I omitted to say earlier that during United Nations General Assembly week, the European Union took an initiative on the Middle East. Dr. Koopmans, its special envoy, with the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Mr. Josep Borrell, convened a meeting of EU member states and Arab member states to identify the benefits that might flow if a settlement was arrived at.

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This was the beginning of a new effort by the EU to try to deal with the intractability of the Middle East issue, not realising what was about to happen. I meant to mention this to Deputy Cairns earlier because it illustrates the degree to which the EU, and Josep Borrell in particular, remains engaged. Being open to stakeholders is a constant for the EU.

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