1. EUROPEAN TROIKA VISITS CENTRAL
AFRICA ON 20-25 NOVEMBER - THE COUNCIL SUPPORT THE PEACE PROCESS
The main aim of the EU
troika’s visit to Central Africa, lead by Belgian foreign
minister, Louis Michel is to examine the peace progress achieved
in the different States and to examine the possibility of
establishing a Great Lakes conference under the auspices of the
EU and UN. Ahead of the EU troika’s departure for
Central Africa the General Affairs Council adopted some
conclusions on the region.
In relation to
the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) the Council support the
Congolese dialogue and insist on the retreat of foreign armed
forces still present in the country. The Council stresses that
the demilitarisation and the improvement of free movement of
people and goods within DRC are essential to the peace process.
Furthermore it recalls the importance of disarmament,
demobilisation and the integration of fighters and finally it
encourage the co-operation between MONUC (Mission des Naciones
Unies en Republic Democratique du Congo), the World Bank and the
UN agencies. During the visit Louis Michel invited
representatives of the non-armed Congolese opposition and civil
society to participate in a round table possibly to be held in
Brussels in January 2002 hoping to have prepared for the new
stage of in inter-Congolese Dialogue, planned for late January in
South Africa. According to the EU delegation the majority of
Congolese official have in principle agreed to the meeting.
The Council views the
establishment of a transitional government in Burundi as a
positive development. In support of the peace processes in the
region the Council adopted a joint action mobilising € 9.5
million in support of the deployment of a special protection
unit. The Council also calls for the willingness of the
International Community to support the co-financing of this unit.
The Commissions intention to support the peace process by signing
the National Indicative Programme (NIP) is being supported by the
Council, stating that it will ensure the active involvement of
the EU in the next follow-up meeting of the Paris Conference on
Burundi.
The European Troika
will report to the next General Affairs Council on 10 December.
2. EU TRADE COMMISSIONER PASCAL LAMY
VISITS BANGLADESH AND INDIA
Ahead of the 2nd
EU-India Summit on the 23 November in New Delhi Trade
Commissioner Pascal Lamy and the rest of the European delegation
have been visiting Bangladesh on the 20-21 November in order to
attend a seminar on the Everything But Arms (EBA) initiative. The
EBA, which was introduced on the 1 March, is suppose to provide
duty and quota-free access for the Least Developed Countries
(LDCs) into the markets of the EU.
Afterwards the European delegation, which apart from Trade
Commissioner Pascal Lamy, consists of the Belgian Prime Minister,
Mr. Guy Verhofstadt, representing the Presidency of the EU, and
Mr. Romano Prodi, the President of the European Commission,
continued its journey to attend the EU-India Summit. The EU
Commission considers the Summit to be an important step towards
the strengthening of the bilateral relationship between the
European Member States and India, demonstrating the growing
importance that the EU attaches to its relations with India. The
Commission also considers the actual timing of the Summit as
ideal, not only because of the recent WTO Summit in Doha, but
also due to the events of 11 September. The Summit is seen as an
opportunity to deepen the political dialogue between the parties
and to address issues of particular concern. A spokesperson from
EU Commission also stressed that the Summit should allow the EU
to express the necessity of creating a dialogue between India and
Pakistan, especially on the issue of Kashmir.
The last visit of the European delegation will be Hyderabad,
Pakistan on the 24 November where amongst other things; the
questions regarding the creation of a dialogue between Pakistan
and India will be addressed.
3. IN GENERAL THE ACP GROUP IS
SATISFIED WITH THE OUTCOME OF DOHA – ACCORDING TO SECRETARY
GENERAL OF THE ACP GROUP MAIN AIMS HAVE BEEN REACHED
At a press conference
this week Secretary General of the ACP Jean-Robert Goulanga did
expressed general satisfaction with the final results of the 4th
WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha. According to him, the main
aims set up by the ACP Trade Ministers ahead of the WTO meeting
have been complied, which mainly can be explained by the unity
and co-operation, which was characteristic for the ACP group at
the meeting. Goulanga stressed that part of the success lies in
the fact that the ACP group have obtain the derogation of the WTO
rules until the end of 2007 for all the trade covered by the
Cotonou Agreement. This is an important issue the ACP group has
been working on for some time.
Furthermore the
Secretary General welcomed the agreement that arose over the
draft agreement on the “TRIPs Agreement and Public
Health”(See last week’s PAF) and the reassertion of
the special and differentiated treatment for the less developed
countries.
4. FORTHCOMING EVENTS
Further to the
forthcoming events mentioned in last week’s PAF No. 251 we
have some more events for the same period
| 29
November, Brussels |
Civil
society briefing on Doha outcome organised by DG Trade.
For more information: http://europa.eu.int/comm/trade/csc/dcs_nig.htm |
| 5
December, Bonn |
Terre
des Hommes/WEED workshop “Impacts of trade and
investment liberalisation in ACP countries”. Contact:
[email protected] |
| 7-8
December, Brussels |
NGO
Forum with different workshops and debates. Detail of the programme and
registration on: |
5. IN BRIEF
On the behalf of the European Parliament and with basis in the
own-initiative report MEP José Ignacio Salafranca (Member of the
Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) and
European Democrats), invited the EU to adopt a common strategy
for Latin America and the Caribbean. Among other things the new
strategy should launch a bi-regional partnership, focussing on
the establishment of a Euro-Latin American Trans-Atlantic
assembly, the signature of a peace charter and the implementation
of a political and security partnership. The new strategy should
also work for the promotion of human rights, democracy,
transparency, good governance and the rule of law.
At a press conference on Thursday 22 November EU Commissioner of
Budget Michele Schreyer stated that the European Parliament had
agreed with the European Commission to earmark at least €
165 million to deal with the impacts of the 11 September and to “ensure
a peaceful future” for Afghanistan.