2691st EXTERNAL RELATIONS Council meeting
Brussels, 21 November 2005
Council conclusions on
MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS
The Council adopted the following conclusions:
The Council recalls its detailed
conclusions of 7 November. It reiterates to both
parties the importance of maintaining forward
momentum towards full implementation of the Roadmap.
The Council welcomes the
Agreement on Movement and Access between the
Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
These issues are fundamental to improving the
humanitarian situation in Gaza and essential for
promoting peaceful economic development. The
Agreement signifies a major breakthrough. The
priority now is to ensure that the commitments made
in it are translated into reality. On the basis of
the Agreement and the detailed planning undertaken
by the EU with the parties, the Council agrees the
EU should undertake the Third Party role proposed in
the Agreement. It therefore decides to launch, as a
matter of urgency, an ESDP mission to monitor the
operations of the Rafah border crossing point and
welcomes the provision of EU assistance to reinforce
Palestinian border management capacities. The
Council endorses the appointment of Major General
Pietro Pistolese as Head of Mission, approves a
Concept of Operations for the EU Mission and looks
forward to the early deployment of an initial team
of monitors to allow operations at Rafah to begin as
soon as possible. The Council expects the team to be
supplemented rapidly to enable the full operation of
the EU mission and the full opening of the border
crossing point. The Council noted that letters of
invitation from the Government of Israel and the
Palestinian Authority are expected, to which the
Secretary General/High Representative will reply and
ensure that the necessary arrangements are put in
place. The Council also notes that the necessary
capacity building, through training, equipment and
technical assistance is being taken forward through
the Community’s assistance to the Palestinian
Authority.
The Council welcomes the holding
of multi-party elections for the Palestinian
Legislative Council foreseen for 25 January 2006.
The Council underlines that free and fair elections
are an indispensable step in the process of
consolidating democratic institutions.
The Council urges the Palestinian
Authority to uphold all provisions of the electoral
law. In this regard, the Council welcomes the Code
of Conduct for Political Parties and encourages all
parties to adhere to its terms. The Council notes
that the independent Palestinian Central Election
Commission should have sole responsibility for
organising the elections. The Council urges Israel
to co-operate fully with the Palestinian Authority
in facilitating the preparation and conduct of the
elections. The Council is especially concerned about
freedom of movement for all candidates, election
workers and voters, including in occupied East
Jerusalem where it calls on Israel urgently to
improve voting arrangements, including to facilitate
effectively voter registration, access to polling
stations and campaigning. The Council urges the
Israelis and Palestinians to implement the
recommendations made in the final report of the EU
Election Observation Mission headed by Mr Rocard for
the Palestinian Presidential election of January
2005.
The Council welcomes the
Palestinian Authority’s statements condemning
violence and urging Palestinian groups who have
engaged in terrorism to abandon this course and
engage in the democratic process. The Council
recalls the EU’s position that all factions,
including Hamas, should renounce violence, recognise
Israel’s right to exist, and disarm. Ultimately,
those who want to be part of the political process
should not engage in armed activities, as there is a
fundamental contradiction between such activities
and the building of a democratic State.
The EU stands ready to assist the
Palestinian Authority financially, technically and
politically with the elections, and to send an
observer mission which, in liaison with other
members of the Quartet and international community,
would assess whether the electoral process is
conducted in accordance with international
principles for genuine democratic elections. Members
of an EU Election Observation Mission would have
contact with all candidates, but this would be
strictly limited to that necessary to observe the
election satisfactorily and in a credible manner. EU
observers would not engage in political discussions,
unrelated to the election process, with candidates
of any parties.
The Council once again underlined
its grave concern at Israeli activities in and
around East Jerusalem, including construction of the
separation barrier, settlement building and house
demolitions. These reduce the possibility of
reaching a final status agreement on Jerusalem,
threaten to make any solution based on the
co-existence of two viable states physically
impossible and are contrary to international law. In
this light, the Council tasks relevant Council
bodies to submit a detailed EU analysis on East
Jerusalem to be adopted and made public at the next
GAERC."
