Paris, 19 June, 2006 – UK Minister for Europe Geoff Hoon said on Monday that a major priority for the European Union (EU) was to win public support for the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP).

In a speech prepared for the WEU Assembly, Mr Hoon said: “We need to help our public and our parliaments fully understand the links between what happens abroad and what happens at home, and in particular the contribution that our ESDP activities overseas make to domestic agendas, from illegal migration and organised crime to counterterrorism.” He was speaking just before the UK winds up its EU and WEU presidencies.

The Assembly had a crucial role to play in generating support for ESDP, according to Mr Hoon, who was unable to deliver his speech because his flight from London was cancelled for technical reasons. The Assembly provided a vital platform for parliamentarians from across Europe to come together for discussion. “I am sure that the Assembly and its members will rise to this challenge and play a full part in our collective efforts to realise our shared vision of ESDP,” he said.

Mr Hoon also called for greater coherence in civilian-military integration and in the EU’s relations with other organisations, especially NATO. Crises increasingly required a response from the civilian and military spheres, he said. Greater integration was an agreed priority for the presidencies of the UK, Austria and Finland. Progress had been achieved, “but we need to maintain momentum,” he added.

Despite successful EU-NATO initiatives in Bosnia and Darfur, he felt that there was “significant room for improvement (in cooperation between the two bodies). We must ensure complementarity in Kosovo, where next year the EU and NATO will both be running missions,” he said.