Support sought for greater EU role in Iraq

By Martin Banks

Date: 09/09/04

MEPS will next week be asked to back calls for the European Union to play a bigger role in the reconstruction of Iraq, to help the country "step back from the precipice".

The 88-strong Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) has drawn up a draft resolution in a bid to secure a greater role for the EU in the country, expected to be discussed on Wednesday by the European Parliament's plenary in Strasbourg.

While it welcomes the European Commission's proposals to allocate a further €200 million to Iraq's reconstruction in 2005, ALDE, Parliament's third-largest political group, says the Union could do more.

It says the EU should also help draft a constitution for Iraq and establish a Commission delegation in the country as soon as the security situation allows.

January's election in Iraq will set up a transitional government and national assembly, both with more power than the current interim administration. A constitution will then be written and voted on before full elections in December 2005.

Group leader Graham Watson says that the EU has the skills and experience to help. "The EU's experience in nation-building and democratization should be brought to bear on everything from restoring Iraq's devastated infrastructure to advising on the drafting on its new constitution," he said.

German centre-right MEP Elmar Brok, chairman of Parliament's foreign affairs committee, agreed that "both the EU and UN should play a bigger role" but added that "we should not attempt to impose a constitution on Iraq".

"Clearly, having just drawn up a constitution of its own, the EU could help with this, but this must be left to the Iraqi authorities to decide," Brok said.

A spokesman for the Socialists said Parliament's second-largest political group favoured the EU playing a bigger role in Iraq "but only as long as the UN also has greater involvement".

A spokeswoman for Chris Patten, the external relations commissioner, said that the Commission envisages opening a delegation in Iraq. But "this depends on the security situation in the country making it possible and that is not currently the case", she added. For the moment, the Commission has a team in Amman in Jordan which can travel into and out of Iraq.

The European Parliament's Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) has drawn up a draft resolution in which it advocates a greater role for the European Union in the reconstruction of Iraq.

ALDE: Homepage http://www.alde.eu/

---