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Verbatim report of proceedings
Wednesday, 21 April 2004 - Strasbourg OJ edition

Transatlantic relations (continuation)
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  Collins (UEN). Mr President, firstly I would like to congratulate Minister Roche and Commissioner Patten for the very fine contributions they both made here today, contributions that should be carefully read by Members of this House who would benefit considerably from so doing.

There must now be a dawning realisation on the American government that unilateralism is simply not the way forward if we are to address the serious problems which confront the international community. It is now clearer than ever that the American government did have a plan to rid Iraq of the evil dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, but that it did not have, and does not have, an exit strategy from Iraq.

This is the root of the political problem which now faces us. Multilateral systems have a greater success and lay claim to greater legitimacy in upholding respect for the rule of law in relations between states. Effective multilateralism means a commitment to work with others to resolve the root causes of conflict, to promote respect for human rights and to create the machinery for resolving differences by peaceful means. A rule-based international order and strong international institutions, such as the United Nations, are of fundamental importance if international problems are to be tackled.

Multilateral cooperation is in the interests of us all and most particularly serves the interests of smaller states which, lacking military power, must rely on building support for a strong rule-based system. We have placed our faith in the multilateral regime for disarmament and in non-proliferation treaties and agreements.

The war in Iraq has certainly strained relations between many countries in the European Union and with the American government. The real question now is how best we can rebuild relations between the European Union and the United States of America. We should remember that when it comes to European-American relations there is much more that unites us than divides us although that does not mean that we do not have our differences. We have our differences over the Kyoto Protocol, we have our differences over a number of trading issues, but we are in a stronger position to promote the rule of law and to promote democracy when the European Union and the American government can work together as opposed to working in different directions.

 
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