Doslovný zápis z rozpráv

Streda, 22. mája 2013 - Štrasburg

13. Vymáhanie majetku pre krajiny arabskej jari, ktoré prechádzajú transformáciou (rozprava)

  Presidente. − L'ordine del giorno reca la discussione sulla dichiarazione del Vicepresidente della Commissione e Alto rappresentante dell'Unione per gli affari esteri e la politica di sicurezza sul recupero dei beni per i paesi della Primavera araba in transizione (2013/2612(RSP)).

  Štefan Füle, Member of the Commission, on behalf of the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. − Madam President, during the Arab Spring, the European Union froze the assets of senior figures from the former Tunisian, Egyptian and Libyan regimes. Today, as everyone who travels to the region can attest, the return of misappropriated and frozen assets is of great political importance. For the people of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, this is a matter of justice and dignity. They want an end to the impunity and corruption of the past; they want the misappropriated assets to be returned and invested in their countries.

Although the competence of the European Union is limited in this matter, it is a priority for the High Representative and for myself. Let me highlight some of the actions taken over the past few months. We have renewed our sanctions for a further 12 months to give Egypt, Tunisia and Libya time to achieve the return of assets. We have modified our sanctions legislation to ensure that information-sharing on assets can be facilitated. We have simplified the process for transferring assets to Tunisian, Egyptian and Libyan authorities once a judgment is obtained. We co-organised an expert seminar which brought together members of the Tunisian judiciary, international organisations and the Member States and which allowed our Tunisian colleagues to improve their expertise and rethink their asset recovery strategy. As part of the follow-up to the European Union-Egypt Task Force, we are developing a roadmap for asset recovery.

We are also using the European Union’s influence to raise the profile of this issue. Internally, we have addressed asset recovery in the Council and in several meetings and events organised with Parliament. Externally, we have raised asset recovery at the G8’s Deauville Partnership.

Unfortunately, despite our efforts, progress on asset recovery has not been what we hoped for. The political will is there, but the ownership of these assets has been deliberately obscured, and judicial procedures must be followed. Therefore, the frozen assets cannot just be released overnight.

Ownership must rightfully be transferred to the new state structures. This is a complex legal process which must be resolved bilaterally between Tunisia, Egypt and Libya and the individual European Union Member States concerned. The European Union is ready to facilitate this process as much as our competences allow.

We must not use complexity as an excuse for delay. However, due process must be respected while we all work together. The European Union will continue to work with our partners, Member States and international organisations to accelerate the process so that the money returns to where it belongs.

  Cristian Dan Preda, în numele grupului PPE. – Discutăm astăzi despre recuperarea activelor pentru ţările angajate în Primăvara arabă, la mai bine de doi ani de la începerea transformărilor pe care le-a cunoscut vecinătatea sudică. Aşa cum a sugerat şi comisarul Füle mai devreme, avem implicate, cred, două perspective. Vorbesc de perspectivele cetăţenilor din Tunisia, Egipt şi Libia.

E mai întâi perspectiva, dacă îmi îngăduiţi această expresie, economică; e subliniată importanţa economică, financiară, înainte de toate, pentru guvernele din ţările Primăverii arabe, care sunt confruntate cu provocarea reconstrucţiei economice şi, din această perspectivă, sigur că recuperarea e văzută ca un mijloc de a pune ceva la temelia reconstrucţiei. Pe de altă parte, avem cealaltă perspectivă, aş spune eu şi mai importantă, perspectiva dreptăţii şi a demnităţii. Cetăţenii din Tunisia, din Egipt şi din Libia doresc recuperarea activelor, pentru că văd în acest gest o măsură a dreptăţii, în condiţiile în care respectivele bunuri au fost legate decenii de-a rândul de corupţie.

Pe de altă parte, e un proces de lungă durată, e un proces complex, cum de asemenea s-a spus mai devreme, ne amintim că în Filipine activele deturnate de Ferdinand Marcos nu au fost recuperate decât după un sfert de secol. În unele dintre ţările menţionate, mai precis în Tunisia, deocamdată nu s-au recuperat decât 28 de milioane de dolari blocaţi într-un cont în Liban, foarte puţin.

Ce putem face este să cooperăm la nivelul statelor membre oferind asistenţă tehnică şi juridică pentru a grăbi cât se poate de mult procesul.

  Ana Gomes, on behalf of the S&D Group. – Madam President, as Commissioner Füle just said, asset recovery cannot be done overnight. But the EU has simply not done enough to help Tunisia, Libya and Egypt recover the billions in assets that their former corrupt regimes stole and stashed away in financial centres in our Member States.

Tunisia has launched over 65 legal cases in courts around the world, and until the recovery of USD 29 million from Lebanon in April of this year – a mere drop in the ocean of what the Ben Ali regime is estimated to have looted – Tunisia had yet to recover a single cent. Egypt is in turmoil, and this is exacerbated by the economic crisis in the country, widespread poverty and the expectations of their population that recovery of those assets could help meet. After 42 years of systematic institutional dismantling and a kleptocracy of unprecedented proportions, the Libyan authorities are trying to make sense of the colossal volume of assets Gaddafi spread around the world.

These countries are facing layer upon layer of bank secrecy and ambiguous ownership structures that protect dictators’ ill-gotten riches: a seemingly endless queue of obstructions and appeals, often by parties acting erroneously on behalf of the ousted officials. Whereas the Swiss are being heralded for aiding the authorities of these countries, our own Member States are failing to show the political willingness which is crucial to this process.

