MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
9 January 2003
pursuant to Rule 37(2) of the Rules of Procedure
by José Ignacio Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra
on behalf of the PPE-DE Group
on Afghanistan, one year after the Bonn Agreement
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B5-0022/2003
B5‑0022/2003
European Parliament resolution on Afghanistan, one year after the Bonn Agreement
The European Parliament,
– having regard to its most recent resolution on the situation in Afghanistan, adopted on 5 September 2002,
– having regard to the Commission decisions of 30 October 2002 and 19 December 2002 granting additional humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, bringing the overall amount of European Union aid to 250 million euro,
– having regard to adoption of the European Union budget for 2003,
A. welcoming the efforts made by the people of Afghanistan and by its government to restore throughout the country the harmony needed for a lasting peace to be established,
B. regretting that despite these efforts, government authority and security are not yet completely established in certain parts of the country,
C. conscious of the risks presented in this respect by continued terrorist activity, which is at times fostered and sustained from within the areas neighbouring Afghanistan,
D. welcoming the undertaking made in Kabul on 22 December 2002 by all the countries which neighbour Afghanistan not to intervene in its internal affairs,
E. convinced that normalisation of the situation in Afghanistan hinges on establishing democratic institutions which guarantee representation of all sections of the Afghan population,
F. convinced that the provisional government formed following the Emergency Loya Jirga should oversee reconstruction of the country using the aid granted by the international community,
G. regretting the lack of any real coordination between the Afghan Government and the excessive number of expatriates working for the United Nations, the representatives of donor countries and the representatives of non-governmental organisations,
1. Stresses that the international community should continue to lend the requisite support to the establishment of the political, judicial and security institutions needed to re-establish the authority of the government and the rule of law;
2. Repeats its call, pending this, for the mandate of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to be extended to cover the whole of the country;
3. Calls on the governments of the countries neighbouring Afghanistan to co-operate unreservedly to totally dismantle the remaining terrorist networks constructed by Al‑Qa’ida and the Taliban forces;
4. Reaffirms its hope that the work of the constitutional committee set up by the provisional government pursuant to the Bonn Agreement will lead, within the time limits set, to the establishing of institutions on the basis of the freely expressed wishes of the Afghan people;
5. Recalls that the principle objective of any form of international aid is to meet the needs expressed by the population and the government of the country concerned;
6. Deeply regrets that there is currently no real cohesion between the activities of international organisations, governments and NGOs and the Afghan Government, and calls for consideration to be given to the creation of a fully-fledged agency for reconstruction like the one the European Union established in Kosovo;
7. Encourages the Commission to work, in the implementation of its projects, towards enhancing the authority and the capacities of the Afghan Government and to call increasingly on the resources of the Afghan workforce;
8. Emphasises, in this connection, the priorities set by the Afghan Government: development of human resources, creation of economic infrastructure and reinforcement of the capacities of the government institutions;
9. Decides to send a delegation of Members of the European Parliament to Afghanistan next spring;
10. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission, and to the governments of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.