Mr President, Mr Solana, I do not envy you your travel schedule. May I congratulate you on your successes in Reykjavik. As a Swede, I can only deplore the fact that Russia now has greater influence over NATO than does Sweden. That is not, however, what we are here to discuss. My Israeli and Palestinian friends and those who want peace wonder why we in Europe only talk and do nothing. Of course, we are powerless to stop the violence and bloodshed. Yet the accusation is extremely unfair. I am convinced that the commitment, travelling, money and resources invested by Mr Solana, Mr Patten and all the institutions will have long-term benefits, both in providing a solution to the Church of the Nativity problem and, in the longer term, in bolstering the Palestinian Authority. We cannot, of course, talk violence away, but not many other options are on offer. Negotiation, discussion, dialogue and compromise are the tools we have used to build our European cooperation. I really would like to believe that they might work in the Middle East, too. Violence is no solution. The terrible suicide attacks must cease. Killing innocent people can never be justified. There can be no peace as long as they continue. Nor are the Israeli attacks justifiable. They have not put an end to the suicide attacks. The current internal debate in the Likud Party and the potential leadership crisis must not be used as an excuse to kill more innocent Palestinians. It is also deeply tragic that the independent UN investigation into the events in Jenin did not go ahead. If Israel had nothing to hide, then it had an opportunity to show the world that no massacre had taken place. No serious observer has said that there has been a massacre. However, if injustices have taken place, then they must be investigated. Naturally, as Commissioner Patten says, Israel must provide evidence for the very serious accusations that the EU has funded terrorism. It is clear that corruption – on an enormous scale – exists within the Palestinian Authority. We have discussed this on several occasions. Doubtless, some resources have ended up in the wrong pockets, but to say that we are funding terrorism is a very, very serious accusation. I should like to thank Commissioner Patten for taking the matter seriously, and for attempting to find out what is happening and report back to us. A few words about the conference. It is good that a conference is to take place. It is good that the international community is involved, but also that the Arab League is to take part. This is not the first conference. There is a certain conference-weariness, but some knots can perhaps be unravelled. The Palestinians must, of course, be allowed to send their representatives. It is unacceptable that Mr Sharon has vetoed the presence of Mr Arafat, since he is their spokesman. What should actually be on the agenda, then? Should we try to solve all the issues, or should we just take one step at a time? What should our point of departure be? Those I have spoken to on both the Israeli and the Palestinian sides give different answers: Oslo, Camp David, Mitchell, Taba, the Saudi proposal or the various UN resolutions. There is no agreement here. Yet it is important to try to draw up a common basic agenda. It would be very helpful if Mr Solana could clarify what he realistically believes will be on the agenda.

Political group: ELDR