Stable communication channels are also essential here. The G8 created the action plan on asset recovery within the Deauville Partnership which has led to real action. Like the meeting of the Arab Forum on Asset Recovery and the publishing of national guides on seeking assistance, the StAR initiative of the World Bank and UNODC does crucial work in this respect in disseminating information and best practice. Has anyone seen the European Union at work here – despite the fact that alerts were transmitted by the Special Representative for the Southern Mediterranean, Mr Bernardino León, to our Committee on Foreign Affairs in the Joint Meeting we had with national parliaments in Cyprus in September last year?

For the sake of our credibility in the region – and in our own critical strategic interest – it is critical that the EU now takes action in assisting its partners in this process, as we propose in the resolution to be adopted following this debate. I am proud to have steered this process on behalf of my political group and very much want to thank the other groups for their valuable contributions.

I would like to say now that we count on the High Representative and Vice-President to ensure that the external instruments will finance an expert mechanism to begin working as soon as possible on facilitating and advising the authorities of these countries. This is not a flash-in-the-pan concept either; this will be a sustainable mechanism which can evolve into co-financing in the future and serve other partner countries as well.

  Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck, on behalf of the ALDE Group. – Madam President, as the previous speaker, Ms Gomes, has so eloquently demonstrated, the recovery of Libya, Tunisia and Egypt’s misappropriated assets is a legal and moral obligation – we all agree on that. I believe we also all agree on the fact that these recovery operations will in practice be much more difficult than one would have wished for. But the legal and judicial obligations will still need to be followed.

I believe there is indeed a need to put into place a specific or trade-specific mechanism in order to accompany and steer the process, because it is certainly true that there is absolutely no comparison between the urgent expectations of the people in the three countries concerned and the concerns of the people in our countries where several of these assets are illegally and illegitimately parked. As I stated in my previous intervention, I believe that we should not only address the members of the G8 and our own Member States and the institutions of the Union and call for help and assistance, we should also address the Arab League and the members of the Arab League and the Member States of the Gulf Cooperation Council. It is highly probable that assets are there, and these should certainly also assist the populations of Egypt, Lebanon and Tunisia.

  Isabelle Durant, au nom du groupe Verts/ALE. – Madame la Présidente, Mme Ashton a sans doute de bons motifs pour ne pas être présente avec nous, aujourd'hui. Cependant, le débat précédent sur la Syrie a montré à quel point notre inexistence, notre impuissance politique, notre incapacité à agir et peut-être même, d'ailleurs, à activer la protection temporaire, justifieraient absolument sa présence et une action un peu plus volontariste de sa part.

Je trouve que ce débat-ci doit aussi nous mobiliser. Il doit nous mobiliser parce que, cela a été dit, le recouvrement est évidemment une question qui touche à la dignité, aux droits, au droit d'inventaire, d'ailleurs aussi, des nouveaux gouvernements ou des nouveaux élus dans les pays de la transition démocratique.

Mais je voudrais ajouter à ce qui a été dit un élément supplémentaire. Au-delà du travail qui doit être fait de façon juridique, de façon politique, et en espérant réellement un vrai pilotage de l'Union européenne, qui ne consiste pas seulement à observer l'action bilatérale de chacun des pays créanciers, sur leur propre territoire, de ces pays, il convient aussi d'opérer un réel audit sur ce qu'on appelle la dette "odieuse" pour ces pays. Et la dette odieuse, c'est celle qui a été contractée par des élites politiques, tantôt pour assurer leur enrichissement personnel, tantôt pour acheter des armes utilisées contre leur population.

J'aimerais aussi que, non seulement le service pour l'action extérieure pilote ces opérations, qui sont multilatérales, avec la Ligue arabe – vous avez raison, Madame Neyts-Uyttebroeck, c'est très important –, avec d'autres partenaires, avec le G 8, mais aussi que nous acceptions de réaliser l'audit sur la dette odieuse. M. Moncef Marzouki, ici présent, nous l'a demandé solennellement au mois de février. Je pense qu'il est de notre devoir d'apporter rapidement, non seulement une réponse politique, que nous avons tant de mal à fournir à la Syrie, mais aussi une réponse relevant de la coordination des politiques relatives au recouvrement et à la dette odieuse. C'est impératif et indispensable. C'est ce droit d'inventaire que les pays ont. Il faut au moins que nous leur offrions cette capacité d'exercer ce droit d'inventaire au lendemain de périodes de dictature aussi longues.

J'attends donc vraiment que, sur ce sujet, le service pour l'action extérieure et la haute représentante assument le pilotage d'une opération de grande ampleur, qui prendra du temps, mais qui exigera surtout de la ténacité, de la détermination et une volonté de coordonner l'ensemble des acteurs. C'est extrêmement important si nous voulons être concrets dans le signal que nous donnerons aux populations.

(L'oratrice accepte de répondre à une question "carton bleu" (article 149, paragraphe 8, du règlement))

  Krisztina Morvai (NI), blue-card question. – I liked your point about it being a question of principle and of dignity that if a dictatorship collapses, then the assets of the dictator should be frozen by the European Union, the European Community, and then released and returned to the new democracies.

