Patten urges long-term EU commitment to Iraq

European Commissioner Chris Patten today urged EU governments to make a long-term political and economic commitment to Iraq, because “you cannot build a modern, democratic, open society on the cheap”.

He said violence in Iraq must not be allowed to derail the timetable for reconstruction – although it would inevitably have some effects on the international effort.

And any aid to Iraq had to leave enough scope for donors to also respond to the needs of conflict zones such as Afghanistan and Palestine.

Mr Patten, addressing Euro-MPs in Strasbourg, said: “I sincerely hope that we have all learned lessons – expensive and painful lessons – over Iraq.”

Referring to the deep splits within the EU over going to war, he went on:

“I hope we can all now recognise that the EU is more effective when we work together, especially on the biggest issues in contemporary politics.

“If we can do that now, in Baghdad and Basra and beyond, then perhaps we can help to ensure that the removal of a wicked dictator leads to a better life for the people of Iraq.”

Mr Patten was speaking as talks took place in Brussels on how to co-ordinate global efforts to restore Iraq.

Hosted by the European Commission and attended by technical experts from the United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the meeting took no decisions but discussed Iraq’s needs ahead of a UN-organised donor-pledging conference in Madrid on October 23 and 24.

Mr Patten told MEPs that the Commission had been involved over the summer in the UN and World Bank assessment of Iraq’s reconstruction needs in the run-up to the Madrid talks.

He warned: “We must not allow our timetable to be disrupted by the violence on the ground, But I can’t pretend that attacks of the kind we are now seeing won’t inevitably have some effect on international reconstruction efforts.

“In Madrid we will be faced with discussions on what specific contributions we and others will make to the reconstruction of Iraq at a time of uncertainty about what can be implemented on the ground.

“Whatever the final conclusions of the assessments, we know the needs are great – and we must still be in a position to respond to the hopes and needs of other parts of the world, for example Afghanistan and Palestine.”

Meanwhile a new report says international efforts to rebuild Iraq must involve Iraqi entrepreneurs and boost jobs and business development in the war-torn nation.

Major reconstruction projects may be driven by western know-how and workers, but local skills must be the backbone of smaller-scale sub-contracts, according to the London-based International Business Leaders Forum.

But the IBLF admits it will not be easy, recognising “the difficulties of engagement and sub-contracting in the current climate of insecurity“.