ISLAMABAD – Acknowledging the efforts made by Pakistan and its sacrificesto combat terrorism, Ambassador of the European Union Jean-Francois Cautainhas said that the EU commends Pakistan’s struggle to combat violentextremists and terrorism which is a challenge even for EU member countries.
He acknowledged that Pakistan has suffered from extremism more than anyother country, and stressed that Pakistan and the EU need to work togetherto combat terrorism, both within and outside their borders for global peaceand security.The EU Ambassador pointed out that the EU is not just a trade organizationor large development agency, as it is now significantly engaged in the areaof security and defence as well. ‘Since 2003, the Common Security andDefence Policy has enabled the EU to take a leading role in peace-keepingoperations, conflict prevention and in the strengthening of internationalsecurity’, Cautain shared during the first of the Ambassador Lecture Serieson ‘EU-Pakistan Relations: Challenges and Opportunities’ here.
Briefly sharing the history and background of the European Union model, heexplained that over the past two years, the EU member states have beenfocusing on defence and security since the EU’s model of economicintegration is also a unique opportunity to support engagement in the fieldof defence and develop collective defence capabilities.
Outlining some of the key points of the 2016 ‘Global Strategy for theEuropean Union’s Foreign and Security Policy’, Ambassador Cautain said thatthe strategy sets out the EU’s core interests and principles for engagingin the wider world and gives the Union a collective sense of direction.‘Decisive steps are being taken on security and defence. Buildingresilience at home and abroad means creating a more responsive union. TheEU is also working to strengthen the resilience of states within andoutside its borders by supporting good governance andaccountableinstitutions. Strengthening the internal and external nexus requiresaddressing issues such as counterterrorism, countering violent extremism,climate change and cyber security collectively’, he stressed.
The Ambassador lauded Pakistan’s efforts in terms of trade enhancementafter the GSP Plus facility, and outlined that this was a win-winpartnership. ‘Over the past 18 months, we have been working to finalise anew Engagement Plan to further deepen relations between Pakistan andEurope, and hope that a new agreement will be signed under the newgovernment after Pakistan’s general elections. The Engagement Plan is anopportunity for both sides to benefit from multifaceted cooperation rangingfrom trade to security to numerous other issues, including terrorism,’ hesaid. MrCautain discussed EU’s development cooperation in education, ruraldevelopment and governance and said that the EU has decided tosubstantially increase the development cooperation funds allocated toPakistan to 635 million EUR which is double when compared to the previousyears.
He explained that ‘One-third of this goes to the education sector channeledthrough the government conditional upon the achievement of targets set bythe government itself. Education is a big challenge for Pakistan,especially in Sindh, since enrollment rates over the past ten years haveonly increased by 1 per cent’, he remarked.