1.
CONCLUSIONS OF EU INFORMAL GENERAL AFFAIRS MEETING -2 SEPTEMBER
The
President in Office of the EU General Affairs Council, French
Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine, declared at the press conference
following the informal EU General Affairs Council (2 September),
that EU Foreign Ministers had arrived at practical conclusions in
improving EU external assistance. Mr Vedrine outlined three
avenues to remedy the shortcomings of EU external actions and
policy, i.e.
Ø
Strengthened co-ordination between the different actors on the
ground and in Brussels;
Ø
Enhanced visibility of EU actions;
Ø
Better planning of external action with, inter alia, an annual
policy debate in the General Affairs Council on external EU
action before the adoption of the annual EU budget.
Civil
servants representing the EU Foreign Ministers are supposed to
give concrete substance to these conclusions before further
discussion by the General Affairs Council on 18 September 2000.
At
the press conference Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Piqué said
the debate had in no way tackled the issue of which regions
should receive the bulk of EU resources. He added that it would
be very serious if ‘ambiguous signals’ were given on
reduction of aid to regions such as the Mediterranean and Latin
America. UK Foreign Minister, Robin Cook, proposed that a
‘sunset clause’ should be applied to the EU budget
allocated to external action, whereby funds earmarked for a
project that are not disbursed within a given time should be
cancelled. In Mr Cook’s view priorities to be fixed for EU
external action should be: Enlargement; Stability in the Balkans;
Reduction of poverty in the world; and the Promotion of democracy
and freedom. According to Mr Cook these priorities should be
implemented in the context of financial allocations already
planned.
At
a separate meeting, EU Commissioner for External Relations, Mr
Chris Patten, recalled the Commission’s ideas to improve EU
external assistance in a meeting with EU civil servants who will
be working on the General Affairs conclusions. These ideas
include declining to take on new commitments without the funds
and people needed to implement them; and strengthening the role
of Commission delegations in third countries in executing
policies and programmes (it is reported in the European press
that 500 people should be joining Commission services responsible
for external relations over the next two years). Mr Patten
also welcomed the backing from EU Foreign Ministers he had
received for his ideas on EU external assistance. (See PAF 185,
Article 1)
2.
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT CALLS FOR GREATER COHERENCE BETWEEN EU
FOREIGN POLICY AND HUMANITARIAN AID
The
European Parliament has adopted a report by Italian MEP Renzo
Imbeni, which calls on the European Commission to present a clear
strategy on the coherence between humanitarian aid provided by
the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO) and other EU
development and foreign policy. The report calls for the
Commission to inter alia:
Ø
Establish a system of regular checks for the quality of results;
Ø
Implement a training programme in humanitarian assistance and
rehabilitation;
Ø
Decentralise responsibilities towards Commission staff on the
ground in developing countries.
Mr
Imbeni argues that as ECHO’s role is hardly known by the
public, there should be a new ECHO communications strategy
towards the public. He also called on the Commission to restart
its information campaign on aid provided by ECHO.
3.
SOUTH AFRICA RESUMES TALKS WITH EU ON DISPUTE ON WINE AND SPIRITS
ACCORD
Trade
officials from South Africa and the EU, this month, resume talks
aimed at resolving the dispute, which has delayed the launch of
the wine and spirits agreement between the two parties. The
Accord, which was supposed to come in force on 1 September, was
postponed at the last minute after South Africa complained that
the EU had changed the terms of the accord at the last moment.
The argument centres on the EU’s insistence that South
Africa should abandon the use of the terms ‘port’ and
‘sherry’ for the liquors that it produces.
This
month’s talks are set to focus on the precise conditions for
South Africa to phase out the use of these terms. South Africa
insists that this change should begin at the same time as a 32
million litre duty-free quota for imports from South Africa is
introduced. However in a letter to the South Africa Trade
Minister, Alec Erwin, EU Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Franz
Fischler, has insisted that the opening of wine the quota should
be linked to the conclusion of the wine and spirits accord.
A
separate free trade agreement struck between the two parties,
which came into force on 1 January 2000 laid down terms for duty
free imports of South Africa wine. An assessment by Eurostep
of this agreement is available at http://www.oneworld.org/eurostep/eusouth.htm
4.
NEW WEBSITE FOR TERRE DES HOMMES (Germany)/WEED
Eurostep’s
member organisation Terre des hommes (Germany) in collaboration
with German organisation WEED (World Ecology, Economy and
Development) have developed a new website in English at the
following address: http://www.weedbonn.org/eu/index_e.htm
During
the coming years, terre des hommes and WEED will foster the
debate on a fundamental reform of the North-South-policy of the
European Union in Germany with a series of joined activities.
On the website you will find news on EU-ACP relations, press
releases and publications, a detailed list of documents and other
resources, a calendar of events and an annotated list of internet
resources.
5.
REPORT OF ACP-EU CIVIL SOCIETY STRATEGY WORKSHOP IN GENEVA
Dutch
organisation INZET have produced a report of the Workshop on
Enhancing Civil Society Involvement in the Implementation of the
New ACP – EU Agreement, held in Geneva, on 28 and 29 June
2000 and organised by Eurostep, in
cooperation with INZET Association and the Liaison Committee of
EU NGDOs. The meeting aimed at developing civil society
strategies for advocacy and monitoring of the new ACP-EU
Agreement. You may contact the Eurostep Secretariat for a copy of
the report.
The deadline for
responses to the questionnaire on current experiences, wishes and
capacities of ACP civil society regarding the new ACP-EU
Agreement that was distributed at the abovementioned workshop has
been extended to 18 September 2000. For a copy of the
questionnaire contact [email protected]
6. IN BRIEF
The Secretary
General of the ACP Secretariat Mr Jean-Robert Goulongana has
appointed three assistant Secretary Generals: Mr Vasdev Hassamal
(Mauritius), Dr Eliezer Thambo Gina (Swaziland), Dr Pa’o
Luteru (Samoa) (See http://www.acpsec.org/
for more details)
SUSTAIN (the
alliance for better food and farming) has produced a discussion
paper on the impact of European sugar policies on poor countries
titled “Sugar, trade and Europe” This document looks at
how the EU sugar regime has affected both ACP and non-ACP
countries. Case studies from Kenya, Fiji and the Philippines
illustrate the findings of the report (Contact [email protected])
ECPDM is launching
an electronic discussion on how European aid can be better
implemented on 8 September 2000. The discussion aims to involve
people actually involved in European co-operation. See www.ue-acp.org/enforuminscriptions.html