Paris, 19 May 2010 – With the forthcoming session of the Assembly due to take place from 15-17 June in Paris, the Political Committee of the European Security and Defence Assembly (ESDA), meeting in Zagreb on Tuesday 18 May, discussed draft reports and approved four draft recommendations on the following subjects:

"European defence and the Lisbon Treaty – reply to the annual report of the Council"
Rapporteur: Mr Paul WILLE (Belgium, Liberal Group)
The Assembly believes that there is a risk of stagnation in the development of ESDP/CSDP and that national parliaments, together with governments, must make energetic efforts, taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the Lisbon Treaty, to bring the Union closer to its goal of becoming a strategic player. The report recommends that the EU Council “supplement the European Security Strategy with a chapter on mutual assistance and solidarity” and “support the establishment within the EU of a follow-up mechanism for interparliamentary scrutiny of European security and defence policies”.

"The EU and the western Balkans"
Chairman and Rapporteur: Mr Piero FASSINO (Italy, Socialist Group)
The Assembly welcomes “the declared intention of all the Balkan states to join the EU and achieve political convergence with the acquis communautaire on the basis of the Copenhagen criteria”. It recommends inviting “the EU to define as soon as possible a road map for the integration of the western Balkans into the European structures, setting out the stages of the process, with conditional benchmarks, and a firm and verifiable timetable”.

"Frozen conflicts and Europe’s security"
Vice-Chairman and Rapporteur: Mr Mike HANCOCK (United Kingdom, Liberal Group)
The Assembly is concerned “that a number of unresolved and ongoing conflicts in the EU’s eastern neighbourhood continue to create tension and considerable instability, in particular in the wider South Caucasus region, and raise security concerns for EU member states” – namely the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the resolution of the status of Transdniestria and the situation in Georgia. It further recommends that the WEU nations as members of the EU “continue their efforts, through EU regional policies and programmes, to encourage regional dialogue and stability which in turn foster a positive climate for conflict resolution”.

"Iran and the Middle East"
Rapporteur: Lord ANDERSON of Swansea (United Kingdom, Socialist Group)
The Assembly recommends that the member states of the European Union “give priority to a settlement of the central Israeli-Palestinian conflict which should not be made contingent upon a solution to the Iranian nuclear issue”; also that they “envisage the option of the international community placing a solution on the table if Israel and the Palestinians cannot make progress bilaterally”. It also recommends encouraging “all efforts to ensure that the Iranian nuclear programme is exclusively for peaceful purposes and subject to the IAEA control regime”, with the proviso that should negotiations to that end fail, sanctions should be applied strictly, with efforts being made in parallel to pursue a wider confidence-building dialogue.

If you wish to attend the debate in the Assembly on these four reports and voting on the draft recommendations, to take place at the Assembly’s forthcoming plenary session held in the Palais d’Iéna, Paris, from 15 to 17 June, please contact Assembly Press Counsellor, Corine Caballero-Bourdot, (ccaballero@assembly.weu.int).