1. EU
COUNCIL MEETINGS - EC PARTNERSHIP WITH AFRICA
At last week’s EU Development Council on 18 May in Brussels (see also PAF 181), the President in Office of the EU Development Council, Portuguese Secretary of State, Luis Amado, invited fellow EU Member States to think of a global development strategy for a new EU-Africa partnership. This should be drawn from the Informal Development Council hosted by Portugal in January, (that was devoted to a discussion on an EU-Africa partnership), the first ever EU-Africa Summit held in Cairo in April and the newly agreed ACP-EU Agreement.
On conflicts and crisis in Africa, EU Commissioner for
Development, Mr Poul Nielson, said discussions on the
Ethiopia-Eritrea conflict had shown that the delivery of food and
humanitarian aid is not affected by political considerations. However
the European Commission took a decision this week following
consultation with EU Member States to halt funding for new
development projects in Ethiopia and Eritrea as long as the two
countries are engaged in conflict. Ethiopia has not received any
budgetary support from the Commission since January 1999.
On the basis of a discussion paper drawn up by the EU High
Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier
Solana, the EU General Affairs Council, this week adopted a
number of conclusions on conflicts in Africa. In these
conclusions the Council states its willingness to use instruments
under the Lomé Convention and other appropriate instruments for
reconstruction, democratisation and institutional development in
the Great Lakes Region. During ensuing discussions Belgian
Foreign Minister Louis Michel argued that the principle whereby
international aid can only follow the re-establishment of peace
must be rethought. In this context Mr Michel called for increased
EU aid to the Congo and Burundi, mobilised from the 7th
and 8th European Development Fund. Belgium, the
Netherlands and Denmark urged the Council to finalise modalities
for an embargo on weapons to parties involved in conflict in the
Great Lakes region. This proposal was however not adopted,
following France’s refusal to support it. France argued that
an arms embargo could promote an illegal arms trade.
2. EUROPEAN
PARLIAMENT CALLS FOR MORE GENEROUS POLICY ON DEBT
The European Parliament (EP) adopted a resolution last week on
the debt of poor countries during its plenary session in
Strasbourg. The resolution calls for a more ambitious strategy
within the international financial institutions and asks the
Commission and the EU Council to verify that the money released
by debt reduction is used for poverty eradication, taking in
account the needs expressed by civil society. To this end the
resolution calls on the Commission, the Council and international
financial institutions to consider the creation of a mechanism to
carefully monitor the use of funds made available from debt
relief. The EP also demands that future structural adjustment
programmes involve discussions with civil society.
The resolution was supported by the conservatives (EPP-ED), the
socialists (PES) and the liberals (ELDR). The United Left
Group (GUE/NL) withdrew its support from the resolution, stating
that the resolution seems to make debt relief too conditional to
macro-economic reforms.
During the debate on the resolution, MEP Didier Rod (France, Green) criticised the reform programmes imposed by the G7 on debt relief as contradictory to the fight against poverty, because they weaken social development and the campaign against unemployment.
For more information on the resolution see http://www.europarl.eu.int/sg/tree/en/default.htm
3. EU TRADE COMMISSIONER CALLS EU COUNCIL TO TAKE DECISION ON EU BANANA TRADE REGIME
EU Commissioner for Trade, Pascal Lamy has increased his
pressure on the EU General Affairs Council to overcome
disagreements over the reform of the EU banana regime, and
seriously consider the ‘exclusive tariff system’. Mr
Lamy argued that after months of discussion, that have led the EU
to exceed the deadline imposed by the WTO, there was still not a
sufficient majority supporting the ‘quota system’. If
no agreement could be reached on the ‘quota system’,
the only possible solution remaining would be an ‘exclusive
tariff system’. According to Mr Lamy this option would
offer the ACP a similar level of protection to that of the
current EU banana trade regime. In addition it amounts to a
contribution of € 500 million a year to EU tax payers.
Spain, Italy, Greece and Portugal have argued that the circumstances of the US elections do not facilitate acceptance of a solution right now. They have called for an extension of the deadline for negotiations to allow the EU to find a solution other than the ‘exclusive tariff option’. The aforementioned countries argue that such an option is incompatible with the EU budgetary restrictions decided in the framework of Agenda 2000.
4. FIJI
WITHDRAWS CANDIDACY FOR 8 JUNE SIGNING OF NEW ACP-EU AGREEMENT
ACP AMBASSADOS
APPROVE ACCESSION OF 6 NEW PACIFIC ISLANDS TO ACP
The PAF has been informed that the Fiji mission in Brussels
has withdrawn it's candidacy for the signing of new ACP-EU
Partnership Agreement, if this will take place before 19 June. It
is unclear, but unlikely, whether Fiji will remain a candidate
if the ceremony is postponed to July. The ACP Committee of
Ambassadors was set to discuss the issue on 26 May. According to
ACP source, the ACP sees two deadlines that are relevant to
the date of the signing of the new Agreement, i.e. the end of the
Portuguese Presidency at the end of June and the expiry of
certain transitional provisions in July, put in place following
the expiry of the previous Lomé Convention in March.
As a result of the postponement of the new Agreement, the regional seminars planned by the ACP and EU on programming have been postponed (see PAF 181). According to a European Commission source the first regional seminar will only take place after the signing of the new Agreement in the city where the Agreement will be signed. Dates for the regional seminars may only now be decided in two weeks time.
The ACP Committee of Ambassadors, this week, approved the membership of 6 new Pacific states to the ACP-group: Marshall Islands, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Niue and Palau.
5. IN BRIEF
The EU has
expressed its grave concern at the arrest of activists from the
National League for Democracy in Burma in a statement from the
Portuguese Presidency. The EU General Affairs Council this week
adopted a regulation banning the sale and supply of equipment
that may be used for internal repression to Burma; and the
freezing of assets belonging to people linked to the Burmese
regime. The EU is also prepared to send a further troika
(representatives from current presidency plus past and future
presidencies of the EU) promote EU policy towards Burma.
Danish Foreign
Minister Uffe Elleman-Jensen will head the EU mission of
electoral observers that will be sent to Zimbabwe to monitor the
forthcoming elections in the country. The European Parliament
has called on the Commission to review its cooperation with
Zimbabwe if elections are not free and fair.
The EU and
Bangladesh signed a new partnership agreement this week. The
agreement concerns economic, trade and political co-operation. The
negotiation of the new Agreement had been blocked for some time
because of disagreements over the clause on readmission of
illegal immigrants. It will focus on aid for the most
disadvantaged populations, through programmes on basic health and
education and mobilisation of civil society. The EU including its
Member States provides between 15 and 20% of all aid to
Bangladesh.