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• The EuroMed Partnership

• EU: Top Trade Rogue

This is of particular importance in the EU’s relations with some of its closest neighbours, including the countries of the Mediterranean Basin. The Commission continues to strengthen its relations with these countries and also plans to set up a fresh dialogue with the Arab and Islamic world and to work pro-actively for peace in the Middle East.

In the Mediterranean Basin the Commission is negotiating the main pillars of the Barcelona Process, named after the conference of EU and Mediterranean foreign ministers in Barcelona in 1995. At this conference the Barcelona Declaration established the intention to “establish a common Euro-Mediterranean area of peace and stability based on fundamental principles including respect for human rights and democracy”. As part of this process the Commission has been working hard to ensure a successful EuroMed Ministerial Conference in Valencia in April 2002.

The European Union feels that collaboration between Europe and the Mediterranean countries cannot be solely political or economic and will this year initiate a dialogue to oppose any possibility of conflict between civilizations.

The Commission is strengthening cooperation with EuroMed partners on Justice and Home Affairs (migration and the fight against international crime, exchange of available information and statistics, establishing mechanisms for monitoring of migration flows), will propose the launch of a EuroMed Youth II programme and extend the TEMPUS programme for university cooperation to Mediterranean partners. It will also encourage the development of transport and energy infrastructure, and develop a strategy for environmental integration at the EuroMed Ministerial Conference on the Environment.

The disastrous situation in Israel/Palestine only reinforces the need for creative listening and an unshakeable belief in the human capacity for change. In close cooperation with the Council, the Commission will reinforce the EU’s role in the Middle East Peace Process, including through dialogue and specific support to all parties.

The Euro-Mediterranean dialogue is part of broader EU policy which stretches from Russia down to the Mediterranean. In the area of reconstruction and nation-building in the Western Balkans the Commission is implementing its Stabilisation and Association Agreements, underpinning democratic, economic and administrative reform throughout the region. It is active in the Former Republic of Yugoslavia, Croatia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

The Quaker Council for European Affairs shares the expectations that Europe’s citizens and the wider international community now have of Europe playing a full and effective role in international crisis management and resolution, and of deepening cultural and religious understanding both on the European level and in the member states.

Anita Wuyts

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The most formidable stumbling block to developing countries is the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) which swallows up around 50% of the EU’s annual budget. Agricultural subsidies are a legacy from the end of the Second World War when they ensured food self-sufficiency and provided reasonably priced food for European consumers. Today, however, they are of greater political than economic importance and countries with strong farming communities, like France, do not want to surrender CAP privileges. Not only is the CAP a great cost to the EU tax payer, but in global terms, it poses a huge obstacle to development. As the EU produces more than sufficient food to supply its own markets, it dumps its agricultural surpluses onto world markets. This in turn suppresses world prices and destroys local markets in poor countries which are unable to compete with a highly technological European farming industry. However, a review of the CAP has now been agreed. The coming enlargement of the EU, including countries with a large agricultural sector such as Poland, means that the EU will not to be able to afford to continue subsidies at the present rate.

Those products from developing countries which do reach European markets face further hurdles in the shape of tariffs. 30% of tariff peaks in the EU protect the food industry and are imposed on sugar based products, cereals and canned fruit. Many developing countries, under the instruction of the International Monetary Fund, are dependent on the export of a single commodity. Dumping and erratic commodity prices have brought many of them to a crisis point which perversely benefits Western consumers. Ghana, for example, increased its cocoa production by a third between 1996 and 2000, yet was paid a third less for it. If Ghana tries to turn its cocoa into chocolate and export the final product, prohibitive tariffs are imposed.

African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Countries have seemingly been at an advantage over other developing countries. The EU-ACP Cotonou Agreement (2000) stipulates that ACP countries can export 93% of their products to the EU duty and quota free. The least developed of these are allowed to export ‘everything but arms’ without tariffs and quotas. Although this has benefited some, like banana producers in the Windward Islands, most ACP countries are unable to benefit due to supply side constraints. This is reflected in the decreasing number of ACP exports to the EU from 7% in 1970 to 4% today.

