PAF ProActive File - Regular News Update from Eurostep

No. 340

19 December 2003

1. DEVELOPMENT PRIORITIES OF THE IRISH PRESIDENCY

Consultants Weber, Shandwick and Adamson have put out a guide on the Irish Presidency detailing amongst other things the priorities of the Presidency in development and external relations. According to the document, Ireland will give development issues a high profile during its Presidency with focus in areas such as the HIV/AIDS crisis and the reduction of global poverty.

The focus on global poverty will involve ensuring that EU development spending is targetted on poverty. The Irish Foreign Minister, Brian Cowen, stated in September 2003 that any additional development funding should be concentrated on poverty eradication. On HIV AIDS Ireland will concentrate on working to co-ordinate efforts to combat the spread of the disease. Ireland, has already pushed for a stronger and more coherent response to this crisis through the United Nations.

Events to support these priorities include the following: an international conference on HIV/AIDS in European and Central Asia will be hosted by the Presidency in Dublin on 23-24 February 2004. In April 2004, one of the main items that will be up for discussion at the General Affairs and External Relations Council (development session) will be the follow up to the commitment made by EU Member States at the UN Monterrey Conference on Financing for Development. Discussions will be based on a forthcoming Commission progress report. Another important agenda item at the Council session will be land reform in development. The Commission is expected to adopt a Communication on this subject in January 2004.

Ireland also plans to hold a an informal development meeting in Dublin on 1 June 2004 with all 25 EU development ministers in order to review progress in development policy, as well as start working on a three-year strategic planning programme (as provided for by the Seville European Council) to be continued by the next five Presidencies. To this end Ireland will work with the Dutch, who will have the next Presidency after Ireland, in order to increase coherence and co-ordination in the management of development policies over the medium-term. (see In Brief below)

Regarding the ACP, key issues will be discussed at the ACP-EU Council of Ministers will also take place during the on 6-7 May 2004 in Botswana. Agenda items for this meeting will include proposals for budgeting the European Development Fund and amendments to the Cotonou Partnership Agreement. Continuation of work is also expected on a draft regulation on co-operation between the EU and Asia and Latin America.

On trade issues, the Irish Presidency have identified, as one of their priorities, putting the WTO

multilateral negotiations back on track. The Presidency hopes to play a central role in driving the debate within the EU Council on what to do in order to re-launch the negotiating round. The EU Council of Ministers will have to provide the Commission with new guidelines in order to enable it to engage in more fruitful trade talks in Geneva.

Concerning external relations Ireland will focus on several areas including developing effective multilateral relations through the UN, commitment to working on conflict prevention through the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP), enhancing the Middle East peace process, further development of the EU security strategy, and promoting EU-US relations. According to the Weber, Shandwick and Adamson document, the EU’s relationship with the United Nations will be a key priority for the Irish Presidency, which will aim to ensure that the EU plays a role in effective multilateralism. This follows the Italian Presidency’s signing of a declaration with the UN in 2003, Ireland will aim to translate the declaration into practical means for better co-operation.

See http://www.webershandwick-eu.com/files/guide_presidency_ir.pdf for report. The official website for the Presidency will be http://www.eu2004.ie/

2. EUROPEAN COUNCIL DECEMBER SESSION

Debates during the 12^th/13^th December European Council meeting in Brussels focused on the voting system within the Council and the size of the Commission. Discussions did not include the Italian amendment proposal for article I-27, which suggests that the European Minister for Foreign Affairs should not have one hat in the Council and another in the Commission (as proposed by the Convention) but should rather have one strong hat in the Council while keeping the power on commission external policies. (See PAF 339)

The Irish presidency, due to start on 1^st January 2004 has already announced that it will have bilateral discussions with Heads of States before March 2004 in order to define the possible ways to reach an agreement on the European Constitution. As no final agreement was reached on the role of the European Foreign Minister, this issue will still be under discussion and Simon Stocker, director of Eurostep declared that “The Italian Presidency’s attempt to damage one of the major achievements of the European Convention, a European Foreign Minister with 2 strong hats, has failed. It is now the responsibility of Irish leaders to hear the call from the European Parliament, national parliaments, the European Commission, several Member States and civil society to keep the role and status of the European Foreign Minister as proposed by the Convention”.

There is no legal obligation for the Irish EU presidency to consider the Italian proposal for article I-27, as it has not been agreed by all EU Member States, Simon Stocker therefore urged the IGC to “take the Italian failure on the constitution talks as an opportunity to provide European citizens with a Treaty that brings transparency, accountability, democracy and gives Europe the ability to play a stabilising role in the world. A European Foreign Minister imposing CFSP objectives to development co-operation and trade, as proposed by the Italian presidency, would not allow such a Treaty.”

3. NEW GSP REGULATION REMOVING GRADUATION FOR BENEFICIARIES REPRESENTING LESS THEN 1% OF GSP TRADE FLOWS

The EU Council adopted on 15 December 2003, a new Regulation that removes graduation for beneficiaries representing less than 1% of Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) trade flows. In order to minimize trade disturbance for the beneficiary countries, the re-introduction of customs duties will be progressive, in two steps (1 November 2003, 1 May 2004). Further to this specific provision

The EU's GSP offers lower tariffs or completely duty-free access for imports from approximately 180 developing countries and territories into the EU market. These tariff preferences aim at increasing trade with developing countries so as to enhance their export earnings, promote their industrialisation and encourage the diversification of their economies. However the global amount available for these EU preferences is limited, “therefore the EU aims at enhancing the efficiency of the scheme, by focusing its benefits on those countries and sectors which need them most”, it is argued in a press-release from DG Trade. If a beneficiary country reaches, in certain sectors, a level of competitiveness, which ensures further growth even without preferential access to the EU market, such sectors will be graduated, which means excluded from the GSP. Imports originating in a beneficiary country that has been graduated in the sector of the products concerned lose the benefit of GSP tariff preferences.

4. IN BRIEF

European heads of government have adopted the first EU Council Multiannual Strategic Programme, covering the period 2004-2006 (drawn up by the six presidencies concerned (Ireland, Netherlands, Luxembourg, United Kingdom, Austria and Finland) in consultation with the Commission. A key section outlines how the EU will engage with the wider world, which states: the Development Policy statement of November 2000 might be reviewed in 2005. Apparently there will be a review of the balance of EU aid (between regions) and giving special attention to budgetary management and resource allocation while ensuring improvements in aid effectiveness, coherence, coordination and complementarity in support of the primary objective of the reduction of poverty. Worryingly the programme envisages an acceleration of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) negotiations so as to allow the EPA to be established by 2007 (instead of 2008). (Aprodev-CIDSE-Caritas Europa Newsletter 12/03