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1. ACP-EU JOINT PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY
The Assembly which holds it’s meeting in Libreville, Gabon this week, is working on an in-depth reform of its working methods. An EP report on this issue suggests that in order to give substance to the transformation of the Assembly into a parliamentary body all delegates should be members of their national parliaments or the European Parliament. (See PAF 221 for the first reactions on this). The imbalance between European representatives from different political groups for which the formula ”one person, one vote” applies, and the ACP countries represented according to “one country, one vote” formula needs rectifying. It also urges the leaders of the political groups in the EP to appoint as members of the European delegation people genuinely interested in issues of development. The EP report further proposes to limit plenary sessions in favour of committee work Three working groups will deal with: 1) Conflict prevention in Central Africa, chaired by Glenys Kinnock and with the participation of the EU special representative Aldo Ajello and the DRC mediator Ketumile Masire, 2) Basic health and education in Central Africa and 3) Union aid to agriculture and infrastructures.
At the opening session Mr. Corrie, EU Co-President to the Joint Parliamentary Assembly recalled that armed conflicts constitute the greatest threat to development. Underlining that the Assembly takes very seriously its new role in terms of political dialogue and conflict prevention (Article 11 of the Cotonou Agreement makes conflict prevention the cardinal element of cooperation) he qualified the Assembly, formed of elected representatives, as an ideal forum to encourage the policy of conflict prevention, by supporting the efforts deployed by regional peace keeping organisations. Mr. Corrie also sent a call for holding a Conference of African Heads of States on conflict prevention. Raising the importance given by the Cotonou agreement to the involvement of civil society in the new ACP/EU partnership, he said that the joint parliamentary Assembly had taken measure to consult and establish ties with civil society in the ACP countries.
Mr. Louis Serge Clair (Maurice), ACP co-President of the Assembly, started his speech by welcoming a row of positive developments like the favourable conclusion to the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea; looking for a fair and long-lasting solution of the crisis in Congo-Brazzaville; the desire for a inter-Congolese dialogue in the Democratic Republic of Congo; the constitutional order underway in Fiji; the recent agreement in the Comores and the hope for rapid return of the cooperation between the Comores and the EU.
Raising the issue of the use of sanctions, which he underlined should be used with extreme precautions, Mr. Clair denounced the injustice done to the population of Haiti through the suspension of aid and asked the Assembly to invite the EU to reinitiate, with urgency, the dialogue with Haiti. The Co-President also called for consideration of total cancellation of the foreign debt of Mozambique and Malawi, hard hit by serious floods.
Raising the UNLDCIII (May 2001 in Brussels) he recalled the need to ensure that the wonderful “Everything but Arms” initiative truly benefits the LDC, without blocking the efforts of other developing countries, notably the ACP. As for the fourth WTO ministerial conference (in Qatar), he underlined that the specificity of the ACP/EU partnership should manifest itself through the expression of concerted positions. Mr. Clair concluded by calling on the Assembly to closely follow the process underway between the pharmaceutical multinationals and the South African authorities concerning anti-AIDS medicines. “Which must we favour, human life or financial interest”, he wondered.
The Vice-President of Gabon in his speech also felt that there is no democracy without peace. Convinced that the eradication of poverty must be the core objective of development policies, he called for a pure and simple cancellation of the debt of the poorest countries, and also hoped for easing of the criteria for eligibility to the HIPC initiative for countries such as Gabon.
Commissioner Poul Nielson, in his speech to the parliamentarians, called for the Cotonou Agreement to be immediately implemented and stated his concern with the fact that no Parliament in the EU had ratified the Agreement and that only a few ACP states had done so.
He insisted on the three pillars of the agreement: a) the political dimension: here the Assembly has a fundamental role to play, he underlined; b) the preparation of the new trade system, compatible with WTO rules – a requirement the Commission felt right to immediately accompany with a gesture in favour of the least developed countries with the “Everything but Arms” initiative, which will enter into force this month for forty ACP countries (out of the 77 that form the group); c) development strategies and an exercise of aid programming, presently underway with the participation of civil society. Mr. Nielson added that the strategic documents for the eradication of poverty – a major aim of the Agreement – are being discussed with the World Bank, while respecting the priorities identified by the Commission. Health and education will be priorities for 2002, he underlined.
“At this stage the first country strategies been prepared by the ACP and the Commission, and we expect that they will be finalised and signed for most of the countries by the end of the year, that is to say before the entry into force of the Agreement and the releasing of resources”, noted the Commissioner. The aid programming for regional cooperation had not yet begun, and Paul Nielson insisted on the urgent need for the ACP states to clarify the situation concerning the definition of programming regions and the relationship that will be established between these geographic entities and those that will chair the negotiation of regional economic partnership agreements (REPA) with the Union next year. Mr. Nielson also said, that he was prepared to present to the Assembly, during the next session in October, a report on the progress achieved in the aid programming, attached to qualitative data on what has been done to associate civil society to this undertaking.
During the debate, several ACP and MEPs denounced the delay in the ratification of the Agreement, which to enter into force have to be ratified by two thirds of the ACP States, all the EU Member States and the EP. Concerns were expressed on: the need to fill the democratic deficit still suffered by the Assembly, which does not control the spending of the EDF, managed by member states; the weak representation of the ACP in the WTO; a call for the immediate drafting of “objective criteria” for the implementation of Article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement (suspension clause); the need for coherence between the Union’s agriculture policy and development policy, and that the timeframes for transition for access to the European market for ACP rice, bananas and sugar in the EBA initiative were too long.
2. COMMISION ADOPTS GREEN PAPER ON FUTURE OF COMMON FISHERIES POLICY.
It is the first time in history that the commission writes a Green Paper on the development of the Common Fisheries Policy, stated Commissioner Franz Fischler, during the presentation of the document that forms the starting point for the adoption of a new policy in 2002.Given the bleak picture of the assessment of the CFP, the Commission thus justifies the need to carry out an in depth reform as “many of the most important fish stocks are on the verge of extinction”.
According to the Green Paper, the fishing sector’s problems result from conflicts between the aims and short-term measures; it is now necessary to define clearer objectives and set priorities in order to rebuild natural resources that have been severely damaged and pay greater attention to the community policies concerning the environment, food safety and development cooperation.
3. OXFAM SEMINAR ON ADPIC IN BRUSSELS.
According to Commissioner Pascal Lamy, the multilateral agreement of the aspects of intellectual property related to trade (ADPIC) leaves sufficient room for developing countries to adopt their legislation to their political goals in specific fields such as public health and bio-diversity. The Union is nevertheless prepared to promote a debate within the WTO and other competent organisations, in view of resolving the difficulties that prevent them from exercising this room for manoeuvres, he reaffirmed on the occasion of an Oxfam seminar on the future of ADPIC.
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