Sorry for my ignorance, but could you please enlighten me as to whether it was the same in the case of the collapse of Communist dictatorships in Europe and, if not, why not? Because the only thing I see is that the successors of those Communist dictators still sit on that side of the chamber and cooperate very well. They were actually helped and supported in stealing the money of those nations, so what was the exact situation in terms of the former Communist countries in this context?

  Isabelle Durant (Verts/ALE), réponse "carton bleu". – Chère Madame, on peut évidemment essayer de tout mélanger, de noyer le poisson. Nous menons ici un débat sur les printemps arabes, sur des pays qui se sont libérés eux-mêmes et qui n'ont rien attendu de nous, d'ailleurs, parce que souvent, les Européens ont été complices de ces régimes antérieurement. Nous avons été complices et, aujourd'hui, ils se sont libérés.

Ils ont le droit, aujourd'hui, de réclamer la restitution des biens dont ils ont été en quelque sorte spoliés. Je ne m'occupe pas de savoir ce qui s'est produit dans le passé. J'ai devant moi trois pays, principalement la Tunisie, la Lybie, mais aussi l'Égypte. J'espère que, demain, nous ferons la même chose pour les Syriens, parce que nous aurons au moins permis que le massacre qui se déroule cesse, c'est le moins qu'on puisse dire. Mais je ne vois pas aujourd'hui quel est l'intérêt de faire des comparaisons avec le passé. Je constate surtout que le service pour l'action extérieure a aujourd'hui l'obligation de conduire une opération de grande urgence.

  Charles Tannock, on behalf of the ECR Group. – Madam President, the Arab Spring was intended to embody the essence of political freedom: the fundamental right of populations to determine how they live and how they are governed. That spirit of freedom and democracy which swept away the rigid secular tyrannies in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt bore justice at its centre, but too much was stolen from the people for too long, and if the revolution was to achieve anything, it was right and proper for those deeply entrenched wrongs to be reversed. Gadaffi alone is alleged to have plundered about USD 200 billion from his people; Hosni Mubarak has an estimated GBP 133 million offshore (some of it was stashed in London, the city that I represent); and the Swiss Government froze around USD 68 million of President Ben Ali’s ill-gotten gains from the Tunisian people. All the while, vast swathes of their populations lived in absolute poverty.

At a time when the air of hope in those countries has given way to so much resignation, and in some cases despair, asset recovery is a tangible means to demonstrate that the revolutions were not in vain and that the monies which were stolen from the people can rightly be restituted to them.

A clear plan is now necessary for negotiations to be instituted between the Middle Eastern and North African governments and those of the countries storing these assets – all of which are available – including the need to find appropriately-trained forensic accountants to be deployed to trace and return these monies.

We must also further encourage friendly jurisdictions to assist the Arab Spring countries as far as they can in this matter. However, this is not an area in which my group believes that the EU should assume direct and new competences. We would oppose this and we would oppose the establishment of any dedicated EU taskforce for this purpose as it is a matter for intergovernmental, global cooperation, for the G8, or for the UN, to which the EU can add little value per se. But we would continue to do all that we can to support the Arab Spring countries in this matter to ensure that a lasting injustice from decades of tyranny can finally be corrected.

  Fiorello Provera, a nome del gruppo EFD. – Signor Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, sono molte le ragioni per restituire ai popoli della Primavera araba quanto è stato loro sottratto, innanzitutto perché si tratta di risorse finanziarie ingenti e preziose, in un momento di crisi e di transizione in cui costruiscono il loro futuro.

La restituzione dei beni rubati deve essere inoltre un monito per i dittatori di oggi e di domani, con il quale la comunità internazionale dimostra che non è più consentito a nessuno godere impunemente delle ricchezze sottratte al proprio popolo. Sono inoltre d'accordo con il Commissario Füle e con i colleghi che mi hanno preceduto, che esistono ragioni morali e di giustizia per le quali questi beni dovrebbero ritornare a chi li ha prodotti, ossia i popoli della Primavera araba, ed alleviare i loro bisogni e contribuire al loro sviluppo economico e sociale.

Infine, un aspetto non secondario riguarda la restituzione dei beni che toglierà qualsiasi alibi agli attuali governi per le loro inadempienze e li renderà di fatto responsabili di fronte ai loro popoli di una corretta gestione di queste risorse.

Concludo con una domanda al Commissario Füle: ha parlato di dispositivi di restituzione bilaterale da parte degli Stati membri a questi paesi del Maghreb; vorrei sapere quali possibilità concrete di coordinamento l'Europa può mettere in campo per rendere più semplice e più rapida la restituzione di questi asset.

  Willy Meyer, en nombre del Grupo GUE/NGL. – Señora Presidenta, da la impresión de que, efectivamente, todos estamos de acuerdo en que hay que restituir los activos congelados pero, desde luego, yo no me resisto a plantear que la Unión Europea jugó un papel negativo, es decir, los acuerdos de asociación no fueron congelados ni con Ben Ali ni con Mubarak. Esto a mí no se me olvida. Y da la impresión de que nosotros, ahora, a partir de esta idea, que nosotros compartimos, condicionamos nuestras ayudas al respeto de los derechos humanos. Muy lejos de la realidad.

En Marruecos, en el Magreb, el 50 % de las empresas que cotizan en bolsa son propiedad de la Casa Real y prácticamente todo el territorio es del Rey. Allí, en Marruecos, todos los derechos humanos, todos, casi todos, están pisoteados, y Marruecos ocupa ilegalmente un territorio en el Sáhara Occidental.

