Thorn: Eec in Holding Operation on European Initiative on Mideast

Gaston Thorn, president of the commission of the European Community (EC) said yesterday that the West European countries will wait to see what direction the government being formed by Israeli Premier Menachem Begin will take before pushing the “European initiative” for a Middle East peace.

Even though the Israeli government will be run by the same people, the Europeans want to give them time to offer their own policy and see the “response of their neighbors,” Thorn told a press conference ending a five-day visit to Washington.

He said the European initiative was not discussed in his talks with President Reagan, Secretary of State Alexander Haig and other members of the Administration. The discussions concentrated on economic issues that will be dealt with at the economic summit in Ottawa this weekend.

Thorn said the European initiative is not an attempt “to find an alternative to Camp David” or the “American initiative” but to take part in Mideast peace efforts and be “helpful.” He said the EEC was not trying to compete with the U.S.

Thorn noted that the EEC’s Venice declaration in June 1980, which called for associating the Palestine Liberation Organization with the Middle East Peace Process, was a decision by the West Europeans “to take a greater responsibility” in the Mideast peace effort.

He said that with British Foreign Secretary Lord Carrington having become president of the EEC Council of Ministers July I, contacts with Mideast countries will increase. Carrington is believed to be the leading European leader pressing for recognition of the PLO. But Thorn pointed out that when he, as Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister was president of the Council of Ministers, the effort was begun to seek a solution for the Palestinians.