Brussels, 28 January 1997

Dear Colleague,

With a few more months to go until the European Council in Amsterdam, scepticism about the possibility to realise significant reforms - especially with regard to a common foreign and security policy (CFSP) - is increasing among the members of our Parliament.

Why not use these months to propose a number of concrete reforms to the heads of State and government and the members of the Commission?

With your permission, I would like to bring two proposals to your attention that, although of limited importance, could form the basis of interesting developments for the strengthening of the Union, as well as for its presence and image in the world.

1. Creation of a European Corps for peacemaking and peacekeeping operations

Without wanting to detract anything from the merits of EuroCorps, founded at the initiative of President Mitterand and Chancellor Kohl, I believe that we have to accept the fact that this structure is not suited to respond to certain important security threats. For two reasons: in the first place because this corps was established to respond to direct military threats to our continent. In addition, it was created outside and independent of the Institutions of the Union by a small core of countries, and can therefore hardly form an operational instrument of the Union.

The fact remains that the Union is more and more being confronted with challenges to which it is not able to respond, or, at best, much too late (in the latter case, this is done through a few of the Member states and outside its institutional framework). We all remember the tragedy of ex-Yugoslavia and of Bosnia in particular. And the still ongoing tragedies of Rwanda and Zaïre.

In short, the proposal aims to provide the EU with an instrument to implement peace keeping and peace making operations with minimum delay.

Reform of more classical aspects of security policy has been subject to strong resistance from certain member states (not solely from the neutral states for that matter). I believe that this aspect however, could get the support of the majority of the Member states, since it only provides the means to realise the so-called Petersberg tasks that enjoy a large consensus among the Member states. Recently, in the same vein, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, in its report (PE 219.009/fin), and the Development Committee, in its report (PE 219.759), have called upon "the Council and the Commission to study the possibility to create a European corps, comprising both military and civilian units, and in cooperation with the WEU, charged with peacekeeping and peace making operations".

To enable this corps to fully and efficiently fulfil its missions, its establishment should, in my opinion, take place under the following conditions:

- it should be European, created ex novo, in other words it should not be the sum of existing brigades or national armed units;

- it should comprise both armed and civilian units, specifically trained for responding to various type of crises (to direct security threats, as well as the sending and distribution of humanitarian aid);

- the conduct of this corps should be under the responsibility of an ad hoc commissioner, possibly a vice-president of the Commission;

- following a recommendation of the responsible commissioner, the decision for its employments should be taken at first by the Council, there after by the Council and the Parliament.

1. Partial "communautarisation" of the CFSP on a geographical basis

Confronting the reservedness, the crossing vetos, and all other blockades that beset every proposition to transfer real competence in the area of foreign policy and common security from the member states to the institution of the Union, this proposal consists of the "communautarisation" of the external relations of the joint member states(*) with certain third countries.

The criteria for this first set of third countries (whose number should be big enough) could be the following:

- lack of important disputes between the countries of the Union in relation to these third countries;

- lack of fundamental political divergences concerning the policies taken towards these third countries;

- the importance of the existing relationship (or the will to establish this) between these third countries and the Union (development policy, signed party to the Lomé Convention, Partnership and Cooperation Agreements, ...);

- the importance of the question of development for these third countries.

The institutional mechanism for the relations between these states and the Union should be characterised by 'co-decision': the definition of the important political lines and the control of implementation should be done by the Council and the European Parliament; the concrete implementation of these policies and the conduct of relations with these countries should fall under the responsibility of the Commission, through a single Commissioner, if possible also vice-president of the Commission.

Enclosed please find a table indicating the diplomatic presence of the Member states and the representation of the Commission in all the countries of the international community, as well as certain demographical and economic data.

In my opinion, this proposal can conduce to the establishment ofthe conditions for:

- a more rational - and therefore more effective - policy towards countries that have very limited resources and means of action to confront their difficult political, economic, social and ecological situation;

- real visibility of the Union and its actions in the third countries concerned, as well as for the citizens of the Union;

- a smoothing or progression in the relation between the three institutions concerned (Commission, Council and Parliament) with regard to foreign policy, and the formation of a first core of European diplomates;

- strong reduction in foreign policy expenditures for each of the Member state;

Please accept my apologies for the length of my two proposals. In case you are of the opinion that they deserve further development, I cordially request you to sign one or both of the enclosed draft resolutions. Thanking you in advance for your kind attention, I would also like to take this opportunity to wish you all the best for this year.

Yours sincerely,

Olivier Dupuis

(*) if this proposition could get the support of a great majority of the member states - which I believe it can - with a unrelenting small minority opposing it, mechanisms could be developed, as has been done before, that would permit the supporting states to realise this reform, while keeping the possibility open for states who do not yet feel ready to join later.