Pero podríamos hablar de Baréin, o podríamos hablar de Arabia Saudí. Por lo tanto, que no nos lavemos la cara con esta cuestión, porque, es verdad, hay que devolver los activos, pero también hay que auditar la deuda odiosa y oponerse a que el Fondo Monetario Internacional imponga condiciones inhumanas.

  Ewald Stadler (NI). - Frau Präsidentin! Der Westen ist derzeit auf dem besten Weg, jede Glaubwürdigkeit und jeden Kredit in der arabischen Welt zu verspielen, insbesondere bei bisher pro-westlichen und säkularen Gruppierungen. Besonders deutlich wird das, wenn man sich anschaut, was der Westen im Irak angerichtet hat. Ich gehe jetzt gar nicht auf die humanitäre Katastrophe dort ein. Allein, was an Milliardenwerten von Petrodollars im Westen verschwunden ist, ist Skandal genug – an Milliardenwerten von Petrodollars, die man zurückgegeben hat, die im Land veruntreut wurden durch die dortige Korruption, ist ein einziger Skandal!

Und jetzt machen wir genau den gleichen Fehler wieder. Ich warne davor zu glauben, dass die neuen Regierungen weniger korrupt sind als die alten Regierungen! Zum Teil sitzen sogar noch die gleichen Leute an der Macht. Daher wäre ich dafür, die eingefrorenen Vermögenswerte ausschließlich in eigene humanitäre Programme zu schaffen, um zu verhindern, dass sie in korrupte Kanäle fließen: für soziale Programme, für humanitäre Programme, für Demokratisierungsprogramme, für Rechtsstaatlichkeitsprogramme und auch für Programme zum Schutz der Minderheiten, insbesondere der christlichen Minderheiten, vor allem der Kopten in Ägypten. Wenn wir das Geld aus der Hand geben, haben wir keine Möglichkeit mehr zu kontrollieren, was damit geschieht. Ich warne daher davor – angesichts des negativen Beispiels Irak.

  Mário David (PPE). - Madam President, speaking about confiscation and asset recovery in Europe is the same as speaking about our own credibility and reputation. We did the right thing when we confiscated these assets. Now we need caution and an adequate legal framework, bilateral judicial mechanisms and specific Member State judicial sentences.

We need transparency and coordination, as asset recovery is a Member State competence. So I welcome the obligation to set up or designate national asset recovery offices. The countries of the Arab Spring need urgent investment in money and flows to solve their extremely hard economic problems and severe, fragile social conditions.

Experience shows that recovering assets may take about seven years. Let us not waste time. We must keep the pressure on our governments to accelerate these complex processes. Then we need a better use of the recovered assets, targeting them at the sectors that bring more benefits to the victims of corruption, which are always the poorest and most unprotected social classes.

  Pino Arlacchi (S&D). - Madam President, Commissioner Füle, this resolution is the result of a strong political initiative led by the Socialist Group and shared by almost all the others. The return of a huge amount of assets stolen by former dictators to the Arab-speaking countries is a moral and legal imperative. The repatriation of these assets is – beyond its economic significance – a strong step in combating the impunity surrounding corruption and money laundering that corrupt political leaders have so far enjoyed.

Egypt, Libya and Tunisia have already made considerable efforts aimed at ensuring that these assets are returned to the new legitimate governments, but poor results have been achieved in this respect. We do not yet have a satisfactory international legal framework governing these matters – and such a framework is essential, Mr Tannock. Intergovernmental cooperation is not enough and, in itself, will not get us very far.

There are only a couple of multilateral initiatives dedicated to this issue. The most relevant effort undertaken by the international community so far is the UN Convention against Corruption, which devotes a full chapter to the issue of asset recovery.

Given the magnitude of the depredation of public resources suffered by a million people who have revolted against injustice and corruption in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, the time has come for strong, concrete measures. This resolution should kick-start the first large-scale attempt to identify, confiscate and repatriate assets that total more than the collective GDP of all the countries involved.

We are calling for the establishment, without delay, of an EU mechanism comprising a team of first-class investigators, prosecutors and lawyers able to provide the Arab League countries with all the technical assistance needed for a process of asset recovery. This mechanism should be funded through adequate EU resources and should be operational within a few months. I believe this effort will be one of the most significant contributions by the EU to the consolidation of the democratic transition in these crucial countries.

  Ivo Vajgl (ALDE). - Veliko kolegov je pred mano, gospa predsednica, gospod komisar, govorilo o tem, da je dobro, da smo se hitro odzvali na pričakovanja ljudi v državah, ki jih je zajela arabska pomlad. Ampak danes moramo ugotoviti, da zamujamo. Praktično nobena odtujena sredstva se niso vrnila.

Očitno je, da smo pokazali, da evropska zakonodaja bolj ščiti tistega, ki jemlje, kot onega, ki mu je bilo odvzeto. Jaz bi rad poudaril, da seveda sredstva, ki so odtujena, ki so na računih zahodnih bank, so samo sredstva provizij, ki so bila izplačana državnikom in drugim špekulantom v teh državah.

