92002E2246

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2246/02

by Glenys Kinnock (PSE) to the Commission

(23 July 2002)

Subject: Sudan

In view of the International Crisis Group's latest report on Sudan, would the Commission agree that there are a number of reasons for concern about recent developments in that country?

Are these concerns being raised with the Government of Sudan, and if so would the Commission clarify exactly what issues are being raised and what the response has been?

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(22 August 2002)

The Commission is aware of the developments in Sudan and is particularly concerned about the escalation of the fighting during the first half (dry season) of this year -which is partly due to the acquisition of new weaponry by both sides and possibly the restriction of humanitarian access, as described in the International Crisis Group (ICG) report of 27 June 2002.

The issue of the war and the related peace process are constantly being addressed in the Union-Sudan dialogue, which now takes place on a monthly basis. It is worthwhile to mention that the reactivation of the political dialogue between Sudan and the Union has opened the possibility to a progressive normalisation of the Union-Sudan co-operation in terms of the Cotonou Agreement provided progress in the political dialogue is considered satisfactory by the Union.

Furthermore, a number of actions are being taken by the Commission: (i) a declaration of the Union Presidency on behalf of the Member States has been issued condemning the impeded access; (ii) a donor meeting was held in Geneva on June 26 2002 where several actions were decided including joint declarations, regular donor meetings, joint donor missions, etc. and (iii) the Delegation in Khartoum is actively exercising strong pressure on the Government of Sudan and the other warring parties alongside the United Nations agencies and other humanitarian donors.

The recent progress in the peace talks indicates that there might at last be hope for ending the war in the near future. If this will be the case, then the concerns addressed by the ICG report would be fortunately resolved.

The Union gives its utmost importance to support the negotiations, which have been resumed after 12 August 2002.

Finally, it has to be underlined that the Union as well as Member States need to be continuously informed during the negotiation process and not only at the end of each round, which can only be done by United Kingdom and Italy, who are attending the talks as observers.