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1. THE 28th ACP-EU JOINT ASSEMBLY
The Working Group on the Future of ACP-EU Relations
The ACP-EU Joint Assembly's Working Group on the Future of ACP-EU Relations presented its Interim Report to the 28th ACP-EU Joint Assembly in Strasbourg, on 29 March. During the Working's Group’s meeting, that preceded the Assembly, the Group's rapporteur, MEP Glenys Kinnock informed the meeting that the present Interim Report, focussed on co-operation on conflict prevention/resolution, health and education. The first interim report had focussed on issues relating to trade. On conflict prevention, the 2nd Report stresses the importance of: building the capacity of civil society; controlling military expenditure; enhancing good governance; supporting regional initiatives in conflict prevention and management of common resources; post conflict reconstruction; and abolishing the use of child soldiers. Concerning health, the report called for the future Lomé Agreement to have a clear commitment to prioritising health, reproductive health care and HIV/AIDS. On education, the report noted that recent research showed that aid to education tends to lead to a reduction of governments’ own commitments to the sector. The ACP and the EU would have to find a way of ensuring that increased aid to education represents genuine additional funds. This would require better co-ordination from the EU with recipient countries and other donors to achieve better overall objectives. The rapporteur stated that given the slow progress achieved in many ACP countries in increasing access to education, the hope of many governments of achieving universal access to basic education by 2015 could be totally unrealistic.
In response to the presentation of the report, the Ambassador of the Dominican Republic called for attention to be put to the fight against the use of illicit drugs as a means of tackling poverty and human resource development. Mr. Bernard Petit, speaking on behalf of the European Commission, criticised the report for focussing too much on health. He said the Commission had a more global approach, which looked at overall growth while at the same time examining sectoral policies that affect human and social development. He also questioned the low profile given to the participation of NGOs and civil society in the report. According to the Commission in the current ACP-EU negotiations for a new framework agreement, though both parties have agreed to the principle of greater involvement of civil society in the partnership, the ACP may have fears over the implications of accepting this principle. He expressed hope that the next interim report would look at civil society in greater depth as well as financial assistance, and the link between performance and aid allocation.
James Mackie, the Secretary General of the Liaison Committee of EU NGOs, commented on the failure of the report to address the problem of coherence of EU polices, especially those relating to the Common Agricultural Policy. He also called for the report to look into the establishment of formal and structured dialogue between ACP and EU governments and civil society. One aspect of good governance is the ability of civil society to participate in the process of governance.
The Interim Report included a resolution, which called for, among other things,:
a ten year transition period before the beginning of new trade arrangements to replace non-reciprocal trade preferences to ACP countries; the retention of the export revenue stabilising instrument – STABEX; the creation of a mechanism to protect investment; the establishment of a ceiling on ACP military spending and a minimum floor for spending on health and education; and the creation of a legal assistance centre to help developing countries better take part in decision making procedures in the WTO. The Assembly, later adopted the Report, and its resolution, by a narrow majority.
The next interim report will focus on civil society participation and financial co-operation, among other things. The next session of the Working Group will take place in July in Brussels.
Presentation of Working Document on the Fight against Poverty in the ACP and the EU
Spanish MEP, Mr. Robles Piquer presented a Working Document to the Joint Assembly on the Fight against Poverty in the ACP and EU. The Document touched on: the definitions of poverty; the extent and trends of poverty; obstacles to the elimination of poverty; strategies to eliminate poverty including action by NGOs to fight against poverty. On this point, the report described NGOs as essential to the EU’s fight against poverty, stating "It is therefore seems desirable that co-operation with and by means of NGOs should receive due attention in the future Lomé agreement and improvements should ideally be made to the procedures for allocating projects, to the planning arrangements involving delegations, government bodies, and to co-operation amongst donors at grass roots level."
Mr Robles Piquer hopes to finalise the Document as a report for the next Joint Assembly in Bahamas on 5-11 October 1999.
Eurostep Statement to the Joint Assembly
In a written statement to the Joint Assembly, the Eurostep secretariat proposed strategies and actions to help enable the ACP and EU to achieve their aim of eradicating poverty. On participation and accountability, Eurostep call for formal mechanisms and safeguards ensuring civil society participation in the Lomé process; a complaints’ mechanism for the intended beneficiaries of Lomé programmes (a Joint Assembly resolution was adopted to this effect); the Joint Assembly to be strengthened in its parliamentary functions; and the establishment of a Political Assembly. The members of the Assembly would be the decision-makers (governments) in the partnership, however the assembly would be open to credited observers and the public. The aim is to ensure that decisions are accountable to ACP and EU citizens.
The statement also covers strategies for poverty eradication and financial co-operation. You can contact the Eurostep secretariat for a copy of the full statement.
European Commission to hold meeting with NGOs at the end of April
In informal discussions between NGOs and representatives of the European Commission at the Joint Assembly, the Commission informed NGOs that it will be preparing a paper for the ACP-EU negotiations on participation of civil society in the Lomé process. It hopes to hold a meeting with civil society by the end of April to share the ideas of the paper with NGOs and discuss mechanisms of engagement with civil society.
2. COMMISSION HOPE EU-SOUTH AFRICA TRADE AGREEMENT WILL GIVE IMPETUS TO LOME NEGOTIATIONS
Top EU officials are hoping that the EU free trade deal with South Africa, endorsed by the EU Heads of States last week, will give a boost to the ACP-EU Negotiations. (See PAF 126) This is most needed in the area of trade where the EU aims to replace non-reciprocal trade preferences to the ACP with free trade arrangements with ACP sub-regions. According to caretaker Commissioner for Development, Joao Pinheiro, talks with South Africa helped to identify the advantages and stumbling blocks in agreeing a free trade agreement with a sub-regional grouping.
During the ACP-EU Joint Assembly in Strasbourg (see above), the South African delegation stated in a declaration that the conclusion of the agreement was a strategic decision to bring about major structural changes to its economy. The declaration stated, that the South African Government is convinced "that it is in South Africa’s long term interest to carry out the structural changes in a partnership with its major international trading and investment partner. .. The South African Government hopes to share the lessons it learnt about the intricacies of trade negotiations with the other ACP states. .. Safeguard measures in the agreement can be used to protect neighbouring countries’ industries, which will come under pressure during the implementation phase. .. We believe that regional integration will be enhanced by allowing South African exports with inputs from the region to benefit from preferential treatment in the European Union."
The Free Trade arrangement covers 90% of trade between the EU and South Africa. The EU will liberalise 95% of its imports from South Africa by the end of a transitional period of 10 years, while South Africa will liberalise 86% of its imports from the EU by the end of a transitional period of 12 years.
3. IN BRIEF
The EU announced its support for the candidature of Vice Prime Minister of Thailand, Supachai Panichpakdi, for the post of director-general of the WTO, at the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) of Foreign Ministers. On the EU’s intention to discuss human rights at the Meeting, the German Foreign Minister and President in Office of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, stated "This is not western arrogance, but simply an attempt to improve human rights everywhere including Asia."
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