Večina drugih odtujenih sredstev je še vedno tam, kamor so jih odnesli tisti, ki vedo, kako se spravi varno denar. To so pa multinacionalne kompanije, ki izkoriščajo te države. Jaz mislim, da situacija, ki jo imamo danes, kliče po novi etiki in kliče po tem, da tudi te multinacionalke, ki plenijo po državah, ne samo Bližnjega vzhoda, ampak tudi Latinske Amerike, Afrike in tako naprej, spremenijo svoje metode in končno položijo račune.

(Govornik se je strinjal, da bo sprejel vprašanje, postavljeno z dvigom modrega kartončka (člen 149(8)).

  Paul Rübig (PPE), Frage nach dem Verfahren der „blauen Karte“. – Welche Möglichkeiten sehen Sie aus dem, was wir jetzt gelernt haben, welche praktischen Verbesserungsvorschläge können wir hier unterbreiten, um diese Krise in den Griff zu bekommen? Haben Sie praktische Vorschläge, wie jetzt Europa auf diese Frage reagieren könnte?

  Ivo Vajgl (ALDE), odgovor na vprašanje, postavljeno z dvigom modrega kartončka – Edino, kar bi lahko odgovoril na to vprašanje je: tudi jaz podpiram zamisel o boljši koordinaciji.

Najbrž ne more biti vse prepuščeno nacionalnim vladam, ker je očitno, da imajo te vlade zelo različne pristope. In tudi denar je šel tja, kjer so računali, da jih bodo sprejeli bolj naklonjeno in bodo izpostavljeni manj možnostim, da se jim ta denar odtuji. Se pravi, koordinacija je potrebna.

  Eva Joly (Verts/ALE). - Madame la Présidente, Monsieur le Commissaire, chers collègues, en 2008, l'Union européenne et les États membres n'ont pas pris toute la mesure du vent de liberté qui soufflait sur les pays de la Méditerranée. Ils se sont empêtrés dans une diplomatie conservatrice et de soutien d'arrière-garde. N'ajoutons pas aux erreurs diplomatiques d'alors une indifférence à l'égard des difficultés économiques qui minent aujourd'hui ces jeunes États en transition. Nous avons l'obligation morale d'aider politiquement, juridiquement et techniquement ces pays à récupérer les avoirs accumulés illégitimement par les dictatures dans nos États membres.

La transparence que j'ai appelée de mes voeux hier, lors du débat sur les paradis fiscaux, est ici aussi de mise. Elle permettrait d'enrayer la fuite de vingt à quarante milliards d'euros par an, en empêchant les dictateurs d'utiliser trusts ou fondations pour cacher l'argent amassé au détriment de leur peuple.

Au-delà de ces biens mal acquis et de leur recouvrement se pose le problème préoccupant de la dette. En droit international, une dette contractée sous une dictature peut être qualifiée d'odieuse. La chute de ces régimes aurait donc dû entraîner a minima un audit sur l'origine des fonds concernés. La responsabilité des créanciers, qui ne pouvaient ignorer la destination des prêts octroyés, est grande. À eux aujourd'hui de faire preuve de courage, soit en annulant les dettes, soit en les convertissant en complément d'aide publique au développement pour que de la révolution naissent des démocraties solides.

  Struan Stevenson (ECR). - Madam President, we must be very cautious if we intend to include Iraq in the list of countries to which stolen or frozen assets are returned. There is mounting concern that Iraq is once again descending into chaos and potential civil war. Seventy-one people have been killed in the past week alone. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have taken to the streets in protests which have continued now for months. They are outraged at what they regard as an emerging dictatorship led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who many regard as a puppet of the Iranian regime.

Although oil production has been restored to an all-time high, with an estimated USD 80 billion in earnings last year alone, much of this money simply disappears. Minorities are routinely persecuted, violently attacked and excluded from public-sector jobs. The Christian minority, one of the oldest in the world, has dwindled from more than 1.5 million 10 years ago to just over 300 000 today. I fear that any assets released back to this corrupt and venal regime will simply disappear into the black hole of corruption that is already swallowing that country’s future.

  Marie-Christine Vergiat (GUE/NGL). - Madame la Présidente, la résolution qui nous est soumise est bien faible au regard des enjeux et des révolutions arabes. Dans ces pays, la responsabilité de l'Union européenne, et surtout celle de certains États membres, est lourde, car le soutien aux dictateurs a été sans faille, quasiment jusqu'à leur chute. Depuis lors, au-delà des grands discours, les politiques, notamment celles de l'Union européenne, n'ont pas changé, poursuivent les même objectifs et continuent d'augmenter l'endettement de ces pays, les empêchant de répondre aux revendications sociales des populations à l'origine même des révolutions.

La restitution des avoirs gelés est symbolique. Les États membres doivent se donner les moyens, notamment judiciaires, de restituer rapidement ces millions d'euros, sommes dont ces pays ont tant besoin. Un juge en France pour s'occuper des trois pays, Monsieur le Commissaire!

Mais oui, la question de la dette est tout aussi importante. Quelques pays, comme l'Allemagne, proposent une restructuration. C'est un pis-aller qui donne de l'air. Mais cela ne doit pas empêcher un réel audit permettant de définir précisément la dette odieuse. Cela a déjà été dit. Oui, l'Union européenne doit aussi agir dans ce domaine. Les peuples arabes en ont réellement besoin.

