madam president i will just make a couple of concluding remarks
first of all i would like to thank the european parliament
this has been an interesting and diverse debate and i commend you for the continued interest and energy that you put into our engagement in afghanistan
that has been very well demonstrated by the discussion today
as i said at the beginning i believe afghanistan is important for all of us and for our citizens and that the european union must rightly remain a key player
i hope that i spelled out at the beginning the priorities and plans for the period ahead together with the recognition of the balance that needs to be struck between channelling resources through the afghan government and recognising the importance of ensuring that we battle corruption appropriately in order to safeguard the resources that we have
we remain engaged in key sectors in health as i have described the police justice rural development and the sub-national governments and of course the rule of law is essential
moreover as i have described a focus for all these programmes is to ensure that we build up capacity in the local afghan structures and that the government's priorities in combating the drugs industry and reducing corruption continue to be fully addressed
i also pointed out in my speech the importance of engaging and involving women at all levels of afghan society and indeed in the political structures
i took note of mr stevenson's report and agree that water and irrigation as in so many parts of the world are increasingly an issue
mr belder i promise i will reply to you as you specifically asked in writing
i will conclude by again thanking mr arlacchi for the report
i very much look forward to continuing the discussion on the key points at issue in that report and beyond
i end by echoing what was said about ambassador richard holbrooke and the fact that his final words as he went into his last surgery were on afghanistan
that is very typical of him
how i will miss him
