European Parliament
Pino Arlacchi  (S&D ),
in writing.
– I voted for this resolution because it states that the Arab Spring has offered the EU the opportunity to match its commercial and foreign policy interests with its core value of human rights. The Lisbon Treaty defines international trade as one of the three arms of the EU’s external action and requires coherence between foreign affairs and international development policies. It is in the highest interests of the European Union to adopt a strategy that is flexible, mutually beneficial, and based on support for democratic transition. In addition, I believe that the call for the reconsideration of the public external debt of the countries in North Africa and the Middle East to be of fundamental importance. That debt was built by the dictatorial regimes, mostly through the personal enrichment of the political elite and the purchasing of arms, which were often used to oppress their own populations.

