ABSTRACT
The Socialists spelled out the need to address the conflicts in the Middle East, the crucial issue of arms trade and the need for the European Community (EC) member states to improve their political cooperation in the field of foreign policy. In order to unveil fully the multifaceted Europarliamentary outlook on the Gulf crisis during its three stages – the build-up to war, the war itself and the immediate aftermath of the war – it is necessary to look closely at the positions taken by the political groups. Parliamentarians were continually looking over their shoulder, concerned about the necessity of providing an image of a coherent and solid political forum which might increase the European Parliament’s (EP) level of influence over the other EC-European Union institutions. In order to assess the magnitude of the factor of nationality based on a comparative analysis of the positions of the national parties and the corresponding political groups in the EP.
