Eurostep weeklyRegular News Update from Eurostep, N° 496
25 February 2008
Council conclusions of the General Affairs and External Relations Council
On 18 February, the General Affairs and External Relations Council held its 2851st meeting in Brussels, and, among other matters, issued a number of conclusions of importance for the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries.
The Council adopted a common position renewing restrictive measures against Zimbabwe for a further year, until 20 February 2009.
The restrictive measures, first introduced in February 2002, include a commitment to freeze the assets and prevent entry to the EU of individuals who are engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law in Zimbabwe. An embargo on the supply of arms and equipment intended for military use is also in force. The Council also adopted a decision extending for 12 months the suspension of support to Zimbabwe under the European Development Fund, given that essential provisions of the ACP-EU partnership agreement continue to be violated by the Zimbabwean government.
Concerning Chad, the Council noted the decision of the Chadian authorities to declare a state of emergency, and indicated that it will closely monitor the respect of civil rights and liberties and the fundamental principles of the rule of law in this context. The Council also noted that recent events underscored the need for the deployment of EUFOR Tchad/RCA and MINURCAT to contribute to the required security in Eastern Chad.
The Council also expressed its concern at the continuing violence, uncertainty and instability in Kenya. It called on the Kenyan parties to engage constructively in a genuine spirit of compromise in order to find a legitimate political settlement. It strongly supported the efforts by the Panel of Eminent African Personalities, led by Kofi Annan, and stood ready to provide any further assistance it can to this process.
The Council was also briefed by the Commission on the state of negotiations on Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with ACP regions and states, and on the Doha Round of the WTO. The Council will return to these issues at a forthcoming session.
In May, in the presence of development ministers, the GAERC will focus on the issue of EPAs in preparation for the joint ACP-EC Council scheduled for June in Addis Ababa. Sources:
Swedish PM argues for a “strong Europe” in European Parliament debate
Addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 19 February 2008, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt told the House: "Today's Europe needs a clear vision", involving "strong European cooperation to prevent fanatical nationalism as well as religious fanaticism". He added: "It is not a strong Europe we should fear but a weak one". On the Lisbon Treaty, due to be ratified by Sweden in autumn this year, Mr. Reinfeldt claimed: “The Lisbon Treaty creates better conditions for more open, effective and dynamic European integration. But above all, it opens up new opportunities to discuss issues that are important to the future: climate and energy, jobs and economic growth, demographics, migration and the EU's role on the international stage.” Mr. Reinfeldt also argued that the EU budget had “long since passed its expiry date”, and was unbalanced due to 40% of funding being used to support agriculture, even though this sector accounts for only 2% of jobs. "This is not reasonable", he said, and called for more to be channelled into research and development, the fight against organised crime, the environment and external relations. He further stated that the key issues to be tackled under the Swedish presidency would include climate change and energy, the Hague programme (on freedom, security and justice), economic growth and job creation, the Baltic dimension and the EU's role in the world. Sources:
MEPs vote in favour of Lisbon Treaty and call for its swift ratification Deputies in the European Parliament have voted strongly in favour of the EU's latest treaty, endorsing a report which states that the new document will make the EU more democratic, give EU citizens more rights and improve the day-to-day working of the 27-nation bloc.
The Parliament approved the Lisbon Treaty on 20 February by 532 votes in favour, 115 against and 29 abstentions, and called for swift ratification in order to guarantee its entry into force from 1 January 2009.
Five countries have already ratified the treaty: Hungary, Slovenia, Romania, Malta and France. 10 further countries have launched a parliamentary ratification procedure.
The views expressed during preceding three-hour debate ranged from those strongly in favour of the treaty to those (mostly Danish and British eurosceptics) accusing Member States of bypassing EU citizens by not having a referendum.
Reacting to the vote, Spanish centre-right MEP Íñigo Méndez de Vigo, who drew up the report on the Treaty for the Parliament, said he was "extremely pleased with the result" and spoke of the EU assembly's "political impulse" for Member States who are currently ratifying the treaty.
