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1. EU TRADE COMMISSIONER MEETS WITH EUROPEAN CIVIL SOCIETY
The EU Commissioner for Trade, Mr Pascal Lamy, this week met with European civil society organisations during the Commission Trade Directorate’s first general meeting with civil society organisations since the Seattle WTO ministerial meeting last November. The two points on the agenda were presentations from the Commission on the current state of play regarding the WTO New Round, and the new approach being suggested by the Commission Trade Directorate on dialogue with civil society.
Concerning the current state of play regarding the New Round, Mr Lamy informed the representatives from civil society organisations of the short term ‘confidence building’ package that the so-called QUAD group of countries (the EU, Japan, Canada and the US) have offered to developing countries, as a means of convincing them to pursue a new WTO round. The package mainly consists of granting least developed countries duty free and quota free market access for ‘essentially all’ their products, measures addressing the implementation problems of developing countries, funding for WTO technical assistance activities, and improved internal WTO transparency. Mr Lamy admitted that part of the package concerning market access for essentially all products had been watered down from the original EU proposals because of the difficulty of agreeing on the products that will be granted free market access.
Last week’s BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest Vol. 4, (12 April) reported that the US refused to agree to duty free access for 100% of LDC textile and clothing products, arguing that such a measure would require US Congressional approval to amend US commitments under the WTO Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC). The EU on its part said it could not include most agricultural products such as bananas, beef, rice, and sugar. Most developing countries agreed that the QUAD’s proposals could not be a basis for negotiations or confidence building. Bangladesh described the measures as confidence shattering.
Still Mr Lamy argued that the QUAD’s offer was limited because more comprehensive measures to assist developing countries would be reserved for the New Round itself – otherwise the EU would have nothing to trade with in the New Round. He said Bangladesh’s reaction was to be expected. When asked if the Commission had changed its trade stance since Seattle, the Commissioner replied that the Commission was now more willing to discuss developing country concerns on anti-dumping. Reform of the WTO is now a major issue rather than a minor issue for the Commission.
Regarding the Commission’s new approach to dialogue with civil society, Mr Lamy informed the meeting of the Commission’s meeting with the so-called contact group of civil society representatives on 6 April. The contact group at present is made up of the civil society representatives from different sectors e.g. development, environment, etc. who formed part of the EU’s official delegation to Seattle. However it is up to civil society organisations to choose their own representatives to the contact group. The Commission is proposing to hold 2 general meetings a year with civil society. In addition ‘issues groups’ representing specific issues will hold more specific meetings. For more details see http://europa.eu.int/comm/trade/2000_round/docu.htm Mr Gordon Deuchars of the Liaison Committee of EU Development NGOs in response to the proposals informed Mr Lamy that European NGDOs had not yet accepted the Commission’s proposal. This would require more discussion and consultation amongst EU NGDOs. Mr Deuchars said EU NGDOs were particularly concerned about the frequency of meetings and the unclear role of the contact group.
2. COMMISSION UNVEILS PLANS ON IMPROVING SPEED OF AID DELIVERY
The European Commission will reveal plans early next month on reducing the time it takes to get external aid projects/programmes off the ground, in response to criticism of the bureaucratic delays that have led to a backlog of projects worth € 20 million. According to the European press a draft report sets out planned measures to strengthen the role of the Commission department, which administers external aid projects, i.e. Common Service for External Relations (SCR). The report proposes increasing SCR’s staff from 650 to 800. The SCR will be given full responsibility for designing, implementing, monitoring and assessing projects/programmes. However some activities will remain outside the SCR’s control because of their political sensitivity, including the PHARE programme for Eastern European countries, the EU’s humanitarian aid, human rights, foreign policy and NGO funding. EU delegation staff on the ground will also be given more responsibility for managing programmes and hiring extra personnel, with a percentage of each project’s budget set aside for additional staff.
Though these proposals are aimed at improving efficiency of aid delivery they further marginalize the Commission’s Development Directorate, which has lost a number of its responsibilities since the appointment of the new Commission. In response to the proposals, Louise Hilditch of Action Aid (a member of Eurostep) this week told the European Voice that, “ the Commission needs to look at more than just its management systems. It must clarify its aid objectives.”
3. COMMISSION WORKING DOCUMENT ON ASEM SUMMIT IN SEOUL
The Commission has adopted a working document proposing 5 priority areas for the 3rd Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit on 20-21 October in Seoul. The priorities which are based on the three pillars of ASEM dialogue, (political issues, economic and financial questions, and cultural and intellectual questions) are as follows: 1) The development of dialogue between Asia and Europe on questions of regional and global security, notably on aspects such as conflict prevention. 2) Cooperation based on commercial and economic sectors. 3) Enhancement of educational exchanges involving, inter alia the increase in the number of grants at bilateral level. 4) The establishment of networks and co-operation in the field of consumer protection and food safety. 5) The enlargement of ASEM dialogue to new partners. ASEM currently involves the 15 EU Member States, the original 7 members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), plus China, South Korea and Japan.
4. IN BRIEF
The Director General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Development, Mr Philip Lowe has been appointed as Chef de Cabinet for the European Commission Vice-President Neil Kinnock, a post he previously held between 1995 and 1997. Mr Lowe is likely to leave DG Development by June.
The EU General Affairs Council has strengthened and extended by 6 months EU sanctions against the Burmese government, while safeguarding the possibilities of dialogue with ASEAN. Sanctions are strengthened by including the banning of the export of equipment that might be used for internal repression or terrorism; naming those in the regime and its supporters to whom the visa ban applied; and imposing a freeze on the funds held abroad by those same persons.
The Commission has approved a grant of € 2 million to finance emergency food aid operations in Ethiopia. This will enable the International Red Cross to provide additional rations of food to those hardest hit by the famine. These special food rations may be increased once needs are evaluated. In addition the Commission also plans to deliver 432 426 tonnes of cereal to Ethiopia this year. The EU has strenuously denied Ethiopian allegations that it was slow to react to the famine. The European Parliament has called on the Commission to coordinate the transportation of food aid with other donors, so as to avoid a congestion of the ports and access routes and to strengthen the early warning system for regions at risk from famine.
Further information on the Liaison Committee of EU NGDOs General Assembly that took place last week (see PAF 176) including resolutions adopted, etc. can be found on the Liaison Committee website: http://oneworld.org/liaison/en/press.htm
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