BRUSSELS, 10 June 2004 — Iraq is facing a “make-or-break” phase, EU External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten warned yesterday as he set out a blueprint for relations between the European Union and the shattered country.

The EU welcomed the UN Security Council resolution agreed unanimously on Tuesday mapping out the transfer of power in Iraq after the US-led coalition hands over sovereignty on June 30.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said the 25-nation bloc backed “the reintegration of Iraq into the international community as a sovereign, independent and democratic country”.

But he added: “The situation remains complex and security is still a serious concern. It is my sincere hope that the adoption of this resolution will help bring stability and prosperity to the Iraqi people.”

Patten, unveiling new proposals including the first-ever EU diplomatic representation in Baghdad, underlined that restoring security would be key to all international attempts to rebuilding the country.

“The next few months are likely to be make-or-break for Iraq’s transition,” he told reporters, calling on the United States and others to do all in their power to “build up the authority and credibility of the interim government”.

The new set of proposals from the European Commission map out the way forward for the EU and Iraq’s new administration after the upcoming handover, as well as further ahead.

The proposals were requested by EU leaders at a summit last October which marked an attempt by the bloc’s bickering governments to put aside their differences over the war to focus on the longer-term challenges facing Iraq.

The commission suggested three medium-term priorities for the EU’s dealings with Iraq: Helping to develop stable democracy, creating a diversified market economy, and ensuring Iraq’s international re-integration.

“There is no point any more, if there ever was, in point-scoring or in saying ‘I told you so’,” Patten said, recalling remarks before the war by Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa that the United States risked opening “the gates of hell”.

“We’ve all had a stake in closing them,” the EU official said.

“If the extremists win, then the consequences for Iraq are pretty unpleasant.”

After elections foreseen for next January, the EU plans to make a joint declaration with the new government and to support democracy and human rights.

Measures in a third stage of the plan would include negotiations on EU-Iraq trade relations and assistance for economic diversification and poverty reduction.

“I would very much hope that a stable and democratic Iraq would be able in the first place to negotiate a trade and cooperation agreement with us as well,” Patten said.

The UN resolution gives international legitimacy to the caretaker government that will take over from the US-led occupation, and pledges Iraq will be “fully sovereign” to run its national affairs. Patten said the European Commission was likely to pledge similar amounts to Iraq next year and in 2006 to the 300 million euros it is giving this year for reconstruction and humanitarian aid.

The EU as a whole pledged 1.25 billion euros for Iraq at a donors’ conference in Madrid last October. “The focus should as ever be on implementation of those pledges and commitments,” Patten said.

UN Resolution Widens Shiite-Kurd Divide

The adoption of a UN resolution endorsing Iraq’s future sovereignty fuelled a row yesterday between Shiites and Kurds who are divided over the fate of the country’s interim constitution, politicians said.

The text failed to refer explicitly to Iraq’s Transitional Administrative Law (TAL), a temporary law which sets out Iraq’s political future until a fully elected government takes control, said public works minister Nasreen Barwari.

“As a Kurd and as a woman I am disappointed that it (the UN resolution) does not recognize the TAL as a future basis for a constitution,” said Barwari.

The interim law gives Iraqis their first bill of rights, establishes the first-ever quota in a future parliament for women and enshrines Iraq as a federal state — a key desire for the country’s north-based Kurds.

But influential Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani has refused to recognize the interim constitution, which he sees as drawn up by the US-picked Governing Council set up after Saddam Hussein’s overthrow in 2003.

The TAL was passed in March by the council, which was dissolved June 1 and a new interim government set up ahead of the June 30 return of a measure of sovereignty by US-led occupation forces.

“That document paves the way for a true democracy,” Barwari argued. “I feel threatened,” she said, explaining that the fate of the rights incorporated in the text were “all up in the air and I am not sure that they will be adopted.”

The creation of the new government was laid out in the interim constitution so a failure to acknowledge it in the UN resolution cast a doubt over the legality of the Security Council blueprint, she said.

“I am amazed and also I question how the document merits legally.”

Kurds fear the country’s Shiite majority will try to change the TAL, taking away their rights to self-rule and stripping them of their implicit veto over a permanent constitution, which is to be put before a referendum at the end of 2005.

In contrast, the deputy to former Shiite Governing Council member Mohammed Bahr al-Ulum said it was wise not to refer to the constitution in the resolution to avoid any confrontation.

“On the one hand Sistani said it was not good to refer to the TAL and on the other hand the Kurds have threatened to withdraw from the political process if (no reference was made),” Sami Al-Askari told AFP.