Mr President, President-in-Office of the Council, Commissioner, after listening to what you have had to say, I think I can tell you right away that you can count on the full support not only of my political group, the Group of the European People’s Party , but of all the groups in Parliament; I know that because I was involved in negotiating the joint resolution that will be put to the vote tomorrow. Personally speaking, the date of Afghanistan one year on was four months ago, on 9 September 2002, when I went to Kabul to represent the European Parliament at the ceremonies held for the first anniversary of the assassination of Commander Massoud. I was privileged to witness the homage paid by an entire nation to the memory of a man who had embodied the spirit of resistance and had so capably defended the values of freedom which he held so dear. I also noted a marked improvement in the situation in the capital and the surrounding area, as evidenced by the speed with which hundreds of thousands of displaced persons and refugees, who had been forced to flee under the Taliban regime, had returned to their former homes. In June 2000 I had met them in the camps, where they survived thanks only to the humanitarian aid that continued to reach them owing to the courageous efforts – as you yourself stressed, Commissioner – of the few NGOs that remained in the face of the difficulties put in their way by the ruling regime. Finally, I was able to see the efforts being made by the provisional government to restore to the whole of the country the harmony essential for the establishment of a lasting peace. I also became aware, however, of the persistent threat posed by fundamentalist terrorists, who had just taken dozens of innocent lives by setting off a bomb in a market at the heart of the busiest quarter of Kabul. And then I was struck by the impression of disorder given by the excessive number of international organisations, which were working in the field, it is true, distributing the aid needed to rebuild the country, but with no real consultation either between them or with the authorities or the Afghan people themselves. In short, President-in-Office of the Council, as you yourself said, I came away with a sense of restrained satisfaction, but I had mixed feelings; I was encouraged by the efforts being made to implement the Bonn Agreements under the aegis of the international organisations, efforts which had brought significant progress; but I was aware that the game was still far from being won; and I was convinced, finally, that everything had to be done to establish the fragile authority of the provisional government by giving it the means to demonstrate its ability to improve the security and economic and social situation of the Afghan citizens everywhere in the country. What is the situation today? President Karzai’s government continues to work through the transitional administration to promote stability, democracy and prosperity in Afghanistan. But, firstly, it is still far from achieving all its objectives, in particular because it has been unable to extend its authority over parts of the territory that are still under the sway of a small number of warlords who are refusing to give any allegiance to the central authorities. As a result, the human rights situation and that of Afghan women has not improved as much as the government would have liked and our Parliament must condemn this situation and call for all the necessary assistance to be given to that end, in particular perhaps by extending the ISAF mandate. Secondly, the fight against the fundamentalist fanaticism of the supporters of Al-Qaida and Mullah Omar has still not been won. There are strong grounds for believing that they may still be receiving support from the ‘‘uncontrolled’’ areas of neighbouring territories. That is why we welcome the commitment given by the governments of the neighbouring countries in Kabul last month and call on them to cooperate unreservedly for the complete destruction of the terrorist networks that remain. Finally, and above all perhaps – as you yourself said, President-in-Office of the Council, and I was glad to hear it – we very much regret the present lack of cooperation between the various players involved in reconstruction. We call for the creation of a proper agency to provide the necessary coordination. As you said, if the government’s authority is to be established all the aid granted by the international community must pass through that government and, in particular, aid must no longer be given to some of the local lords. In conclusion, I would like to say to Commissioner Patten that we want the Commission to endeavour, through its own projects, to strengthen the authority and ability of the Afghan Government by making increasing use of the available resources and skills of the national labour force, which are perhaps too much overlooked at present.

Political group: PPE-DE