Mr President, Presidents-in-Office of the Council, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I shall limit my speech to the subject of the Middle East, because I understand that this was the agreement reached by Parliament on Monday. Then I believe we need to discuss the Brok and Titley Reports – and I congratulate both rapporteurs on their work – and the rest of my group will talk about other subjects. Mr President-in-Office of the Council, the facts are indisputable and do not currently allow for the cautious optimism you have expressed with regard to the Middle East. Unfortunately, every day we receive the most terrible, bleak news of the situation. We unreservedly condemn the mass suicide attacks against the population. We also condemn the fact that there is a continuous list of deaths every day, but, most of all, I believe we now need to address the Israeli Government – the government presided over by Mr Sharon – which is well aware that the physical and political destruction of the Palestinian Authority and its headquarters will not help either to end the attacks or to put an end to a desire that is unanimous at international level, the creation of the Palestinian State, even more so at a time when things are happening in Palestine which are important for democrats: the threat of a vote of no confidence, the resignation of the government and the announcement of forthcoming general elections. In that context and in that part of the world, this is something that must be taken into account. Now, therefore, in keeping with our multilateral focus and our respect for the UN – and let us remember that it was the UN that created the State of Israel by means of a resolution – Israel must be told that it must fulfil each and every one of the UN resolutions, and that no one has the right to choose which resolutions they wish to apply, on the pretext that they are biased. This must clearly be our line of approach, and I therefore wish to express here the support of my group for Resolution No 1435, and to ask for the immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from within, outside and around Ramallah and the withdrawal of occupying forces from Palestinian cities. That is the way that corresponds to the three-stage plan you mentioned. We also welcome the statement made by the High Representative and we ask that you take a stronger line with regard to the Quartet so that true changes can take place. I also hope Mr Patten will allow me the liberty of asking him to tell us about an important political and budgetary aspect, concerning his reference to Israeli and Community payments into the same account. I ask him to provide Parliament with a detailed report analysing the destruction caused in Palestine territory by the Israeli State and funded by the European budget. (Applause) The taxpayers, our citizens, have a right to know this and it should be made public. In conclusion, Mr President, I would say that you should continue with your work, because it is absolutely necessary and there is no other way of overcoming a situation in which, at any given time, the only question we can ask ourselves is how much blood must be shed for both parties to be able to overcome this kind of tragic escalation. (Applause from the left) IN THE CHAIR: MR PACHECO PEREIRAVice-President

Political group: PSE