ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief overview of the main events that occurred in the Gulf region between August 1990 and May 1991 and analyses the resultant attitudes within the European Community (EC) and European Parliament (EP). It outlines the scene for an investigation into the various positions assumed by the EP’s Political Groups. On 21 February, Saddam delivered a speech which seemed a prelude to a clear Iraqi rejection of the proposal, so that when the Iraqi Foreign Minister presented in Moscow an official response, the Soviets were surprised to receive a conditional acceptance of the plan. As acknowledged by its own members, the EP had proved to be the weakest and the slowest among the EC institutions in responding to the events in the Gulf, to the extent of waiting forty days after the Iraqi aggression before convening.
