European Union foreign ministers yesterday began trying to put back together a united position on policy towards Iraq and to heal the divisions of recent months, writes Tim King, in Brussels
Discussion focused on the possible role that the United Nations might play in the reconstruction of Iraq and the transition from military occupation.
The UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, will meet EU leaders this week when they gather in Athens to sign the treaty admitting 10 more countries into the Union.
Although the US is thought to be less than enthusiastic about handing power in Iraq over to the UN, ministers were reluctant to worsen existing wounds.
The French Foreign Minister, Mr Dominique de Villepin, speaking outside the meeting said: "It is obvious that the US administration has a role to play. It is useless to go back to what divided us . . . let us turn to the future."
But an agreement among EU ministers is still some way off. Diplomats reported that Thursday's meeting will be only an exchange of views and the EU is most unlikely to have forged a common position.
"It is early days at this stage," said a Government spokesman, suggesting the aim would be to reach agreement by the first week in May, when EU foreign ministers are to meet again in Greece.
Mr Gunther Verheugen, the European Enlargement Commissioner, admitted that the difficulty confronting the 15 EU member-states before issuing any declaration on Iraq was to agree among themselves.
"We can't put the cart before the horse. First we need to have a common position," he said, adding that the Commission's view was that the UN had to play "a central role" in Iraq's future administration.
Mr Javier Solana, the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, urged Washington to tone down its post-war rhetoric on Syria. "What we need now is to cool off the situation, not to increase the tension, we have enough tensions in the region . . . not to create more," he said.
On the Israeli-Palestinian problem, he said the creation of a new government in the Palestinian Authority would "open the way" to implement the much-vaunted "road map" for peace.
Ministers called on Mr Solana and the European Commission to prepare a report on how to improve measures to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The report should be submitted to EU leaders at their June summit.