Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the matter we are discussing today is part of a much broader problem, one which involves not only the external image of the Community, but ultimately also the CFSP itself. The situation of the Union’s external image has been subject to criticism from various quarters in the last few years and still requires a concerted effort to achieve a major transformation. The interrelation of its various aspects, such as trade, development aid, economics, politics and diplomacy is increasingly apparent in today’s world and must clearly be seen, not so much as something inevitable, but above all, as an opportunity. It is an opportunity for the European Union to improve its presence on the international scene, defending the principles of democracy and human rights, which give legitimacy to this objective. We acknowledge that the concept of this reality underpins the Commission’s concerns to improve its external service, which have been put into practice by the adoption of various communications since 1996. The package as a whole, however, lacks coherence and a great deal remains to be done. I must confess that we are greatly looking forward to the Commission communication on the external service, which Commissioner Patten promised last September to send to Parliament and which, I think, needs to be a strategic framework for important future developments. Although we must not lose sight of the fact that the issue we are considering today is actually very limited, improving and adapting the network of delegations, it has very real implications and, as I already emphasised, also affect the political and diplomatic spheres. What is generally known as the deconcentration and decentralisation of external aid, and its rationalisation, therefore deserves our support, with the concomitant requirements for resources and technical support. Nevertheless, I wish to state that I disagree with the almost excessively realistic aspect that still exists in certain ideas on the international role of the Union in development aid. I would, consequently, like to stress three aspects: firstly, that of the importance of regional cooperation, which must, however, be increased to take account of political balances, processes of transition to democracy and of consolidating democracy and also of the relationship between the various countries themselves. Another aspect linked to this is the need for coherence in fundamental guidelines, so that they do not become tied to and dependent on, sometimes almost exclusively, budgetary restrictions which are not necessarily crucial. A further aspect is the importance of accepting certain political criteria, in particular, acknowledging the role of the various States in the processes of democratisation and in defending human rights in their own region. We call on you to suspend the project to shut down our delegations in these countries, also bearing in mind that the cost of maintaining these delegations is a drop in the ocean. The rapporteur, Mr Galeote Quecedo, considered these and other issues and has produced an excellent piece of work. We therefore support his proposals for a resolution and we hope that the Commission and the Council will consider them.

Political group: PSE