The ACP-EU Joint Assembly's Working Group on the Future of ACP-EU relations held a meeting on Monday 21 September, the morning before the opening session of the Joint Assembly (see article below). The Working Group, chaired by Mr Agne of Senegal, presented its draft interim report drafted by MEP Ms. Glenys Kinnock. Ms Kinnock said that the report covers a wide range of issues concerning both the ACP and the EU including: the environment; gender mainstreaming; regional co-operation; decentralised co-operation, and trade and investment. Among the points Ms. Kinnock raised was the importance of the quality of growth (as opposed to mere quantity) of the economies of ACPs. She said that growth should contribute to poverty eradication in ACP countries. The MEP also stated that there should be an explicit and sound option to the Free Trade Areas (FTAs) being proposed by the Commission for the ACP in the upcoming negotiations. She added that, regional integration however important it is for ACP countries, should not be driven by the EU's attempt to set up FTA with regional groupings in Africa. This according to her would fragment the ACP. Rather the engine and direction of regional co-operation should come from the ACP.
In the debate that followed her presentation, Ms Kinnock, responding to questions asking if the Working Group could contribute to the ACP-EU negotiations, said that co-presidents and rapporteurs of the Joint Assembly had been invited to the opening day of the negotiations on Wednesday 30 September. She hoped that this would be extended so that the representatives from the Working Group could be present throughout the whole process to directly monitor proceedings.
The Mauritian representative said that the ACP like the EU had realised that the status quo of trade preferences from the EU to the ACP was untenable. He however stated that there was a difference in approach between the partners. He said the ACP want trade liberalisation to be just part of the whole Lomé process while the Commission wants this to drive the relationship between the two partners. He also called for the Working Group report to pay more attention to non-tariff barriers, as these are set to replace tariff barriers as the instruments of protection.
The South African delegate informed the Working Group on the state of play of the trade and co-operation negotiations between his country and the EU. He said that as from last week South Africa had temporarily pulled out of the negotiations because of its dissatisfaction with the offers from the EU. He said the EU's offer on agriculture cannot compare with South Africa's concessions to the EU on the industry. South Africa had been asked to modify its offer to the EU on wine and spirits before the EU could improve its concessions on agriculture. The delegate however pointed out that the agreement on wine and spirits is not part of the trade and co-operation agreement but is rather simply a separate sectoral agreement. Moreover EU-South Africa trade in wine and spirits accounts for just 1.5% of total trade and thus he did not see how it could block the whole agreement. He insisted that the EU would have to improve its offer on agriculture before South Africa could make further concessions such as on fisheries where the EU is demanding complete access.
On decentralised co-operation the representative from the Commission said that Commission working groups had been working with the ACP secretariat to develop operational aspects of decentralised co-operation. He announced that in the coming weeks a joint seminar will be organised to develop more precise ideas.
On trade, the Commission representative admitted that the five year time frame for the transitional period proposed to ACPs before trade liberalisation may be too short. However he said from past experience this time-frame was what the WTO was likely to agree to. He added that after the five year period the Commission would be very flexible in the period it took to actually negotiate with ACP countries according to their specific needs. He also announced that three previously unavailable studies that the Commission had commissioned on FTAs will be out at the end of this month. Two other studies are set to be released by the middle of next month.
The representative from the East Caribbean States in response to the Commission's remark on time-frame for the transitional period said that the ACP should not be aiming at the time frame that the WTO is likely to agree to but rather aiming for the time-frame that the ACP really requires. He said the ACP and the EU should have enough influence in the WTO to ensure that a 5 year transition period is not a foregone conclusion.
Following the debate the Chair of the Working Group announced that its next meeting was likely to be next January in Brussels or Strasbourg. The Working Group will also present its final report at the next Joint Assembly. Its draft interim report can be obtained from the Eurostep secretariat.
2. EU-ACP JOINT ASSEMBLY
During the opening session of the 27th ACP-EU Joint Assembly Ms. Ferraro Waldener, Austrian Minister for Development and President in Office of the EU Council, said reducing by half the number of people in extreme poverty by 2015 was the EU's target in its co-operation with the ACP. She restated some of the main points of in the EU's negotiating mandate for future co-operation with ACP, i.e., developing a global strategy based on three integral pillars: political dialogue, financial co-operation and trade relations; and reducing the number of instruments to just two: one for financing national and regional programmes and the other for investments and the development of the private sector to be run by the European Investment Bank.
In an ensuing debate on the crisis in the Great Lakes region Ugandan representative George Kinyatta said that the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was now serving rear guard attacks against Uganda. He also spoke of the existence of a secret agreement between the DRC President, Mr. Kabila, and Sudan authorising Sudan to install military bases in the DRC to attack Uganda in exchange for Sudanese financial aid. The DRC representative in his reply said that a Ugandan-Rwandan armed aggression planned to 'balkanise' the DRC and exploit its wealth. He appealed to the Joint Assembly to support the democratisation process in the DRC. The DRC delegate said that political parties in the DRC have not been banned but simply suspended. The representative from Sudan on his part denied the presence of Sudanese troops in the DRC.
In his general report on intra-ACP co-operation, Mr. Weldegiorgis of Eritrea identified the following areas concerning civil society participation in the Lomé process that could strengthen intra ACP co-operation: strengthening NGOs overall networking capacity in the regions; the sharing and updating of information, particularly on good NGO practise and expertise; and general collaboration with civil society on lobbying activities. A copy of the report can be obtained from the Eurostep secretariat.
3. IN BRIEF
The Commission desk officer for the Caribbean this week invited a number of Caribbean MPs (who were in Brussels for the Joint Assembly) for a joint meeting with a few MEPs. This is the first time a Commission functionary has taken the initiative to meet with opposite counterparts from the region to discuss co-operation.
The Commission desk officer for West Africa has suggested that the EU budget lines that funds exiled pro democracy movements in Nigeria should now focus on financing such movements within Nigeria. He said following the new Nigerian Head of State's statement that all exiled groups were welcome to return to Nigeria, the EU should focus its pro-democracy activities in the country. If this goes ahead London based groups such as the Centre for Democracy and Development and the Movement for Rights of the Ogoni People are set to lose a significant part of their funds.
A joint EU/Latin American ministers' declaration on the first ever EU/Latin
America/Caribbean Summit, published in New York, this week sets out the
Summit's joint objectives. These include: enhancing political dialogue;
providing a new impetus to further the diversification of trade; and laying
the foundations for a forward-looking dynamic partnership in the cultural,
educational and human spheres.