out their work on achieving a Madrid II, which is essential. And then, if we create a foundation that works, this could be very useful, but now the objectives should focus not on creating new foundations but on achieving a peace conference with European participation, with everybody’s participation, which may work. (Applause)

Political group: PSE