He said that Europe had shown "that it can find a solution", referring to the resolution of the deadlock following the rejection of the Constitution in French and Dutch referenda almost three years ago.
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New OECD Development Cooperation Report 2007 published
The new OECD Development Co-operation Report for 2007 was released on 11 February 2008. This report gives the world’s most comprehensive statistics on development co-operation over the past year and assesses the success of a dozen aid targets, including increasing overall aid volume and assistance to the poorest countries, untying aid and aligning it to meet recipient countries' needs without creating aid dependency. he report states: "Since 2003, official development assistance (ODA) has been on the rise in many of the countries where it is most needed: the least developed countries (LDCs), the other low-income countries (OLICs) and the lower middle-income countries (LMICs). In some of the stronger LMICs, nonetheless, there have been sharp falls in ODA. Yet as these countries have strengthened their ability to sustain their own development, these drops have almost always been marginal in relation to the size of their economies.” In parallel, both donors and recipient countries have made considerable efforts to improve the quality and effectiveness of ODA; these measures are as important as - and perhaps more important than - the increases in the amount of assistance.” Finally, there has been sharp growth in ODA in the health and basic education sectors. The results are evident in several key development targets, among them; the annual number of infant and child deaths has finally fallen below 10 million. Yet despite this progress, huge challenges remain. Gross inequality is still prevalent in the world and global problems - such as climate change - continue to grow. Donors still have to make a serious effort improve the amount and the effectiveness of their aid if they are to deliver on their promises.” Sources:
Trade: African nations endorse plan to merge trade blocs
Trade ministers from COMESA have passed a resolution setting the stage for the establishment of what would be Africa’s largest common market. The ministers want trade regimes within the Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the East African Community (EAC) harmonised. Specifically the harmonisation will be with respect to the Common External Tariff (CET) and related trade policy areas as well as overlapping membership," read a joint communiqué issued at the end of the third special task force meeting on the Customs Union, in Lusaka, Zambia.
The endorsement by the COMESA ministers comes in the wake of a similar proposal by trade technocrats from the EAC who, two weeks ago at a meeting in Arusha, called for the formation of a grand Free Trade Area (FTA) comprising of the COMESA, SADC and EAC, as the best solution to the differences that have arisen among their member states in the recent past.
Analysts said the latest push for seamless trade arrangements largely borrows from the African Union (AU) agenda for regional integration in the continent as it pursues future dealings with other external trade blocs such the European Union (EU).
Though the EAC states view the grand FTA as a solution to their disparities over who to relate with, COMESA trade ministers said such a wide seamless trade arrangement would bolster the plans of launching a Customs Union later this year.
"The ministers appreciated the underlying benefits of establishing a Customs Union particularly with respect to the creation of a larger market that would enhance competitiveness of producers in the COMESA region, induce economies of scale as well as enhanced welfare implications arising from reduced consumer prices," the statement further said.
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Women’s rights: UN budgeting bypasses women
The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), which holds a two-week session beginning Monday 25 February, is set to place the continued under-funding of women’s activities at the United Nations high on its agenda. The CSW is a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), dedicated exclusively to gender equality and the advancement of women. he primary theme of the two-week CSW session is "financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women."
"We believe it is impossible to discuss financing for gender equality without discussing the structural mechanisms including within the United Nations system to deliver needed resources to improve women’s lives on the ground," said June Zeitlin, Executive Director of the New York-based Women's Environment and Development Organisation (WEDO).
The entire 2006 budget of the only operational women's entity -- the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) -- was only 57 million dollars, about 2 percent of the 2.34 billion budget of the UN children's agency (UNICEF) for the same period, noted the Philadelphia-based Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). In 2007, the UNIFEM budget was doubled, to reach about 115 million dollars, but its level of funding remains far behind most UN bodies and agencies.
A proposal for a new UN women's agency - to be headed by a USG - has not been implemented, despite support from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The proposal can become a reality only when it is eventually approved by the 192-member General Assembly. Many member states have shown little enthusiasm, either for political or financial reasons.
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