1. The Heads of State and Government and the Ministers of
Foreign Affairs held a comprehensive exchange of views on all
aspects of the present situation in the Middle East, including the
state of negotiations resulting from the agreements signed between
Egypt and Israel in March 1979. They agreed that growing tensions
affecting this region constitute a serious danger and render a
comprehensive solution to the Israeli-Arab conflict more necessary
and pressing than ever.
2. The nine member states of the European Community consider
that the traditional ties and common interests which link Europe to
the Middle East oblige them to play a special role and now require
them to work in a more concrete way towards peace.
3. In this regard, the nine countries of the Community base
themselves on Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 and the
positions which they have expressed on several occasions, notably
in their declarations of June 29, 1977, September 19, 1978, March
26 and June 18, 1979, as well as the speech made on their behalf on
September 25, 1979, by the Irish Minister of Foreign Affairs at the
34th United Nations General Assembly.
4. On the bases thus set out, the time has come to promote
the recognition and implementation of the two principles
universally accepted by the international community: the right to
existence and to security of all the States in the region,
including Israel, and justice for all the peoples, which implies
the recognition of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian
people.
5. All of the countries in the area are entitled to live in
peace within secure, recognized and guaranteed borders. The
necessary guarantees for a peace settlement should be provided by
the U.N. by a decision of the Security Council and, if necessary,
on the basis of other mutually agreed procedures. The Nine declare
that they are prepared to participate, within the framework of a
comprehensive settlement, in a system of concrete and binding
international guarantees, including guarantees on the ground.
6. A just solution must finally be found to the Palestinian
problem, which is not simply one of refugees. The Palestinian
people, which is conscious of existing as such, must be placed in a
position, by an appropriate process defined within the framework of
the comprehensive peace settlement, to exercise fully their right
to self-determination.
7. The achievement of these objectives requires the
involvement and support of all the parties concerned in the peace
settlement which the Nine are endeavoring to promote in keeping
with the principles formulated in the declaration referred to
above. These principles apply to all parties concerned, and thus
the Palestinian people, and the PLO, which will have to be
associated with the negotiations.
8. The Nine recognize the special importance of the role
played by the question of Jerusalem for all parties concerned. The
Nine stress that they will not accept any unilateral initiative
designed to change the status of Jerusalem and that any agreement
on the city's status should guarantee freedom of access for
everyone to the Holy Places.
9. The Nine stress the need for Israel to put an end to the
territorial occupation which it has maintained since the conflict
of 1967, as it has done for part of Sinai. They are deeply
convinced that Israeli settlements constitute a serious obstacle to
the peace process in the Middle East. The Nine consider that these
settlements, as well as modifications in population and property in
the occupied Arab territories, are illegal under international
law.
10. Concerned as they are to put an end to violence, the
Nine consider that only the reunification of force or the
threatened use of force by all the parties can create a climate of
confidence in the area, and constitute a basic element for
comprehensive settlement of the conflict in the Middle East.
11. The Nine have decided to make the necessary contacts
with all the parties concerned. The objective of these contacts
would be to ascertain the position of the various parties with
respect to the principles set out in this declaration and in the
light of the results of this consultation process to determine the
form which such an initiative on their part could take.