|
1.
EU MEMBER STATES HESITATE OVER SANCTIONS ON ZIMBABWE
EU
Member States are undecided over imposing sanctions on Zimbabwe,
after the Zimbabwean Government refused to accredit the head of
the delegation of the EU observer mission, Pierre Schori of
Sweden. You may recall that EU Foreign Ministers, last month,
decided unanimously to impose ‘smart’ sanctions on
Zimbabwe if, among other things the Zimbabwean Government,
refused to accept an EU observer mission for the Zimbabwean
presidential elections by 3 February. (See PAF 258). But
almost two weeks after the abovementioned deadline, EU Member
States are divided on whether to go ahead with their threat.
Zimbabwe
did allow Mr Schori, the Swedish ambassador to the UN, into the
country, but then refused to provide him with accreditation.
According to some press reports the Zimbabwean Foreign Minister,
Stan Mudenge, stated this week that no formal invitation was sent
out to the EU delegation. Rather representatives from nine EU
Member States had been told that they could come to observe the
elections in their individual capacities. Mr Mudenge is also
quoted as saying that his government would not recognise Mr
Schori as the head of the EU delegation, because Sweden was not
among the countries from which Zimbabwe has decided to accept
observers. The EU countries not allowed to send representatives
to Zimbabwe are Sweden, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, the UK
and Germany.
Belgium
and France, who are amongst those who are reluctant to impose
sanctions on Zimbabwe, have argued that Mr Mugabe could play a
constructive role in efforts to secure peace in Africa’s
Great Lakes Region. Most importantly the head of the European
Commission’s Delegation in Zimbabwe, Ms Francesca Mosca, is
quoted as saying “We are not now trying to discuss
sanctions. Our main aim is to get the observer mission on the
ground.” This position has even been echoed by a
spokesman for Mr Schori who said, “We are not in
the sanctions business here. We are more concerned with the
training of observers”.
In
reaction to this position, MEPs are insisting that the EU Foreign
Ministers take a firm decision against Mr Mugabe next week at the
EU General Affairs Council. The co-president of the ACP-EU Joint
Parliamentary Assembly, MEP Glenys Kinnock this week stated:
“If
the EU Is to retain its credibility it can’t keep setting
deadlines without then fulfilling the threat of sanctions...
President Mugabe must understand that the EU's finger is still on
the trigger marked sanctions. And selectivity is not an option;
Mugabe cannot pick and choose the observers he lets in.”
2.
SPANISH NGO ACCUSES SPANISH EU PRESIDENCY OF FORGETTING THE FIGHT
AGAINST POVERTY
Intermon
Oxfam, a leading development NGO in Spain, and a member of Eurostep,
is cited in the European press this week as reproaching Spain
on focusing too much on the fight against terrorism and not
enough on the fight against poverty. Intermon state that that the
Spanish Government is not maintaining the momentum on alleviating
poverty set by the EU Development Council last October under the
Belgian Presidency of the EU. Intermon’ s Director
Ignacio Carreras states “After 11 September, there
were good moves and commitments during the Belgian Presidency to
achieve not only a safer world but a also a fairer world. When we
look at the declarations of the Spanish presidency, we think they
have forgotten about the fight against poverty, that is very much
of a second priority for them.”
A
spokesperson for the Spanish Presidency has denied these claims,
stating that the Spanish Presidency would be providing
information to development campaigners, outlining what specific
actions should be taken.
But
Mr Carreras has also pointed out that Spain has been one of the
most reluctant countries in the EU to meet the target agreed by
all EU Member States, to devote 0.7% of their Gross Domestic
Product to development aid. In Spain’s most recent annual
budget, the government allocated only 0.23% for aid.
3.
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION CALLS FOR FIRM COMMITMENT TO
INCREASE EU AID IN ADVANCE OF UN CONFERENCE ON FINANCING FOR
DEVELOPMENT
The European Parliament, last week, adopted a resolution that
urgently calls for a reverse in the trend of cutting official
development aid, ahead of the UN Conference on Financing for
Development in Monterrey in March. The resolution points out that
official development aid provided by the richest countries has
reached its lowest level in ten years (0.22 of Gross Domestic
Product, well below the 0.7 target) The resolution therefore
calls for the Spanish Presidency of the EU to agree to a firm
timetable to bring to each EU Member States aid up to 0.7%. (See
PAF 259)
The European Parliament through the resolution call on the EU
to grant 70% of its aid budget to the poorest and least developed
countries. The Parliament also repeats its call for the separate
budget for aid to ACP countries - the European Development
Fund - to be integrated into the overall budget of the EU.
This is a demand supported by many NGOs including Eurostep.
EU Commissioner for Development, Poul Nielson in his address to
the European Parliament emphasised the importance that the
European Commission will be giving to the UN Conference on
Financing for Development. The Commissioner said the Conference
should agree on tangible action to double the flows of public
development aid in order to meet the target of cutting world
poverty by half by 2015.
The
EU held a ministerial meeting with India this week in Madrid. The
meeting involved EU External Affairs Commissioner, Chris Patten;
President in Office of the EU Council, Josep Piqué; EU High
Representative for foreign and security policy, Javier Solana;
and Jaswant Singh, Indian Foreign Minister. The ministers focused
on bilateral relations between EU and India, including
India’s assessment of the EU strategy towards Asia. Human
rights and democracy were also discussed for the first time.
The
European Commission has granted € 8 million in humanitarian
aid to Angola for victims of the war. The money will be taken out
of the European Commission Humanitarian Office (ECHO) budget, and
will be channelled through NGOs for humanitarian operations in
the field of health, nutrition, water and sanitation, security
and transport.
EU
Commissioner for Development, Poul Nielson, will visit Mozambique
on 15-19 February to sign Mozambique’s Country Strategy
Paper, which leads to a five-year cooperation National Indicative
Programme under the Cotonou Agreement. € 329 million is to
be provided to Mozambique under its Indicative Programme,
including € 30 million for health services. Country Strategy
papers approved by the Commission can be found at http://europa.eu.int/comm/development/strat_papers/index_fr.htm
At
the second Civil Society Conference on EU-Mercosur/Chile
Association Negotiations, Commissioner for External Affairs,
Chris Patten, announced that the negotiating parties have
decided to a establish a Joint Consultative Committee to assist
the negotiators in promoting dialogue and cooperation with civil
society. The parties to the negotiators will also hold regular
meetings with representatives of civil society from the two
regions.
Eurostep
organise a meeting titled “How to Ensure ACP-EU Trade
Arrangements Contribute to the Campaign Against Poverty in the
ACP: The Role of Civil Society” on 20 February in Brussels.
Speakers include H.E. Mr. Sutiawan Gunessee - Ambassador of
Mauritius, Mr. Renwick Rose - Windward Island Farmers
Association, and Mr. Karl Friedrich Falkenberg - Director,
DG Trade, European Commission. The Co-President of ACP-EU Joint
Parliamentary Assembly, MEP Glenys Kinnock, will chair the
meeting.
© Eurostep. Please address comments to [email protected]