Mr President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, Commissioner Patten, ladies and gentlemen, I think the start of the Commissioner's speech has made it clear that recent events require some interpretation. Do we regard the course set out in the roadmap as dead and buried following the meeting between Prime Minister Sharon and President Bush, or should we see new opportunities that can be exploited over the coming days, weeks and months? I must admit that the Irish Presidency's initial reaction tends towards the first position, whereas the stance adopted by a number of foreign ministers in their statements leaned towards the second. I myself endorse the position adopted by the foreign ministers, including the German foreign minister, who said that this initiative brings movement into the process which we should now exploit. Despite all the scepticism that we might feel at the proposed withdrawal from Gaza that was outlined to us yesterday and again today by the two representatives of the Geneva initiative, the European Union should bring its influence to bear on the parties to the conflict, especially Israel, and make it clear that this withdrawal must be the first stage in its withdrawal from all the occupied territories. In that sense, the withdrawal is the right move. That being the case, a Prime Minister who is affiliated to the right wing in Israel and who may soon be responsible for ejecting settlers from their homes in Gaza by force needs a broader framework in which to explain his position. If the withdrawal from Gaza is indeed successful and the orderly handover to the Palestinian authority takes place as demanded yet again by the Commissioner a few moments ago, and if many of the homes currently being used are then offered to people from Gaza, and if the infrastructure is not dismantled but handed over to the Palestinian authority, this may well offer a fresh opportunity for peace. If we take the attitude that the whole thing is pointless and doomed to failure, we will have no chance of influencing the process. However, if we see this as a positive opportunity and work within it, I believe that the roadmap can be revitalised. Reading the US President's letter to the Israeli Prime Minister carefully, we see that the Israelis are also expected to play their part. The President himself refers to UN Security Council Resolution 242. The President himself also says that only negotiations can ultimately produce a solution. We should emphasise these passages of his letter in our further positions on this conflict. Let me make a second point. I believe that it is indeed the case that a solution to this conflict, which is not restricted solely to Gaza, can only be successful over the long term within two viable and independent states. The Commissioner also referred to the work of this Parliament in relation to the deployment of European funds. We have adopted two reports on this issue, a majority and a minority report, but there was 80% agreement on the findings. One of these findings can be shared with the House today: the accusation that the European Union has funded terrorism cannot be proven and is untenable. On the issue of whether the decision to provide direct financial assistance was right or wrong, we can adopt various positions. However, the decision was taken by the foreign ministers, not the Commissioner. The Commission has done its utmost to contribute to the reform of the Palestinian authority. It has been at pains to exercise control over the use of European funds, and we can confirm today that the situation in the Palestinian authority has indeed improved compared with three years ago. We must thank the Commission and Commissioner Patten for their work on this issue, notwithstanding the divergent political views on whether the decision was right or wrong.

Political group: PPE-DE