1.
EUROPEAN COMMISSION APPROVES HOLDING OF WTO MINISTERIAL MEETING
IN QATAR - PLOT TO MUFFLE NGOs?
The
European Commission has supported without reservations, the
decision by the WTO to hold the next ministerial conference in
Qatar. The choice of Qatar to host the ministerial conference,
which is now foreseen to take place on 5-9 November 2001, has
been criticised by several civil society organisations. According
to many observers, the Qatar Government with no history of
tolerance, is unlikely to allow civil society organisations to
freely express criticism of the WTO and its policy decisions, as
happened at the last WTO ministerial conference in Seattle.
However
according to the European Commissioner for Trade, Mr Pascal Lamy,
the Qatari regime has already given assurances that civil society
will have access to the ministerial conference. According to the
Commissioner, the Qatar Government have talked of setting up a
centre for NGOs, issuing visas to all civil society
representatives, and granting them fully acceptable facilities. But
perhaps in a sign that shows that even the Commission may lack
confidence in the offer to provide these facilities, Mr Lamy has
written to the Qatar Government to seek additional guarantees for
civil society, including the right to demonstrate. In a letter to
Human Rights Watch, he concedes that assurances are still lacking
regarding the right to peaceful assembly.
Several
civil society organisations have already expressed dismay and
anger at the choice of Qatar. The decision is described by
Friends of the Earth as “scandalous”, while Human
Rights Watch’s American Office state,
“A small
repressive Gulf State, what a perfect place to plot how to force
new rules of world trade onto angry citizens around the
world”.
According
to the Inter Press Service (IPS), NGOs from the US were this week
stepping up efforts to persuade the US Government and the General
Council of the WTO to cancel the ministerial meeting in Qatar.
More than 20 US NGOs have signed on to a letter to senior
officials of the new George W. Bush administration protesting the
selection of Qatar as the site of the meeting. A similar letter
is now circulating to groups outside the US for their
endorsement. The draft letter states,
“We will never
achieve an international trade agenda that enjoys democratic
support if we do not encourage debate and welcome dissenting
opinions ..Unfortunately the Government of Qatar has been
unwilling to support such debate within its borders”
The President of
Friends of the Earth in the US, Mr Brent Blackwelder, this week
stated, “
“The
WTO’s choice of Qatar demonstrates the fallacy that the WTO
is committed to transparency. .. We have to ask what the
WTO’s real agenda is when it needs to meet in a nation that
prohibits peaceful demonstrations, and hinders the freedom of the
press.”
The
Green Party Group of the European Parliament has also added its
voice to those disappointed about the choice of Qatar, stating,
“The choice
by default, shows that democracy and trade are uncomfortable
neighbours, .. despite the rhetoric of public legitimacy, the WTO
is really all about business as usual with no regard for the
social and human rights context within which global trade takes
place.
WTO
Director-General Mike Moore in efforts to reassure critics has
also been unable to provide assurance that the Qatar Government
permits peaceful assembly. The US State Department in a human
rights report, state that despite some recent improvements, Qatar
remains a state where a constitution and political parties are
banned. Freedom of assembly is severely limited and workers
are banned from engaging in collective bargaining. Qatar has been
suspended from the US Overseas Private Investment Corporation
insurance programmes because of its failure to observe core
international labour rights.
To
further complicate issues, according to the New York Times, Doha,
the capital of Qatar has only about 2000 hotel rooms, enough to
house only about a third of the expected delegates. The Qatar
Government has stated that it will charter cruise ships to
provide more accommodation.
2.
EU DEVELOPMENT NGO NETWORKS ORGANISE MEETING ON THE CIVIL SOCIETY
- COMMISSION TRADE DIALOGUE ON 24 FEBRUARY IN BRUSSELS
EU
NGDO networks (Eurostep, ICDA, CIDSE, APRODEV, WIDE, and
SOLIDAR) that make up the informal grouping known as the EU-WTO
Steering Group of NGDOs will hold a meeting on the
‘structured’ dialogue process between the European
Commission on the one hand, and civil society and other stake
holders on the other, on WTO/trade issues on 24 February in
Brussels. The meeting aims to:
Ø
Assess the dialogue process thus far
Ø
Prepare key policy input for the issue group dialogue meetings
between the European Commission and civil society on agriculture,
the ‘EBA’, TRIPs, WTO Institutional Reform and
Investment and Competition
Ø
Explore avenues for establishing greater links between the
Brussels based NGO networks and NGOs in EU Member States.
The European
Commission has, since 1998, organised a series of dialogue
meetings in Brussels with civil society and other stakeholders on
WTO issues. In 2000 the Commission attempted to structure this
process by scheduling half-day meetings once a month on an
identified set of issues (issue group meetings). In addition, two
meetings a year to discuss ‘trade in general’ were
scheduled with the EU Commissioner for Trade, Pascal Lamy.
Quasi-regular meetings were also held with single representatives
from the different civil society sectors, plus business
representatives, to discuss the process of dialogue (contact
group).
In an attempt to
manage this complex process the Brussels based NGDO networks set
up the EU-WTO Steering Group of NGDOs last Summer to share ideas
and information as well as guide the EU NGDO sector
representative within the contact group.
Following requests
from NGOs, particularly the Steering Group of NGDOs, to make the
process more civil society-friendly, the Commission has
attempted to improve the process by scheduling day long issue
group meetings once every two months and setting up a pilot
project to provide limited funds for civil society participation
in the process. In addition the Commission has promised to be
more punctual in providing information about the meetings on its
website. The issues to be discussed over the next months of the
year are: investment, competition, WTO reform and TRIPs. The
first set of meetings starts on 26 February. See http://europa.eu.int/comm/trade/csc/dcs_nig.htm
for other dates and more information.
The Steering Group
of NGDOs meeting on 24 February will discuss subjects relating to
the four issues identified above by the Commission for dialogue.
Speakers will include Ambassador of Bangladesh, H.E. Mr Muhammed
Zamir. The meeting will be held at the office of 11.11.11 (Rue
de la Liniere 11, Brussels). For an invitation or more
information you may contact the Eurostep
Secretariat.
3. IN BRIEF
The EU has
suspended co-operation with Haiti under the Cotonou Agreement
(ACP-EU Agreement). Consultations between Haiti and the European
Commission under Article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement, to try to
remedy alleged violation of democratic principles in Haiti, began
last year. According to the EU these consultations have not led
to a satisfactory agreement, hence the suspension.
The new aid
office of the Commission known as EuropeAid (See PAF 211) has a
website http://europa.eu.int/comm/europeaid/index_en.htm
The EU has began reforming its banana trade regime following the ‘green light’ given to the reform decision, taken last December, by the EU Agriculture Council this week. From 1 July 2001 at the latest a mechanism of ‘first come-first served’ management of quota systems will be set up. This will be replaced by an exclusive tariff based system by 1 January 2006.