Mr President, Mr Haarder, Commissioner Patten, thank you for giving us the opportunity to review the situation of this ruined country – as Mr Haarder described it last year – of this forgotten country, as the Commissioner so accurately described it. No one here, however, has forgotten the opinions of those who considered themselves, not so long ago, to be experts on Afghanistan and who recommended reaching an agreement with the Taliban regime, on the pretext of implementing a realpolitik which would mean that only the Taliban would be able to guarantee some semblance of peace in this ill-fated country which has been torn apart for so long – you mentioned this, Mr Haarder – by tribal feuds. The risk was that the country would once again fall prey to various warlords once the Taliban regime had been eliminated. That is why we can only welcome the fact that, despite these forecasts, Afghanistan is not being torn apart today and that the progress we have already made in restoring order in the country is, on the contrary, encouraging. The progress made is, of course, encouraging, as you have said, Mr Haarder, but it is far from satisfactory. The fight against terrorism waged by al-Qa’ida and Mullah Omar is far from over, security in Afghanistan is not, therefore, guaranteed, the reorganisation needed in Afghanistan – which involves creating institutions to ensure the representation of all ethnic groups and respect for international law and human rights – has only just got underway, and, lastly, because the large-scale return of refugees has only served to exacerbate the already disastrous humanitarian situation caused by the war and the drought which have been raging for years. I shall return to all these points in order, if I may. The fight against terrorism waged by al-Qa’ida and Mullah Omar is far from over because we have no idea what has happened to them, for it is unlikely that they could have found refuge in areas bordering on Afghanistan, in the uncontrolled territory of the Pashtun tribes in Pakistan, but there is nothing to prove either, as far as I know, that they are not still hiding somewhere in the very heart of Afghanistan. The security of the country is, therefore, not guaranteed. Commissioner Patten and Mr Haarder talked about the murders. They quite rightly emphasised the difficulties caused by these attacks for our representatives on the ground, and I join you, Commissioner, in praising the dedication and bravery of these representatives. This may be the reason for the demand made by the transitional government, by President Karzai, to all donor countries, and to the European Union in particular, to extend the mandate granted to the peacekeeping force to outside Kabul and even to the whole territory. Like the French Minister for Foreign Affairs, I do not think that this is desirable. I do not think that it is desirable for the Afghans to entrust the responsibility of maintaining order on the ground to others. It is far more desirable, to my mind, to speed up the training of the national army and police force, which has already begun, so that the Afghans themselves can take responsibility for security in their country, as they have begun to do within the institutions. I mentioned the reorganisation that is needed and which has been carried out by setting up institutions which ensure the representation of all ethnic groups. You are well aware that there are on-going difficulties with the Pashtuns. I would also point out that we are expecting a great deal, and rightly so, from the work undertaken within the framework of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs seeking to make it possible to enforce international law and respect for human rights in Afghanistan. I welcome the news that I received yesterday that a class has begun at the French High School in Kabul which is open to women and where female students do not have to wear veils. Lastly, I mentioned the humanitarian situation. In this respect, and I shall conclude on this point, we can only welcome the fact that, when examining the 2002 supplementary budget, the European Union has agreed to increase aid to Afghanistan, bringing it up to EUR 250 million. What we shall ask for is greater transparency in the way this money is used. That is why, when examining the budget, we asked for a line indicating all the transactions made with respect to Afghanistan.

Political group: PPE-DE