1.      HEARINGS CIVIL SOCIETY ON THE CONVENTION ON THE FUTURE OF EUROPE: FIRST MEETING/ HEARING IN THE HEMICYCLE AND TO BE HOPED THIS WILL NOT TO BE THE LAST.

On Monday 24^th (afternoon) and Tuesday morning, the plenary session devoted to hearing the views of the so-called “Civil Society” – Trade Union, business groups and non-governmental organisations took place at the European Parliament as one of the exercises of the Convention on the Future of Europe.  The latter is a body that is meeting in Brussels over the next year to make proposals on the future direction for the EU.

Doing a very brief summary concerning involvement of Civil Society, let’s say that eight contact groups have been set up focusing on several sectors.  These aimed to prepare the hearing (also see PAF 275) and contributions have been made by civil organisations in this process. Convention vice-president Jean-Luc Dehaene, responsible for contacts with civil society and chairman of the hearing said that “this session is neither the beginning nor the end” but also stressed the point that means have to be set up to enable a regular hearing of civil society.

Participation has been encouraged: First through the forum website where 160 organisations put a contribution, from which a synthesis had been done by the Convention Secretariat. Four categories are emerging: 17 from political circles or public authorities; 16 from academic circles and reflection circles; 28 from other organisations of civil society and 99 NGOs! Secondly, there were some 400 organisations and over 600 people in the meetings.

There are three recurrent topics so far in the outcome and identified in the summary:  1/ the desire for the EU to become closer to the citizens and take the decision at the appropriate levels 2/ fundamentals in the treaties 3/ legitimacy and effectiveness of decision-taking.

The issues most stressed by the diverse inputs, and that have been restated by the Praesidium of the Convention and imparted to the press are the Integration of the Charter of Fundamental Rights - though some enrichment and modification has been required at the same time; greater transparency in the way the institutions work, especially when the Council is acting as co-legislator and a Constitutional Treaty for the EU.

Focusing particularly on the development sector, Contact Group chair, M. Henning Christophersen, identified the following issues from the preparatory meeting: the need to institutionalise the dialogue with civil society; the need to strengthen the EU’s policy and establish a relationship between development and the objectives of the external policy in terms of policy objectives; the Development Council should not to be at this stage abolished; Eradication of the poverty to be given highest priority in the new Treaty; social aspects to be more strongly emphasised in the external as well as the internal dimension of the EU; focus on democracy and respect for human rights to be deeply rooted in EU development policy; incorporation of the European Development fund into the community budget and subject to the same procedures as the rest of the EU development assistance.[1]

Just before the Civil Society Hearing, the Convention’s chairman Valéry-Giscard D’Estaing - who founded the European Council in 1974 - gave a quite optimistic report on the work of the Convention to the European Council of Seville.  He began the plenary session with civil society doing the same. Why such a report? Because criticism had been made on the slow evolution and the lack of concrete proposals. The answer of the former French President is clear: progress is deliberately slow in order to ensure a qualitative job and also to be able to hear as many people as possible.

Another criticism was that the Secretariat choose those invited to speak and therefore it was the same old story : “Brussels talking to Brussels”[2]. Such statement has been rejected by Jean-Luc Dehaene while acknowledging that they were essentially European organisations that spoke at the Convention. Valery Discard D’Estaing also rejected this criticism with a reminder at the beginning of the session that in the debate “there will only be two rules: freedom of expression (…) and the respect of the others.”

         Finally these two days hearings are supposed to be the start of the process involving civil society, not the end. Let’s wait till the next plenary of the Convention on 11 and 12 July in which there is hearing with young people, and especially let’s be watchfull…

2. FORTHCOMING EVENTS DURING THE DANISH PRESIDENCY 2002.

5-6 July, Copenhagen, Denmark	Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) Ministers of Finance Meeting
26 August–4 September, Johannesburg; South Africa	The Johannesburg Summit: The World Summit on Sustainable Development.
30-31 August , Elsinore, Denmark	Gymnich Informal Meeting of Ministers for Foreign Affairs
18-24 September, Copenhagen, Denmark	Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) Economic Ministers Meeting
27 September, Brussels	ACP-EU Ministers Meeting
24-25 September, Brussels	European Council – Heads of States meeting
7-8 November, Denmark	EU- SADC Meeting
14 November, Brussels	EU Development Ministers Meeting Likely issues on the agenda include: -          Development and Migration; -          Communication on trade and Development; -          Efficiency and reform of the Community’s development policy -          Annual report -          European Partnership Agreement (EPA) with ACP -          Untying of Aid (also adoption regulations on aid for poverty diseases HIV/AIDS, Malaria and tuberculosis..) -          Indigeneous peoples -          Fighting rural poverty
22-28 November, Burkina Faso	EU-Africa Foreign Ministers Meeting
25-28 November, Brussels	ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly
12-13 December, Copenhagen	European Council – Head of States Meeting

It should be noted that given the decision of the European Council to integrate all external relations policy issues with the General Affairs Council – renames the General Affairs and External Relations Council – the meeting timetable may change.  In principle the General Affairs Council, Primarily involving Foreign Affairs Ministers, meets once a month.

3.      IN BRIEF STORIES

On 27 June the ACP-EU Joint Council of Ministers began meeting in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (see last PAF). Among the relevant issues there is the one concerning Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) and, for the ACP Council, particularly the ACP draft guidelines for negotiating those Agreements. The strategic EPA’s objective are the achievement of sustainable development, eradication of poverty together with the promotion of the gradual and harmonious integration of the ACP countries into the world economy, which means taking into account the World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.

    Southern Africa is facing one of the major food crisis and the number of people concerned is about 13 million. Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia are particularly affected. For more information see the Oxfam Briefing Paper  http://www.oxfam.org.uk/policy/papers/southernafrica/crisisinsouthernafrica.