  Eija-Riitta Korhola (PPE). - Arvoisa puhemies, taloudellisen tilanteen ollessa kriittinen on tärkeää, että niin sanotut epäoikeudenmukaiset varat siirretään yleiseen hyvään, varsinkin kun vallankumoukset eivät ole tuoneet tullessaan toivottua taloudellista, sosiaalista ja poliittista edistystä. Vuoden 2013 tapahtumat osoittavat, että maiden vakaus on herkässä tilassa. Yksi tärkeimmistä kysymyksistä on kuitenkin diktatuurien korruptoimien varojen takaisinhankinta.

Tunisian, Egyptin ja Libyan johtajat olivat vallassa vuosikymmeniä ja he onnistuivat keräämään varoja amerikkalaisille ja eurooppalaisille pankkitileille korruption, lahjonnan ja nepotismin keinoin. Kansainväliset toimijat osallistuivat toimintaan omalta osaltaan. Nyt kun johtajat on syrjäytetty, ihmiset vaativat takaisin jättimäisiä laittomasti hankittuja summia ja raha on todella tarpeen.

Päätöslauselmamme viesti on selvä. Varallisuuden takaisinhankinta on arkaluontoinen kysymys, mutta se antaa korruptioon osallistuneille vahvan viestin rankaisemattomuutta vastaan ja toivottavasti myös estää tapauksia tulevaisuudessa. Päätöslauselman mukaan EU:n tulee osoittaa konkreettisesti ja aidosti sitoutumisensa Välimeren etelärannikon maiden taloudellisen tilanteen parantamiseen. Jotkut hallitukset ovat jo palauttaneet merkittävästi entisten diktaattorien omaisuutta, mutta vähin konkreettisin tuloksin. EU-jäseninstrumentit voivat vain auttaa prosessissa, todellinen vastuu on maiden hallituksilla.

  Pier Antonio Panzeri (S&D). - Signora Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, nel quadro delle relazioni tra l'Unione europea e i paesi nordafricani che hanno intrapreso la via del cambiamento, riveste un'enorme importanza la questione del recupero dei patrimoni.

A più riprese i nuovi governi di Egitto, Tunisia e Libia hanno richiesto all'Unione europea che il tema fosse trattato seriamente e posto all'ordine del giorno. La situazione economica e finanziaria di questi paesi è oggettivamente difficile, il dato della disoccupazione è in netto peggioramento, i proventi del turismo hanno avuto una caduta verticale e la crisi economica che investe l'Europa, principale partner commerciale, non lascia per niente indenni questi paesi provocando ricadute molto negative.

Dovrebbe essere evidente a tutti che la possibilità di affermazione dei processi democratici e del rafforzamento delle istituzioni non risiede solo, anche se è importante, nella definizione di nuovi e più avanzati quadri costituzionali per questi paesi, ma nella concreta possibilità di rispondere positivamente alle tantissime aspettative economiche e sociali che si levano dai cittadini. Per queste ragioni anche il recupero dei patrimoni deve essere una priorità politica per l'Unione europea. Oltre ad avere un significato politico importante, esso ha anche un forte impatto economico in questi paesi in transizione che si misurano con enormi difficoltà sia legali sia pratiche.

Le autorità tunisine hanno presentato 66 richieste di rogatorie principalmente con l'Unione europea e gli Stati arabi; è difficile stimare l'ammontare dei patrimoni da recuperare, ma il governo tunisino stima tra i 18 e i 38 miliardi di euro, quasi 50 miliardi per quanto riguarda l'Egitto e quasi 100 miliardi per quanto riguarda la Libia, di cui 40 nei paesi europei. Il Parlamento europeo ha già espresso pieno sostegno a questo processo nella risoluzione sull'Egitto e si appresta a votare questa risoluzione.

È tuttavia importante accompagnare questa risoluzione con un spirito di cooperazione da parte di tutte le istituzioni europee e soprattutto dei diversi governi degli Stati membri per superare i limiti e i ritardi che continuano a registrare. Qui occorre fare qualcosa di più, si è chiesto cosa fare. Bisogna definire un nuovo quadro giuridico europeo che permetta di intervenire perché non bastano i rapporti bilaterali.

Due secondi Presidente, perché voglio approfittare della presenza del Commissario per chiedere a lui se può e vuole fornirci ulteriori notizie, qualche notizia in più sulla situazione che si è determinata in Tunisia con gli scontri tra le forze dell'ordine e i salafiti.

  Niccolò Rinaldi (ALDE). - Signora Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, signor Commissario, un anno fa il Parlamento ha approvato la relazione sul "Commercio per il cambiamento" per creare misure economiche e commerciali a favore dei paesi della Primavera araba.

Economie che devono ripartire dal basso valorizzando lo spirito imprenditoriale diffuso del mondo arabo, le piccole e medie imprese, i giovani che si affacciano a un mondo del lavoro che in molti casi non c'è. Bene, tutto bene! Ma quanto sarebbe utile che, recuperando i patrimoni sottratti da dittatori e da nomenclature, si creino dei fondi di sviluppo economico diffuso, del microcredito, delle agevolazioni per l'imprenditoria, delle borse di studio per gli studenti, e sarebbe il modo migliore per restituire ai cittadini quanto gli è stato sottratto e si darebbe un segnale potente di che cosa può offrire una collaborazione internazionale virtuosa.

