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1. 4th EU-SADC MINISTERIAL MEETING – BOTSWANA
The 4th Ministerial Conference between the EU and SADC (Southern African Development Community) was held in Gaborone, Botswana on 29-30 November.
The main subjects on the agenda were: political dialogue (human rights, democratic principles and institutions, good governance and the rule of law); regional integration; and cooperation on transport, AIDS, landmines control of light weapons, and trafficking in diamonds and other precious minerals. You can find a joint EU-SADC communiqué from the meeting at http://ue.eu.int/en/summ.htm
2. SETBACK FOR COMMISSION PROPOSAL TO GRANT LDCS IMMEDIATE FREE MARKET ACCESS
The European Commission’s proposal to grant Least Developed Countries (LDCs) immediate duty and quota free access to EU markets is facing increasing opposition from organisations representing EU agricultural producers and a number of EU Member State governments.
While most EU Non-Governmental Development Organisations, including Eurostep, have welcomed the Commission’s proposal as a necessary, albeit insufficient, step to allow LDCs to benefit from international trade, many EU farmers’ organisations have waged an intense campaign against it. They have argued that the proposal could flood European markets with products from LDCs.
At a meeting with representatives from the UK government, this week, the Eurostep secretariat was informed that several EU governments including the UK, France, Italy and Germany were facing increasing pressure from organisations calling for the proposal to be dropped. In contrast there has been very little campaigning in support for the proposal. Most importantly LDC governments and civil society have not been very vocal in their support of the Commission proposal. This is perhaps due to a lack of information about the proposal and the state of play regarding its acceptance. According to the UK government representatives, there is a great danger that the proposal may now be rejected.
The European Commission and some EU Member States had hoped to reach a decision on the issue by the end of the year, but this now seems unlikely. To further complicate matters EU Member State representatives postponed a crucial meeting on the matter this week, following the Commission’s failure to prepare impact studies on how the market access proposal will affect the EU and developing countries. According to the UK government officials the matter may only now be decided at the UN LDC III Conference in Brussels in May 2001.
Eurostep would like to encourage all civil society organisations that favour the proposal to carry out campaigns in support of it. Eurostep has sent a letter to EU Member State representatives calling on them to agree to the Commission proposal as soon as possible. For more information you can contact the Eurostep secretariat.
3. EU DISCUSSIONS ON BANANA REGIME MAKE NO PROGRESS
Discussions on reform of the EU banana regime have been taken off the agenda of the EU General Affairs Council next week. The Commission proposal on a transitional quota system ‘first come, first served’ continues to receive cold reception from the EU’s trading partners and some EU Member States.
These EU Member States have questioned the compatibility of the proposed system with the rules of the WTO. In particular, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxemburg, Denmark and Austria have expressed their fear of a possible challenge of the proposal in the WTO, if the EU agrees to it.
Furthermore the ACP countries, some of whom the EU banana regime traditionally benefits, remain unsatisfied with the EU proposal. The European Parliament has also expressed its reservations about it.
The topic will probably next be discussed by EU ministers in the EU Agricultural Council on 19 December.
4. NEW EU CONFLICT PREVENTION PAPER WILL STRESS COMMISSION’S ROLE
Mr Javier Solana (Secretary General of the EU Council) and Mr Chris Patten (EU External Affairs) Commissioner will present a paper at next week’s EU Summit in Nice, stressing the importance of the Commission’s role in EU conflict prevention.
This move comes as most EU Member States continue fighting French-led attempts to limit the Commission’s role regarding initiatives taken by groupings of EU Member States on enhanced foreign policy co-operation. France and Germany are insisting that the Commission should not be given the right to determine whether a group of EU Member States can press ahead with enhanced co-operation in the foreign policy arena. French diplomats argue that enhanced co-operation could be used to allow some states to form a special high-level task force to deal with conflicts such as that in the Great Lakes region.
However, Chris Patten argues that trying to improve the effectiveness of the EU’s foreign policy, while marginalizing the Commission is self-defeating, because the Commission provides essential policy tools for dealing with crisis situations.
This discussion comes at a time when EU leaders are preparing to boost Mr Solana’s role by giving him control of the EU’s new permanent Political and Security Committee (PSC). The PSC will run crisis management operations from next year.
5. 4th ROUND OF CIVIL SOCIETY COMMISSION CONSULTATIONS ON WTO ISSUES
The 4th round of consultations between the Commission, civil society and business representatives will take place on 6-7 December in Brussels. The scheduling of the meetings is as follows:
Ø
Meeting on Environment and sustainable Development: Wednesday 6
December afternoon,
(14:00 hrs - 17:30 hrs)
Ø Meeting on Services: Thursday 7 December morning (9:00 hrs - 12:30 hrs)
Ø Meeing on Agriculture: Thursday 7 December afternoon (14:00 - 17:30 hrs)
The meeting on health issues has been postponed to January 2001.
The meeting on Environment and Sustainable Development will deal with inter alia, the Sustainable Impact Assessment of a new WTO round and TRIPs. For more information see http://europa.eu.int/comm/trade/2000_round/timetable02.htm.) Registration forms are also available at this address.
The December round of consultations brings the discussions on environment and sustainable development, services, agriculture and health issues to an end. From January 2001 a new set of topics: competition, investment, TRIPs and WTO reform will be discussed over a six-month period.
6. IN BRIEF
The EU has welcomed the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions to establish UN missions Ethiopia and Eritrea. The EU calls on both Ethiopia and Eritrea to ensure safety of all UN personnel and to co-operate fully with the UN mission. It also urges both parties to continue the peace process under the aegis of the OAU, supported by the EU and the US.
The European Commission and most
EU Environmental Ministers have said they will still insist that
the US and other industrialised countries lead the way in cutting
fossil fuel use, following the collapse of the Climate Change
Conference. They have defended the French rejection of the UK
proposed compromise with the US.
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