Paris, 2 December 2009 – The European Security and Defence Assembly (ESDA) “is essential – national parliaments have a mission to persuade their governments on action that should be taken”, Mr Theodoros Pangalos, Deputy Prime Minister of Greece, said on Tuesday.

Speaking on behalf of the Greek WEU Presidency, which ends on 31 December, he said that “democratic scrutiny of security and defence is at the heart of our concerns”. The European Parliament had “ambitions” in this area, but the instrument of political control “should be national parliaments” and the ESDA was precisely that instrument, he added. “It might be organised differently, but its role would not change. The Assembly is thinking about various options for the future – all of them highly pertinent – and these should be taken into account by the Spanish EU/WEU Presidency which begins on 1 January next”.

On the future of WEU and the new EU architecture, Mr Pangalos said he regretted that WEU Secretary-General Javier Solana was for the time being replaced by only an acting Secretary-General, but this was a transitional arrangement. As for the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) under the Lisbon Treaty, he said the principle of subsidiarity would continue to apply. What the EU countries expected from the new EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton, was that she should become fully versed in security and defence matters and that she should listen to member states, he said. More generally, he noted the difficulties encountered in developing a real common foreign and security policy within the EU.

Mr Pangalos also told the Assembly that efforts to combat drug trafficking, the spread of weapons of mass destruction and other issues could “be tackled only from an all-embracing standpoint”. Afghan President Hamid Karzai had to “shoulder his responsibility” to stamp out “widespread corruption” and it was crucial to enlist Pakistan’s cooperation “if anything is to be achieved”. Also on Greece’s list of priorities for the EU had been the Middle East, where “growing Israeli settlements are hindering any efforts to achieve a peace agreement”, and stronger cooperation between international organisations over Kosovo, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and Sudan, he declared.

In addition, he said that his country intended “to give new impetus to the western Balkans” by drawing up a new roadmap for the region by 2014, 100 years after the start of the First World War. He also announced the organisation of an ESDA seminar on maritime and coastal surveillance in Greece in May 2010.

Asked to comment on Russia’s announcement of a 14-point proposal for security cooperation with the EU just two days before the Lisbon Treaty took effect on 1 December, Mr Pangalos said that Europe “might not be happy with Russia’s position at all times, but it is better than having no position at all.
It is very positive that this declaration has come about”.

Assembly President Robert Walter MP appointed Mr Pangalos as an Honorary Member of the Assembly. Mr Walter and Mr Pangalos then both participated in a ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe to rekindle the flame on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The ceremony was dedicated to the memory of all Europeans who had given their lives in EU, NATO and UN operations in 2009.