French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier on Friday said the "new relationship" between the United States and Europe could help relaunch the Mideast peace process.

"This new mind between the Americans and the Europeans" could act as a "control lever" in relaunching the peace process, with the cooperation of Russia and the United Nations, Barnier said at French LCI news channel.

"The Americans and the Europeans have a historic responsibilitythis year to prove that their new relationship is useful by helping to get this process started again," he said.

For the French minister, "2005 can and must be the year for peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis."

The Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip was a "brave decision", "but we have to go further, the success of the retreat should be based on the roadmap peace plan, he said.

The roadmap peace plan was elaborated by the international quartette (United Nations, European Union, United States and Russia), setting a target for Palestinian statehood in 2005 by twosteps.