1.
EU TO STUDY TOBIN TAX
According
to the European press, the Belgian Presidency of the EU has
called on the EU to carry out a major study on the possible
introduction of a tax on foreign exchange transactions to reduce
volatility in the world's financial markets.
Belgian
Minister Didier Reynders is due to ask the European Commission to
start assessing the feasibility of the 'Tobin tax' in the autumn.
This tax first suggested in the 1970s by US economist James
Tobin, is designed to deter rampant speculation that could
trigger economic crises.
The tax is due to be discussed by finance ministers in Liège,
Belgium on 22 and 23 September. According to a Belgian
government spokesman, "Mr Reynders has agreed to put the
Tobin tax on the agenda in a neutral way, without necessarily
criticising or defending it," "He wishes to
enlarge the debate...towards examining what measures can be
considered to avoid monetary speculation."
It has been estimated that about 285 billion euro could be raised
globally if a tax worth 0.25% of each foreign exchange
transaction was levied. This revenue could be used to fight
poverty. However, any move to introduce the tax is likely
to face strong opposition from the banking sector. The tax has
also been rejected by finance ministers of the G7 recently.
Eurostep
has long campaigned for the EU to support the introduction of a
currency transaction tax similar to that proposed by James Tobin.
2. EU
DECLARATION ON TRAIN ATTACK IN ANGOLA
The
EU, in a declaration this week, has condemned the attack on a
train by UNITA on civilians travelling between Luanda and Dondo
in Angola, which caused around 250 casualties and 165 injuries on
10 August.
The EU
urges UNITA to immediately cease these kind of actions against
civilians that inflict terrible distress to the Angolans; to
comply with the provisions and spirit of the Lusaka Protocol; and
to engage seriously in the search for peace through concrete
actions that confirm its declared willingness to dialogue. The
Declaration also states the EU’s willingness to contribute
to the efforts towards the alleviation of the suffering of the
Angolan people and remains committed to a political solution on
the basis of the Bicesse Peace Agreements, the Lusaka Protocol
and relevant UN Security Council Resolutions.
3.
INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNIONS CALL FOR A MORE PEOPLE CENTRED
APPROACH TO GLOBALISATION AT THE WTO
The
trade union grouping - Union Network International in its meeting
in Berlin last week launched an appeal to the WTO to open its
doors to trade unions. It also called on the EU to adopt, as a
key goal for negotiations in the WTO, policies that allow people
to realise the goals of globalisation.
The
Union Network International will organise its first world
congress meeting in Berlin on 5-9 September where about 1400
trade unionists are expected to attend. The congress meeting will
be preceded by a world women’s conference, which will focus
on People in the Global Economy.
4. EU-CUBA:
LOUIS MICHEL - BELGIAN FOREIGN MINISTER - VISITS CUBA TO
RESTABLISH DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE EU AND CUBA
Louis Michel, the
Belgian Foreign Minister arrived in Havana this week. Amongst his
delegation were the Spanish Minister of State responsible for
Latin America, Miguel Angel Cortes, and the Director for the
Caribbean in the European Commission’s DG for External
Relations, Friederich Hamburger. This visit has the goal
of re-establishing the political dialogue between the EU and
Cuba, which was suspended after the support the EU gave to a
Resolution by the United Nations Human Rights Commission in April
2000 condemning the Cuban authorities, and after Cuba did not
accept the conditions stipulated by the EU related to the respect
of fundamental rights in order to become a member of the Cotonou
Agreement. The Cotonou Agreement is the framework for the
partnership between the EU and the ACP countries.
The
continuation of the dialogue still requires more signs of
liberalisation of the Cuban regime, the release of political
prisoners, and the abolition of the death penalty. For
their part, Cuban authorities want three objectives:
participation in the EU-ACP partnership; resumption of the
political dialogue, and the EU’s commitment to no longer
take stances against Cuba in international fora.
For
Michel this is an important moment in the country’s
development from which the EU cannot be absent, he intends
looking for possible areas in which dialogue can be retaken to
create a rapprochement.
On
the eve of the visit, the organisation - Reporters without
Borders (RWB) had asked Mr. Michel to draw the consequences of
the lack of developments regarding the respect of freedom of the
press in Cuba. According to RWB, some one hundred
independent journalists are regularly harassed by the Cuban
regime.
5. PROPOSAL
ON LATEST CHANGES TO THE COMMUNITY BANANA IMPORT
The European
Commission adopted on Tuesday a proposal for a regulation
intended to adapt the Community banana import regime to take into
account the agreement signed between the United States and
Ecuador. The aim of the proposal that should go before
the Council and Parliament, above all consists in: first,
transferring as of January 1 2002, a quantity of 100,000 tonnes
from quota C (reserved to ACP countries) to quota B (to benefit
of US and Ecuadorian suppliers), and second, reserving quota C
exclusively for the ACP supplier countries.
A first regulation
was adopted by the Commission on May 7th this year to
define the new arrangements for management of import licenses
bearing in mind the results of negotiations with the trading
partners. The proposal for the regulation also sets out the
following details: in the context of the quotas A and B, opened
for the import of products originating from all third countries,
the imports of bananas from third countries are subject to custom
duties of 75 euros per tonne; imports under the C quota shall be
subject to zero duty; and tariff preference of 300 euro per tonne
shall apply to imports originating in ACP countries. The
Commission proposes to update the tariff and statistical
nomenclature as well as the common costumes tariff.
6. IN BRIEF
The EU in a
declaration last week welcomed the holding of the Inter-Congolese
dialogue meeting in Gaborone on 20 August. The Declaration urges
all those participants in the inter-Congolese dialogue who have
been invited by the facilitator, Mr Masire, to go to that meeting
and to take part in proceedings in a constructive spirit.
Euforic, the
Internet portal for European development co-operation has
developed a page on its website on civil society participation in
ACP-EU co-operation - http://www.euforic.org/resource/en/doss/civilsociety/index.html
The page provides a number of links relating to civil society
participation in ACP-EU co-operation including a report of the
ACP-EU Civil Society Conference on Civil Society Participation
organised by the Belgian Presidency of the EU and the ACP
Secretariat in July. The page also provides links to key
organisations working on the issue, debates and events.