Paris, 15 June 2005.- The European Union (EU) should continue to build its European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) despite the rejection of the Constitutional Treaty by France and The Netherlands, the British Ambassador to France, Sir John Holmes, said on Wednesday.
 
Addressing the Assembly on behalf of the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Jack Straw, Sir John said it was vital for the EU to continue to build its capabilities. Strengthening the ESDP would be a key theme of Britain’s six-month presidency of the EU which begins on 1 July. The ESDP was based on existing agreements and treaties and ‘no’ votes in referendums on the Constitutional Treaty did not mean calling a halt to all European activities. Although many aspects of Europe had been criticised during the campaigns, “defence policy was not particularly one of them”. So it was reasonable to proceed with the ESDP on the present basis, since it was a successful policy and had a degree of popular support.
 
Sir John said that during its presidency the United Kingdom hoped to obtain agreement for a three-year financial framework for the European Defence Agency (EDA) so that it could start planning its work as from 2006. It would focus on rapid deployability and procurement in order to “finalise a requirements list and agree a capability improvement plan,” and it would try to make the ESDP more coherent through closer coordination between the institutions and instruments at the EU’s disposal. Britain hoped the new Civilian/Military Cell would start to develop a framework to support operational planning and was very much in favour of continued cooperation with NATO.
 
Replying to parliamentarians’ questions, the Ambassador said that by “no stretch of the imagination” was the treaty dead or unlikely to “come into force at some stage”. Reiterating Prime Minister Tony Blair’s call for a pause for reflection, he warned against the temptation to “cherry pick” and flout democracy by applying selective parts of the treaty. But he noted that the EU would go ahead with the European Defence Agency and denied that pursuing other technical areas of work was tantamount to ratification by the “back door”.
 
Sir John, who was addressing the Assembly just two weeks before 1 July, when the UK is also due to take over the WEU presidency for a year, said that in the wake of the recent ‘no’ votes, the WEU Assembly “remains extremely important, together with the role of national parliaments”. In the absence of an alternative parliamentary dimension, it would “continue to play a vital role, as it has in the past”.
 
Asked about attempts to persuade Iran to renounce its nuclear programme, the Ambassador said he hoped negotiations would continue “despite the obvious difficulties we have”. If Iran failed to suspend uranium-enrichment activities and did not sign the additional IAEA protocol, “we would take a very, very serious view indeed,” and “perhaps take the case to the United Nations Security Council,” he said, adding that he was “inclined to be optimistic rather than pessimistic and assume that Iran will fulfil its commitments.”
 
On EU plans to lift the arms embargo on China, Sir John said the principle was not in question but the modalities and timing had to be discussed further. The move required “more consideration and preparation, and dialogue with strategic partners”. Noting US and Japanese anxieties, he said the EU “needs to explain why we are doing it.” More work on the EU’s internal code of conduct on armament exports has to be carried before the embargo against China is lifted, he added.