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1. EUROSTEP ACTIONS ON INCOHERENCE OF EU POLICIES THAT AFFECT DEVELOPMENT CO-OPERATION – COMMISSION TO HOLD PUBLIC BRIEFING MEETING ON 10 NOVEMBER ON DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL MEETING
Further to last week’s report on Eurostep’s actions, highlighting the incoherence of EU policies that impact on EU development co-operation, the PAF can now provide more information on events taking place around the Development Council Meeting on 11 November. The issue of coherence will be discussed at the Development Council meeting.
Eurostep will organise an information meeting on incoherence of EU policies on 10 November from 13:30 to 15 00 at the European Parliament with representatives from the Jamaican Dairy Farmers Industry. Ms Mary Malcolm, a Jamaican Dairy Farmer, and Ms Fiona Black, the General Secretary of the Jamaican Dairy Farmers Federation (JDFF), will personally inform the meeting on how EU subsidised milk powder provided under the EU’s trade and agricultural policies adversely affect Jamaican dairy farmers.
A Eurostep paper, "Dumping in Jamaica: Dairy Farming undermined by Subsidised EU Exports" will shortly be available from the Eurostep Secretariat. Other examples of the discord between EU agriculture and development policies, were documented in the Eurostep Dossier on the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy and Coherence produced earlier this year. A copy of this paper is available from the Secretariat. Further information on other Eurostep events planned around the Council meeting on 11 November will also be shortly available from the Eurostep Secretariat.
The issue of coherence has been reinstated on the finalised agenda of the Development Council Meeting. The Commission will now provide the Meeting with an oral report on Coherence. According to an EU official this oral report is not supposed to substitute the official annual report on coherence that Commission was asked to prepare by the June 1997 Development Council Resolution. In the two years following the adoption of the resolution, the Commission has failed to deliver the report to the Development Council. At the last EU Development Council the Commission provided the Council with a so-called ‘non-paper’ (a document that is not officially adopted by the entire Commission) that dealt with a limited number of issues related to coherence. The Commission has argued that the case of Jamaican Dairy products does not represent a case of incoherence of EU policies, as the EU does not directly provide for support of the Jamaican dairy industry, which is undermined by the EU milk powder subsidies. However Eurostep have pointed out that while the EU may not specifically fund the Jamaican Dairy Industry, the EU’s overall development goals for Jamaica are undermined by the milk powder subsidies.
In response to NGO general concerns about the Development Council Meeting, the Commission will organise a public NGO/Journalist Briefing on 10 November from 16:30 to 18: 00 at the "Salle de Presse" of the Breydel Building (45 Avenue d’Auderghem, B1040 Brussels). The meeting will be co-chaired by the Finnish Minister for Development, Ms Satu Hassi, and EU Development Commissioner, Mr Poul Nielson. The meeting is officially limited to items related to the Environment and Development. However there are conflicting reports as to whether issues related to coherence will be addressed at the meeting. According to a representative of an EU Member State Mission in Brussels, the Commission’s meeting will provide a good opportunity for NGOs to raise the issue of coherence. However the Commission have made it clear that they are only willing to discuss issues relating to the environment at the meeting. Such a briefing meeting on the Development Council organised by the Commission is unprecedented.
2. HEARING ON REGIONALISATION IN THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
Eurostep, the Transnational Institute of the Netherlands and the European Parliament are organising a Hearing on the EU’s Role in Regional Integration in different parts of the world at the European Parliament in Brussels on 9 November, 1400- 1700.
The meeting is intended to address the debate on of regional integration and discuss, among other things, the EU’s proposal to base future trade arrangements with the ACP on regional integration. The meeting will bring together a range of experts from Latin America, Asia and Africa who will make presentations on the experiences of regionalisation in the regions from which they come. Invited speakers include Candido Grybowski, (IBASE, Brazil) Manuel Perez (RMALC, Mexico) Joel Rocamora (Institute for Popular Democracy, Philippines) Dot Keet (Senior Lecturer, Cape Town University, South Africa) and Moses Tekere (ACP-EU Expert, Zimbabwe). For further information on the Hearing you may contact the Eurostep Secretariat.
3. EU-SOUTH AFRICA SPECIFIC AGREEMENT ON WINE AND SPIRITS HITS MORE DIFFICULTIES
The EU and South Africa have failed to reach an agreement on wine and spirits before the end of October, as they had hoped when they signed the global EU-South Africa Trade and Co-operation Agreement earlier on in October. You may recall that a dispute over the use of the terms "Porto" and "Sherry" threatened to prevent the signing of the global Agreement. A compromise was reached allowing the EU and South Africa to continue their negotiations specifically on the Wine and Spirits Agreement, till the end of October, while the global Agreement was signed. The Wine and Spirits Agreement was supposed to enter into force on 1 January 2000.
Spain, Portugal, France and Italy have now expressed their disagreement with this timetable. Even though the global agreement has been signed, its application requires a number of internal EU decisions that must be taken unanimously. According to the European press the above mentioned countries will be opposed to the adoption of such unanimous decision until the negotiations on wines and spirits are concluded.
4. EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT MEETS EU HIGH REPRESENTATIVE FOR COMMON FOREIGN AND SECURITY POLICY
The newly appointed EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), Mr Solana, met with the European Parliament’s (EP) Foreign Affairs Committee and a delegation from Western European Union (WEU) on 25 October in Strasbourg to present his plan of work. Mr Solana provided written responses to a number of questions, which are summarised below.
On the apparent lack of democratic control of the CFSP, Mr Solana argued that as the EU Council members (jointly responsible for CFSP with Mr Solana) are elected democratically by their respective peoples, the management of CFSP remained democratic. He announced that the EP will be a major interlocutor in his work. It is worth noting that the EU Amsterdam Treaty provides for hardly any institutionalised EP involvement in the CFSP.
On the division of labour between EU institutions, Mr Solana said that he would not act as a substitute to the EU Council Presidencies. His role would be to ensure that actions undertaken by one Presidency are carried out with the same intensity under subsequent Presidencies.
On relations with NATO and the WEU, which are non-EU organisations, the High Representative said institutional relations between the Council and the above mentioned organisations will be very close especially in relation to the EU’s responsibility in the so-called ‘St Petersburg Declaration’. This provides the EU with the use military units from WEU countries for humanitarian and rescue operations, peacekeeping operations and in crisis management. Mr Solana also stated that he intended to be very rapidly involved in discussions on creating a Policy and Security Committee and EU military personnel.
3. IN BRIEF
The inaugural official ACP Civil Society Forum Meeting takes place on 7-11 November in Cameroon. A number of European NGOs including Eurostep will be represented at the meeting. During the meeting, the ACP Civil Society Forum will formally present itself and explain its work and contribution to development in the ACP. A report of the meeting will be provided by the PAF.
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