Per ora siamo ancora alla fase del recupero, ma dando un'indicazione sulla destinazione di queste risorse si può rafforzare tanto la motivazione quanto il senso di giustizia di quest'iniziativa e avere dalla nostra parte anche i cittadini che oggi sono più scettici e cinici rispetto alla cooperazione internazionale.

  Laima Liucija Andrikienė (PPE). - Madam President, the EU has frozen the assets of 67 people suspected of concealing abroad state funds misappropriated in Egypt and Tunisia. Now the governments in Libya, Egypt and Tunisia are struggling with economic hardship and it is high time for the EU and its Member States to make further significant efforts to facilitate the return of misappropriated assets, stolen by the former regimes, to the people of Arab Spring countries without delay.

In the Arab Spring countries the challenges are numerous and expectations are high. Therefore, the return of stolen assets to the countries in transition is important beyond its economic significance. It is a moral and legal imperative and a highly political issue, as those assets, if used properly, could help to reconstruct the societies of Arab Spring countries, firstly by funding government programmes and initiatives to help the people, secondly by providing justice for victims and challenging a political culture of impunity, and thirdly by deterring officials from engaging in corruption in the future.

Lastly, cooperation by the EU and its Member States would demonstrate the EU’s political commitment and credibility and, moreover, would strengthen much-needed mutual confidence, in a spirit of partnership with societies, which is a cornerstone of the revised European Neighbourhood Policy.

  Mariya Gabriel (PPE). - Madame la Présidente, le recouvrement des avoirs par les pays du Printemps arabe est une question d'importance cruciale, nous l'avons compris. Mais la réponse qui y sera apportée rendra compte de l'engagement des autorités publiques de transition envers leurs citoyens, la démocratie et l'état de droit, mais aussi de l'engagement qui est le nôtre. En effet, nous savons quelle est la principale difficulté: c'est que cette question continue à relever de la compétence des États et est abordée sur la base des dispositions juridiques nationales. Il est néanmoins indispensable que l'Union européenne garantisse et encourage le recouvrement de ces avoirs le plus rapidement possible car il s'agit-là, à la fois, d'un impératif légal et moral, mais aussi, avant tout, d'une nécessité pour la reconstruction politique, économique et sociale de ces pays.

À cet égard, nous relevons trois conditions primordiales. Premièrement, face à la diversité et à la complexité des procédures nationales auxquelles les États requérants font face et aux maigres résultats obtenus jusqu'ici, qu'en est-il de la création d'un mécanisme européen d'assistance légale et technique pour aider ces pays du Printemps arabe dans les procédures de recouvrement?

Deuxièmement, quid de la coopération avec les organisations de la société civile dans l'échange de bonnes pratiques et l'accompagnement de ces pays? Il convient de garantir une coopération constante.

Enfin, nous devons pouvoir nous assurer et garantir que les fonds recouvrés seront utilisés en toute transparence et serviront effectivement à la reconstruction économique des pays et à la promotion de la démocratie et, surtout, qu'ils seront affectés à des fins humanitaires et sociales.

C'est sur ce dernier point que je voudrais insister. La coopération internationale et régionale doit assurer que ce que nous faisons permettra de contribuer à l'émergence de sociétés libres, démocratiques et tolérantes, conformément au partenariat de Deauville.

Procedura interventi su richiesta

  Paul Murphy (GUE/NGL). - Madam President, the vast plundered resources of countries in North Africa and the Middle East must be returned to the people of those countries. Let us not forget the role of the Western leaders in this plunder. How many of the millions of people in the region still struggling for a decent life will forget the images of Sarkozy, Merkel, Berlusconi and Obama, shaking hands with the likes of Ben Ali and Gaddafi?

To this day, dictatorial regimes like those in Morocco, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia can still count on the West’s full support. Debt is another form of plunder, and it is currently being used as a weapon to impose neo-colonial domination and neo-liberal reforms. Tunisia, for example, is left with an external debt of USD 14.4 billion from the Ben Ali days. Not a cent of this debt benefited ordinary people but they are paying for it through vicious austerity and neo-liberal reforms in return for an IMF loan. This debt should not be paid; it is not the people’s debt. It is the debt of the Trabelsi clan; it is the debt of …

(The President cut off the speaker)

  Alda Sousa (GUE/NGL). - Queria também sublinhar um aspeto que já aqui foi tratado que é a questão da dívida externa dos países de que estamos a falar, da Tunísia, do Egito e da Líbia, que foi declarada, por uma resolução aprovada neste Parlamento há cerca de um ano, como uma dívida odiosa. Uma dívida odiosa porque foi contraída por regimes ditatoriais que oprimiam as suas populações e cujos líderes faziam um enriquecimento pessoal e, ao mesmo tempo, também contraíam dívida com compra de armas, regimes esses que muitas vezes foram apoiados pela União Europeia.

De facto, a dívida externa da maior parte desses países excede em muito o montante dos bens que foram congelados e que, evidentemente, devem ser devolvidos a esses países.

A União Europeia pode ter peritos para estudar a transferência desses bens mas os povos andam mais depressa do que os Estados e, na realidade, nesses países já está em marcha, eu termino, um processo de auditoria cidadã às dívidas. Já está a acontecer: os cidadãos já estão a procurar fazer uma auditoria às dívidas para virem a declarar qual é a parte da dívida que é ilegítima e que é odiosa.

