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Document 92003E000658
WRITTEN QUESTION E-0658/03 by Charles Tannock (PPE-DE) to the Commission. UN Security Council Resolutions on Iraq and the use of force.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-0658/03 by Charles Tannock (PPE-DE) to the Commission. UN Security Council Resolutions on Iraq and the use of force.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-0658/03 by Charles Tannock (PPE-DE) to the Commission. UN Security Council Resolutions on Iraq and the use of force.
OJ C 33E, 6.2.2004, pp. 65–66
(ES, DA, DE, EL, EN, FR, IT, NL, PT, FI, SV)
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6.2.2004 |
EN |
Official Journal of the European Union |
CE 33/65 |
(2004/C 33 E/061)
WRITTEN QUESTION E-0658/03
by Charles Tannock (PPE-DE) to the Commission
(6 March 2003)
Subject: UN Security Council Resolutions on Iraq and the use of force
The Conclusions of the European Council of 17 February 2003 declare, inter alia, that Baghdad must ‘disarm and co-operate immediately and fully’, that the Union's objective for Iraq ‘remains full and effective disarmament in accordance with the relevant UNSC resolutions, in particular resolution 1441’, and that the Council pledges its ‘full support to the (UN Security) Council in discharging its responsibilities’.
Resolution 1441 makes reference to a number of previous UNSC resolutions pertaining to Iraq including 678 (1990) and 687 (1991). Although principally concerned with the liberation of Kuwait, Paragraph 2 of Resolution 678 reads as follows:
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Authorizes Member States co-operating with the Government of Kuwait, unless Iraq on or before 15 January 1991 fully implements, as set forth in paragraph 1 above, the above-mentioned resolutions, to use all necessary means to uphold and implement resolution 660 (1990) and all subsequent relevant resolutions and to restore international peace and security in the area. |
Paragraph 3 of the same resolution continues:
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Requests all States to provide appropriate support for the actions undertaken in pursuance of paragraph 2 above. |
UN Security Council Resolution 687, whilst reaffirming ‘the need to be assured of Iraq's peaceful intentions’, required Iraq to unconditionally accept the destruction or removal of all biological and chemical weapons as well as research and manufacturing facilities and to accept immediate on-site inspections of its chemical, biological and missile capabilities by UNSCOM.
Does the Commission accept that Iraq's longstanding failure to co-operate with the U.N. in accounting fully for its weapons of mass destruction and the continued threat to regional security which this presents mean that international peace and security have not yet been restored to the area? If so, does the Commission accept that resolutions 678, 687 and 1441 provide an adequate legal basis for armed intervention in the event that Iraq continues to fail to co-operate with the UN in accounting for its stocks of biological and chemical weapons?
Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission
(25 March 2003)
As already stated in previous Council declarations as well as in the last European Council conclusions of 17 February 2003, the Commission agrees that Iraq failed to comply with several United Nations Security Council resolutions from 1991 onwards.
The Commission believes that it is the responsibility of the United Nations Security Council to decide whether the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441 provides or not the adequate legal basis for armed intervention. The Commission upholds the authority of the United Nations Security Council as the competent body to provide the adequate interpretation of these resolutions, and to answer the questions the Honourable Member raised.