1. TRADE POLICY DIALOGUE BETWEEN EU
TRADE COMMISIONER PASCAL LAMY AND CIVIL SOCIETY – WTO DOHA
CONFERENCE TO GO AHEAD?
EU Trade
commissioner, Pascal Lamy, this week, met with civil society
representatives and business representatives, in the framework of
the Commission’s trade policy dialogue with civil society
and other stakeholders, for the last time before the proposed WTO
Ministerial meeting in Doha. The main objective of the meeting
was to discuss the state of affairs on preparations for the Doha
WTO Ministerial Conference in Qatar on 9-13 November 2001.
Commenting
first on whether last week’s terrorists attack would affect
the timing of the Doha Conference, the Commissioner said after
careful reflection, he was of the view that the meeting should go
ahead as planned, and preparations were carrying on as usual.
According to Mr Lamy, this was a view that was also shared by the
US Government. Mr Lamy however did state that the views of other
WTO members on this issue would also have to be considered.
On the question
of whether a new round of trade talks would be launched at Doha,
the Commissioner argued that there was growing support for a new
round. The Commissioner did however concede that a number of
African countries and India are still not in favour of a new
round. But according to the Trade Commissioner there are 5 issues
that have to be addressed in the context of a new round. These
are:
Agriculture;
Environment; Implementation; New issues (investment and
competition) Rules (according to Commissioner this is a polite
reference to anti-dumping measures). WTO reform not identified as
one of the issues for the agenda of the new round is equally
important to be addressed at the ministerial in Doha according to
the Commissioner.
When asked
why he did not see the need to go to Doha with a different
negotiating mandate to that taken to the last failed WTO
Conference in Seattle, even though the EU concedes that lessons
should be learnt from Seattle, Mr Lamy said the substance of EU
position could change without a change in the mandate. The
Commissioner added that he would rather use the old mandate to
negotiate with the rest of the world than negotiate with EU
Ministers for a new mandate.
Regarding the
follow-up process to the Commission’s dialogue process with
civil society, Mr Lamy expressed the Commission’s
willingness to continue with the system as it is with monthly
meetings with Commission civil servants on specific issues
alongside bi-annual general meetings with the Trade Commissioner.
Mr Lamy also said that the Commission would be continuing its
work on a Sustainable Impact Assessment (SIA) of the launch of a
new WTO round. New SIA processes would also begin on arable
farming and the EU-Mercosur trade arrangements. An SIA
process for the new ACP-EU trade negotiations will also launched
next year.
2. ACP-EU JOINT PARLIAMENTARY-EUROPEAN
PARLIAMENT MEETING ON REGIONAL INTEGRATION IN WEST AFRICA
Members of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly held a
joint meeting with the European Parliament’s Development
Committee to discuss the process of regional integration in West
Africa. The key speaker for the meeting was Mr Moussa Toure, the
President of the Commission of the West African Monetary Union. Mr
Toure informed the meeting of WAEMU’s achievements in
regional integration including the establishment of a customs
union in West Africa. Mr Toure also announced that WAEMU
intends to negotiate Economic Partnership Agreements with the EU
in the framework of the ACP-EU negotiations beginning in 2002 for
new ACP-EU trading arrangements. The concern was however
expressed at the meeting on whether there had been adequate
consultation with other national and regional bodies in West
Africa as well as the ACP.
On the
question as to what happens to the West African countries that do
not belong to WAEMU regarding their trading arrangements with the
EU, Mr Toure said that WAEMU is open to all West African
countries to join. Mr Toure also said that WAEMU is willing
to involve civil society in the preparations for the trade
negotiations and had already done so in the past. He however
said that WAEMU would have to be selective as to which civil
society organisations it worked with.
Mr Toure has
received the backing of European Parliament, President Nicole
Fontaine, in the establishment of a WAEMU parliament.
3.
ACP PROGRESS IN PREPARING TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH EU
Ahead of the
Doha summit, Jean Robert Goulangana, ACP Secretary General,
spoke, at a press meeting this week, in positive terms of the
forthcoming trade negotiations between the ACP countries and the
EU. According to him there has been “significant
progress” in the efforts to define the
geographical entities of the ACP group, which will serve as a
basis for the negotiations of (R)EPAS – the (regional)
economic partnership agreements between the EU and the ACP.
At the ACP level it has been recognised, that there is a need to
rationalise the regional integration areas, but Jean Robert
Goulangana stressed that the conclusions of the impact studies
that will be undertaken are going to determine any final
decision.
To avoid a
weakening of the ACP group during the trade negotiations he
emphasises the need for comprehensive co-ordination. Hence
negotiations between the EU end the ACP will be held at group
level for all transversal issues such as agriculture, market
access, rules of origin etc. whereas the more specific issues
will be negotiated at a regional level. A high–level
multidisciplinary group of experts will soon be set up (6 experts
per region). The negotiating strategy will be addressed at the
third ACP Trade Ministerial Committee meeting in October in
Nairobi. The recommendations from this meeting will be submitted
to the ACP Council of Ministers in the beginning of December
2001.
4. THE COOPERATION BETWEEN THE EU AND
ASEAN ARE ADVANCING – WILL TO STREGTHEN AND DEEPEN THE
POLITICAL DIALOGUE
At the 14th
session of the Joint Committee, held in Brussels this week, it
was agreed that the EU and the ASEAN (the Associations of South
East Asian Nations) should work even further together, especially
in fields where the EU would make a contribution to the
integration efforts of the ASEAN. The new strategic framework,
concerning the decision to open new representations in Cambodia,
Singapore, Laos and Malaysia, presented by the EU Commissions was
meet positively by the Asian participants. The
increasing co-operation between the EU and the ASEAN, constituted
by the political dialogue will create some direct results through
the implementation of projects in the area of energy, the
environment, finance and investment, transport, information and
communication technology. If necessary it is possible that the EU
will finance these project implementations. The main objective of
ASEAN-EU co-operation is to strengthen the bilateral relations
between the two partners.
5. CORRECTION
In last week’s newsletter, article 4
MEP Mr Anders Wijkman (Sweden) was incorrectly identified as a
socialist. He is in fact a member of the centre right European
People’s Party. The PAF would like to apologise for any
inconveniences caused.
6. IN BRIEF
In Dakar, this week, the Central Bank of
the West African States (BCEAO) launched an information campaign
on the euro. The campaign is supposed to take place over the next
six month and to cover its eight member states. However, the
governor of the BCEAO, Charles Konan Banny, recalled that the
changeover to the euro, on the 1 January 2002, would not affect
the value of the CFA franc. It has been agreed that the CFA
franc, which has been tied to the French franc since 1948, will
remain anchored to the euro at the rate fixed on 1 January 1999
e.g. 1 euro to 655.957 CFA francs.