1.
EU DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL – 10 NOVEMBER 2000
EU
Development Ministers meeting for the 2304th EU Development
Council last week, adopted an overall policy statement on
European Community development policy. Described as the
‘European Doctrine’ for development by the European
press, the statement is supposed to give clarity and
effectiveness to European aid and greater visibility to efforts
undertaken by the EU and its Member States in the field.
The
statement confirms the principal objective of Community
development policy as the reduction and eventual eradication of
poverty. It identifies six areas that the Community could
have added value in the fight against poverty: These are:
Ø
The links between trade and development
Ø
Regional integration and cooperation
Ø
Macro-economic support and the promotion of equitable access to
social services
Ø
Transport
Ø
Food security and rural development
Ø
Institutional capacity building
In
addition to these six points, special attention would be given to
human rights, the environmental dimension, gender equality and
good governance. EU development ministers again pledged to seek
enhanced coordination and complementarity between EU Member
States’ actions, the European Community and other donors.
Also the Council again expressed its aim to ensure coherence
between the different Community policies.
EU
Development Ministers called on the European Commission to
rapidly implement the restructuring of its services, aimed in
particular at evaluation, decentralisation, simplification of
procedures and the orientation of its programme towards results.
The Council also
took note an action plan drafted by the Commission, with details
on how the Community will implement the development policy
statement. You can contact the Eurostep
secretariat for a copy of this action plan.
The
President in Office of the EU Development Council, Mr Charles
Josselin, (French Development Minister) announced that work on
the action plan and statement will continue under the current
French and next Swedish Presidency.
The Development
Council also adopted conclusions on the harmonisation of Country
Support Strategy papers for developing countries, based on a
Commission working paper on a Framework for Country Support
Strategies. The Council conclusions state that whenever
possible, country support strategies should be considered within
the larger framework of the Bretton Woods Institutions’
PRSPS, the Development Integrated Framework, and the UN framework
programme for development. The Council calls on the
Commission to apply the harmonised framework for country support
strategies without delay to the programming of aid for all ACP as
well as Asia and Latin American and Mediterranean countries under
the Cotonou and ALA MED programme. This framework should also
be gradually extended for use in other countries receiving aid
from the EU. Finally the Council calls on the Commission to
prepare an evaluation of the use of this harmonised framework for
country support strategies before the end of 2002.
EU Commissioner
for Development, Mr Poul Nielson, announced that the Commission
would begin setting up, Euro Aid, the new Commission office for
the management of aid projects from 29 November 2000. The office
will be operational in January 2001 with a staff of 250 people.
For
the official full press release of the Development Council you
can contact: [email protected]
2.
EU COMMISSIONER FOR TRADE MEETS AFRICAN TRADE MINISTERS
EU
Commissioner for Trade, Pascal Lamy, made efforts to reassure
over 50 African Trade ministers meeting in Libreville, Gabon this
week, that they had nothing to fear from the EU's efforts to
include new subjects (such as the environment) on the agenda for
a new round of WTO negotiations.
The Commissioner said:
'I know that
some of the 'new subjects' that we are supporting have sometimes
aroused suspicion in developing countries. I want to make it
clear that as far as I am concerned, none of these subjects
should be a pretext to erect trade barriers that would impede the
efforts of developing countries.'
The idea was, he
said, to clarify the links between trade and other measures. He
said he was convinced of the need for a new round with three
solid pillars: market access, rules, and improving the
functioning of the WTO.
African
countries which make up a third of the WTO but les than 2% of
world exports confirmed, in Libreville, their reticence to
support the launching of another round of talks, until problems
encountered in the implementation off agreements reached under
previous WTO rounds are settled.
African trade
ministers will meet with their ACP counterparts from the
Caribbean and the Pacific for the ACP Trade Ministers meeting on
7-11 December in Brussels (See PAF 203). The ACP and the EU will
shortly start negotiations on new free trade arrangements in
2002. Questions have been raised by Eurostep and other
NGOs as to whether ACP governments will have the capacity to
engage in the WTO Round and negotiations with the EU on free
trade arrangements at the same time. According to a report in the
Inter Press Service (IPS), EU Development Commissioner, Poul
Nielson, who was also present in Gabon, told African ministers
that,
''The challenge of
trade negotiations requires improved capacity in trade policy
formulation and negotiation techniques,''
According
to the IPS report, prior to and during the forthcoming
negotiations, specific technical assistance is foreseen to assist
the ACP in the preparation for and conduct of these negotiations.
A financing proposal for € 20 million will shortly be
presented for approval by the Commission to ensure funding for
this technical assistance. These resources will be used to
finance specific study work aimed at developing negotiation
positions for ACP countries and regions; provide training in
negotiating techniques for ACP officials leading negotiation
teams; fund technical assistance support to ACP regional economic
groupings in the area of trade policy and; finance targeted
technical assistance to ACP regional groupings aimed at
consolidating economic integration initiatives.
According
to the BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest Vol. 4, the WTO is
currently hosting an on-line discussion entitled "WTO and
Africa" parallel to the Libreville meeting. Panellists
from within the WTO and experts from outside have been invited to
participate in the discussion. To access the Libreville meeting
website and register to participate in the WTO and Africa,
on-line discussion visit: http://www.itd.org/libreville/libreville_e.htm,
3.
IN BRIEF
The Swedish, Danish
and Dutch Governments have issued a joint declaration on the
EU’s decision to only liberalise its textiles in areas that
have no benefit for developing countries. You may recall that the
Swedish, Danish and Dutch Development Ministers last month wrote
an article in the International Herald Tribune criticising their
EU colleagues to agreeing to liberalise textiles in areas that
were of no benefit to EU consumers or developing countries. (See
PAF 204)
The European
Commission will contribute € 8.2 million to a programme
supporting the West African Regional Economic and Monetary Union
(UEMOA) with the establishment of a system for accreditation,
standardisation and quality promotion. The programme will be
implemented by UNIDO.
European and
international trade unions have welcomed the progress made in
last week’s EU MERCOSUR free trade negotiations on
democracy, sustainable development and economic growth with
social justice.