  Krisztina Morvai (NI), blue-card question to Paul Murphy. – I appreciate your point about Western leaders’ attitudes to those dictatorships. Can you recall when the British Queen, for example, shook the hand of Ceausescu? What is your opinion about that? Also the principle you recalled: do you think it is also valid in the context of Communist countries that the debts that were accumulated by the Communist dictators should not be paid back to those Westerners who knew exactly whom they were dealing with?

  Paul Murphy (GUE/NGL), blue-card answer. – Thanks for the question. I think the Green MEP answered the point in terms of the relevance of the discussion to this debate.

First, you should do some political research about the people you are asking questions of. I do not come from the political tradition that I think you think I come from. I come from a Trotskyist tradition – those who also faced oppression under the regimes in Eastern Europe, Russia and so on. So everywhere across the world I have supported the rights of peoples struggling for a genuinely democratic and socialist change.

I think the key question for the discussion today is the question of the people in North Africa and the Middle East and the fact that again and again, imperialism internationally has not been the friend of those people and will not be the friend of those people in the future.

  Andreas Mölzer (NI). - Frau Präsidentin! Die Machthaber in Diktaturen neigen bekanntlich dazu, Gelder beiseite zu schaffen, die sich dann auf diskreten Konten in der Schweiz oder anderswo wiederfinden. Es ist sicher keine leichte Aufgabe, diese Gelder zu lokalisieren, zu sperren, zu beschlagnahmen und schließlich an den Staat zurückzuerstatten, aus dem sie stammen. Dieser Restitutionsprozess stellt schon besondere Anforderungen an die involvierten Staaten.

Offenbar ist es aber viel leichter, ein Regime zu stürzen, als danach für entsprechende Ordnung zu sorgen. Weniger als zwei Jahre nach Beginn des Arabischen Frühlings herrscht ja Desillusionierung vor. In Tunesien, Libyen und Ägypten hat wegen der Islamisierung der Politik und wegen wirtschaftlicher Stagnation Frustration Einzug gefunden. Neu an die Macht gekommene Regimes gehen zum Teil noch schärfer gegen Journalisten vor als frühere. Nach wie vor herrscht Korruption vor, und die Demokratie wird nur allzu oft als Instrument missbraucht, um undemokratische Strukturen zu schaffen. Das sollten wir nicht so hinnehmen!

(Fine della procedura interventi su richiesta)

  Štefan Füle, Member of the Commission, on behalf of the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. − Madam President, honourable Members, in dealing with this complex issue we all recognise that we are in for the long haul, but my understanding is that assets are beginning to return and that the rate of progress is actually greater than in previous cases, notably in relation to the return of assets allegedly stolen by the former regime in Algeria.

Nevertheless, Member States should see if there is scope to streamline their national legislation for achieving asset recovery in line with the UN Convention against Corruption. In some respects, the European Union has led the way in adjusting its sanctions legislation to facilitate the task. However, the Union does not have legal competence to adopt legislation specifically to promote asset recovery with third states.

Honourable Members, we are supporting our partners to be more successful in their bilateral efforts. The solution lies largely in the acceleration of these bilateral efforts. I have already enumerated our actions, including with the World Bank, to facilitate this. Let me add that we are working on funding possibilities for further help, but this would be limited to capacity building and should be coordinated with the Member States and international partners.

Let me give you some examples of bilateral efforts. The United Kingdom and Germany, for instance, have both set up specific programmes to aid asset recovery. Italy sent a technical delegation to the June 2012 workshop and is following up on this with the return of assets. These are practices that we encourage.

I can assure you that we will work tirelessly to ensure the return of assets to Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Regimes across the world should be assured that the European Union will do its utmost to discourage corruption and, where it has taken place, to ensure that those who have stolen assets cannot do so with impunity.

  Presidente. − Comunico di aver ricevuto sei proposte di risoluzione⁽¹⁾conformemente all'articolo 110, paragrafo 2, del regolamento.

La discussione è chiusa.

La votazione si svolgerà giovedì 23 maggio 2013.

Dichiarazioni scritte (articolo 149)

  Mara Bizzotto (EFD), per iscritto. – I Paesi in via di sviluppo perdono ogni anno tra i 20 e i 40 miliardi di dollari a causa di reati quali la corruzione e l'appropriazione indebita. Ad oggi, di tutti i beni sottratti a questi Paesi sono stati recuperati purtroppo solo 5 miliardi di dollari. Mi rallegro che l'Europa si trovi in prima linea per combattere il fenomeno dell'esportazione dei beni trafugati dai dittatori della primavera Araba. Si tratta infatti di risorse preziose per garantire un vero miglioramento delle loro condizioni di vita. Non posso inoltre che auspicare che il recupero dei beni trafugati dai dittatori continui ad essere considerato uno dei punti principali della lotta internazionale alla corruzione. Non solo perché scoraggia i politici dall’appropriarsi di beni di cui non potranno godere, ma soprattutto per il valore simbolico ed etico che il recupero, anche parziale, di beni sottratti alle casse statali può avere sulle popolazione dei Paesi vittime dei saccheggi delle proprie ricchezze da parte dell'elite al potere. L'Europa deve battersi per i diritti dei Paesi della Primavera araba come, di principio, e in nome di un sano partenariato, è giusto chiedere a questi Paesi la loro collaborazione. Magari, proprio in tema di controllo dei flussi migratori.

(1) Vedasi processo verbale.