Tuesday, 21 November 2006

Registration and Coffee

Opening and Welcome Address
Dr. Ernst Stetter, Representative FES EU-Office ( Brussels)

Introduction to the workshop: “ Middle East Conflict: a way out of the Crisis?”

• MEP Martin Schulz, Chairman of the PES Group in the European Parliament
• Dr Nasser Al Qudwa, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs (PNA)
• Ron Prosor, Former Director General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Israel

Panel I: The Gaza disengagement and after

Focus on:

• What lessons can be learned from the Gaza disengagement?
• Can the convergence plan be adjusted to the benefit of both parties?
• How could a “coordinated” unilateralism regarding the convergence plan be achieved?
• Will it be possible for parties to go back to the 6 + 3 agenda of the Wolfensohn mission?
• What is the impact of foreign aid cuts?
• Is the Temporary International Mechanism meeting the needs of the Palestinians?
• Can a review of the Agreement on Movement and Access bring any solutions?
• How did the 25 Member States diplomatically handle the Gaza-Lebanon crisis?
• What is the impact of the Lebanon crisis on the political agenda in the region?
• When will Israel release the tax and customs revenues of the PNA?

Introduction:

• Ghassan Al Khatib , Former Minister of Planning, Director of the JerusalemM edia Communication Centre (PA)
• Christian Berger, Head of Unit: Crisis management and conflict prevention, DG RELEX, European Commission

Discussants:

• Gen.(ret.) Baruch Spiegel, former Special Advisor to the Minister of Defence, Israel
• Hatim Abdelkader Eid , former Member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), (PA)
• MEP Hannes Swoboda (A/PES), Vice-President of the PES-group in the EP

Followed by an open debate with the other participants of the round-table

Chair: Hermann Bünz, Representative FES Israel

Lunch in the restaurant “La Barbanera”, Rue Archimède 69

Panel II: The Palestinian National Authority: Demand and Reality

Focus on:

• Is the Palestinian National Authority still relevant?
• What kind of Palestinian National Authority does the quartet envision?
• Does Israel want to give any political space to the Palestinian National Authority?
• Is the Palestinian National Authority the right vehicle to achieve a Palestinian state?
• How to deal with the dramatically weakened Palestinian National Authority?
• With whom to deal if the Palestinian National Authority collapses and what comes next?
• How can the Palestinian National Authority resume the responsibility for the security of its citizens?
• Is a solution to the Palestinian leadership struggle within sight?
• Is a national unity government a solution?
• In what way should the International community deal with the rise of Political Islam in Palestinian politics?
• How to deal in the long term with Hamas in government?

Introduction:

• Dr. Mahdi Abdel Hadi , Director of the Palestinian Society for the Study of International Affairs (PASSIA)(East-Jerusalem)
• MEP Richard Howitt, Member of the last EP election observation mission for the Palestinian parliamentary election, European Parliament

Discussants:

• Brig. Gen. (Res.) Shalom Harari, Senior Research Scholar, Institute for Counter Terrorism, Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya, Israel
• Jihad Abu Zneid , Member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, (PA)
• Oded Granot, Middle East Commentator Chanel 1 TV, Israel
• MEP Véronique de Keyser, Chief Observer of the EU Election Observation Mission in the West Bank and Gaza, European Parliament

Followed by an open debate with the other participants of the round-table

Chair: Elisabeth Schumann-Braune, FES Department for the Middle East and Northern Africa, FES Berlin

Reception in the premises of the FES EU-Office

Dinner debate with MEP Hannes Swoboda, (A/PES), Vice-President of the PES-group in the EP (tbc)

Wednesday, 22 November 2006

Panel III: How can the EU bring the political process back on track?

Focus on:

• How can the EU play an effective political role?
• Is there or can there be a common EU policy on the Middle East Conflict at all?
• What kind of political role would that be and would the parties allow for that?
• What could be the role of the EU within the Middle East Quartet?
• Is a return to the road map still possible?
• What should the EU do to facilitate a return to the road map?
• What kind of a political process is possible to come to a resolution of the conflict?
• What middle- and long-term strategies should the Quartet design to lead both parties out of the crisis?
• How will the strong European participation in the UNIFIL mission influence European Middle East policy?

Introduction:

• Ghassan Khatib, Former Minister of Planning and Labour, Director of the Jerusalem Media Communication Centre (PA)
• MK Dani Yatom, Israel Labor Party, Member of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, Former Head of Mossad, Israel
• Christian Leffler, Director, Middle East and Southern Mediterranean, DG Relex, European Commission

Discussants:

• Rosemary Davis, Counsellor in the cabinet of Marc Otte, EU-Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process
• Dr. Yair Hirschfeld, Director General of the Economic Cooperation Foundation (ECF), Israel, Fellow of the Baker Institute for Policy, Houston
• Mohammad Hourani , Member of the Revolutionary Council of Fatah, Former Member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, (PA)

Followed by an open debate with the other participants of the round-table

Chair: Knut Dethleffsen, Representative FES Palestinian Autonomous Territories (East-Jerusalem)

Conclusions

Lunch Debate

With Belen Martinez-Carbonell, Advisor for Middle East, Cabinet of Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner (tbc) and Members of the European Parliament

 Individual meetings or individual departure of participants