I have to admit that our rapporteur, the German Christian Democrat Elmar Brok, does not mince his words. Both the motion for a resolution and the explanatory statement are exercises in militaristic, aggressive cynicism about the substance of the CFSP (common foreign and security policy) and the CSDP (common security and defence policy). He considers that, especially from mid-2001 onwards, the common political will to act at the operational level has been visibly in evidence and cites 'crisis management' in the Middle East and the FYROM as examples of successful autonomous intervention on the part of the European Union. The report then includes a long-winded list of means and institutions currently available to the European Union to carry out its 'God-given' job of 'conflict prevention' and 'crisis management' (crises which the EU will be sure to provoke) throughout the world: the rapid reaction force, the primary objective of which is to create a Euro-army by 2003, initially with 60,000 troops, measures for the rapid flow of resources, non-military – but armed – crisis management (by creating a corps of 5,000 police officers), the (new) Situation Centre and the Policy Planning and Early Warning Unit (both of which come under Mr Solana's department) and so on. Russia, the Ukraine, Moldavia, Africa, Latin America and so on are all seen as military partners outside our area. The stated aim is to impose policies which serve imperialist interests, to get these countries to accept the rules of the capitalist market and – naturally – to respect human rights, or rather what the ΕU understands by human rights. Furthermore, 'global responsibility for peace, stability and sustainable development' is used to justify the need, highlighted in the report, for the EU to develop its strategic plans in Iran, China, Korea and Indonesia. In other words, the Brok report cynically illustrates the imperialist nature of the ΕU which – necessity being the mother of invention – wants to promote its interests in glorious collaboration with the USA, using NATO resources. The report is crystal clear on the division of roles between the two imperialist powers, viz. the USA and the ΕU, which will act in concert with the USA, where possible, or on its own if the USA is not willing or prepared to act. This position marries perfectly with its wholehearted support for the USA in the new imperialist war in Afghanistan and Eurasia in general, fronted by the coalition against international terrorism which has come along, like manna from heaven now that the USSR and the Warsaw Pact have broken up, to give the imperialists an alibi, a modern day 'red under the bed' to justify intense arming, curtailing the rights of our people, fortifying their system every which way and any type of intervention – military or otherwise – anywhere in the world. Mr Brok's statement during his presentation to plenary captures the tone of the report perfectly. He said that, if we want to be convincing and reliable in our foreign policy, we need to demonstrate on a daily basis that we are prepared to use military means to enforce what is not accepted using other means. Who today can dispute the Marxist tenet that war is in the nature of capitalism and, even more so, in the nature of imperialism? That is why the people cannot afford to rest on their laurels. The peace movement at national, European and global level against the warmongering imperialists is the only prospect of survival for mankind.

Political group: GUE-NGL