Eurostep WeeklyRegular News Update from Eurostep, N° 516 22 July 2008 Parliament debates French presidency's human rights priorities In a meeting of the European Parliament's Subcommittee on Human Rights on Wednesday 16 July, Jacques Pellet of the French Foreign Ministry outlined France's priorities in the field of human rights during its EU presidency. The number one priority in this field is set to be the promotion of women's rights and acting against violence towards women. Pellet told the Subcommittee: "This topic is to act as a mobilising springboard to further action on the underlying causes of human rights violations, such as discrimination." In particular, the French presidency aims to foster the implementation of relevant UN Security Council Resolutions, such as UNSCR 1325 on women, peace and security and UNSCR 1820 on sexual violence in conflict, and to set out practical guidelines for the international cooperation and assistance programmes of the EU. Lotto Leicht, Director of Human Rights Watch Brussels, applauded France's priorities and added: "Like in the case with children's rights, we need a common position in the Security Council and related institutional mechanisms: We need a special rapporteur and a working group for women to ensure that the issue is covered on the agenda." On China, the presidency will facilitate the EU-China summit at the end of November and aim to improve the efficiency of dialogue with the country in the field of human rights. MEP José Ribeiro e Castro warned that putting economic cooperation as the priority focus of the EU-China summit in November would undermine human rights issues, and criticised President Sarkozy for his decision to participate in the opening ceremony of the Olympic games. France will also argue in favour of a UN resolution on sexual orientation, an issue for which Ms. Leicht welcomed but urged the need to find non-European support for. To ensure the involvement of civil society, the French presidency has announced plans for a "European Forum of non-governmental organisations on Human Rights", to be held in Paris from the 10th - 13th December 2008. Sources: Parliament debates financial implementation of 10th EDF On 15 July 2008, the European Parliament's Committee on Development and the Committee on Budgets held a Joint Hearing on the Financial Implementation of the 10th European Development Fund (EDF), the EU's main instrument for development cooperation with the ACP countries and the Community's overseas territories. EDF 10 amounts to 22.7 billion euros and covers the period 2008-2013. The key issue discussed was the so-called "budgetisation" of the EDF, meaning its integration into the general budget of the EU. ACP-EU JPA Co-chair Glenys Kinnock opened the discussion by raising the issue of the EDF's "anomalous" state, being governed by the Cotonou Agreement and not the EU Treaties which govern the rest of EU's development cooperation programmes. The result of this arrangement, Kinnock argued, is that parliamentary scrutiny of the EDF is non-existent and democratic accountability is weakened. The Committee heard that the Commission contends that budgetising the EDF simplifies and harmonises budgetary procedures, and that at present 20% of ACP funds (from the Sugar Protocol) already comes from the Community budget. The issue of budgetisation of the EDF has been under discussion in the EU institutions for many years without any consensus for action being reached, but the Commission is now moving towards aligning both budgets and aims to completely achieve this by the end of the year. Source: Civil society workshop on reproductive health and malaria On Friday 25 July, the German Foundation for World Population (DSW), a member of the European Alliance against Malaria (EAAM), is to hold a civil society workshop on: "Reproductive Health and Malaria: Linkages, opportunities and challenges". According to DSW, "Pregnant women are four times more vulnerable to contract malaria. Yet, not many civil society organisations working on sexual and reproductive health and gender are aware of the linkages between reproductive health and malaria. The workshop aims at exploring the linkages between malaria and reproductive health as well as providing the participants with knowledge to be incorporated into their work and use it as a powerful advocacy tool when addressing the European Institutions." The date of 25 July has been chosen by DSW for its proximity to the commemoration of the Day of African Women (27 July), as well as the mid-term review of the Millennium Development Goals and the elaboration of the new EU Plan of Action for Gender Equality Women's Empowerment in External Relations. The workshop will take place from 10.00 to 12.00 at the Red Cross EU Office, Rue Belliard 65, B-1040 Brussels. Source: Civil society reaction to the G8 communiqué on climate change The G8 Action Network, a network of civil society organisations which oppose the G8 summit, has released a statement reacting to the G8's communiqué on climate change, which branded the summit's stance "inaction being masked as movement". G8 Action Network supports the statement of the Government of South Africa that "[W]hile the Statement may appear as a movement forward, we are concerned that it may, in effect, be a regression from what is required to make a meaningful contribution to meeting the challenges of climate change." Specific criticisms of the communiqué voiced by the G8 Action Network include the lack of a clear baseline for the target of 50 per cent global emissions cuts by 2050, the fact that the targets are global rather than focused on key polluters such as the USA and other industrialised nations, and the absence of binding commitments.
The network also claims that the G8's support for the World Bank's Climate Investment Funds is "the height of hypocrisy", as: "With $2 billion already spent on coal, oil and gas projects over the last year, the World Bank has broken its own record as the world's largest multilateral financier of greenhouse-emitting energy initiatives." The statement closes with a warning that: "Saying that [the communiqué] is better than nothing or that it is realistic given the Bush administration's opposition to significant action is to lend legitimacy to a dangerous charade." Source: Louis Michel speaks out on agriculture and food security in the European Parliament On Monday 14 July, Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Louis Michel gave a presentation to the European Parliament on agriculture and food security, focusing on the EU's rapid response to soaring food prices. His speech was followed by an exchange of views from MEPs. Mr. Michel emphasised that developing countries have to put in place policies for rural development, but in the last few years policies in this sector and in particular development aid have been insufficient. He added that thanks to the Commission's efforts, the number of countries choosing agriculture and rural development as a focal point went from 4 or 5 under the 9th EDF to 24 under the 10th EDF. However, he admitted that much has still to be achieved and that a wide scale response is needed in order to combat the structural crisis being faced. In response to this structural crisis, he outlined plans for a "European Facility", to increase the aid to the rural sector, due to be formally tabled by the European Commission later this month. The amount suggested is 1 billion euro, which should be taken from an unused fund of the CAP to help developing countries to increase their agricultural production, in particular by buying fertilizers and seeds. Michel claimed that this would give a solidarity signal between the European farmers and the developing countries' farmers. The Commission's initiative was welcomed by Ms. Carlotti of the Socialist Group, who commented that the transfer of 1 billion euro is "good news" as it improves the image of the CAP and shows that the EU is prompt to react. However Mr Hutchinson, also of the Socialist Group, raised the question of the impact of the proposal on the market. The 1 billion euro will be mostly used for seed and fertilizers, but this may cause local seeds to be pushed out of the market, he claimed. Green MEP Mr Schmidt questioned the effects of GM crops and chemical fertilizers on the environment in developing countries, saying the money should not stimulate the use of such products. Mr. Michel insisted that he is in favour of GM crops, as they have never been proven harmful. Sources:
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