This April the European Commission decided that negotiations with ACP countries on economic partnership agreements would be started in September 2002. These will come into effect in 2008, bringing EU-ACP trade relations into conformity with WTO rules, with the intention of integrating ACP countries into the world economy. Such integration does not, however, automatically lead to a reduction of poverty, as has been repeatedly seen. The EU would like to conclude these economic partnership agreements as regional, not national agreements. ACP countries fear that this would not take into account the needs of individual countries and potentially worsen trade conditions. The Commission has decided to undertake a sustainability impact assessment to analyse potential economic, social and environmental effects of economic partnership agreements before negotiations begin, but considering its track record the results will not necessarily herald tangible improvements for these countries.

As concerns the contradictions in EU development and trade policy, the Commission can point to the policy incoherence which exists at national level and shrug its shoulders. However, if it is to live up to its responsibilities as set out in the Treaties and bi-/multi-lateral agreements made with developing countries, it is necessary for the EU to redress existing imbalances. It is time for the EU to match its generous development policy with a more generous trade policy which creates fair conditions in global markets. This is the only realistic way that underdeveloped countries can lift themselves out of the scourge of poverty.

David Ferrard

Links:

*Oxfam report ‘Rigged Rules and Double Standards’: http://www.maketradefair.org

** Article 117, Treaty establishing the European Community: http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/treaties/dat/ec_cons_treaty_en.pdf

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Yes, Europe is interesting, challenging and facing into the major issues of our times - and Quakers are there in amongst it. 18 Friends and attenders from the UK, Germany, Italy and South Africa took part in this week of study ably led by Bronwen Thomas and David Ferrard, members of staff at QCEA. Our work was indeed mainly study as we gained the essential knowledge about the various European Union institutions, the Council of Europe, NATO and non-governmental organisations who wish to influence the European scene. Probably the biggest barrier to understanding amongst the ordinary people of member nations is ignorance of the structures and ‘loss of memory’ about the mission. We were impressed by the numerous people we met as they remember that European integration is primarily about conflict prevention through the development of inter-dependence. They also know that for nations with long histories, this is a slow and difficult process requiring infinite patience, willingness to compromise and acute political awareness.

We contemplated the big issues facing Europe. The enlargement eastwards, voter apathy and disenchantment, creaking structures, and relations with the USA and the rest of the world. We recognised the active and skilful work that is going on. It is very political and full of pitfalls. Do we as Quakers want to contribute to this process? After this course, I think we would all say yes and welcome the work QCEA in Brussels is doing, especially to influence the areas of conflict prevention, human rights and economic justice. As we thought hard at the end of the course about our own part in all this, we had no magic solutions. However, the common themes were the need to promote better knowledge of the EU mission and structures, to improve direct contact with our MEPs, to correct the misinformation that we get in the press and gently stir the interest in Europe in our various Meetings. Has anyone from your Meeting been on the course?

Philip Thornley, Hereford, British Yearly Meeting

Studienreise nach Europa

Der Quaker Council for European Affairs in Brüssel hatte vom 20.-27. April seine jährliche Studienreise angeboten, um Interessierten seine Arbeit in der europäischen Politik näherzubringen.

So waren 20 Quäker aus verschiedenen Ländern in das alte und sehr schöne Quäkerhaus nach Brüssel gekommen, das direkt an einem kleinen Park und nicht weit entfernt von den EU-Institutionen liegt.

Während der Woche wurden uns die drei großen EU-Organe (EU-Kommission, Rat der EU und das Europäische Parlament) durch Besuche und Vorträge nähergebracht. Dabei lag ein Schwerpunkt dieses Jahr auf den Entscheidungsprozessen innerhalb der EU. Im Moment gibt es eine Debatte darüber, wie man diese Prozesse transparenter und demokratischer gestalten kann. Nächstes Jahr sollen dann die Ergebnisse dieser Debatte in einer Konvention zusammengefasst werden. Bronwen Thomas von QCEA ist bemüht, durch Workshops und Treffen in ganz Europa Vorstellungen zu sammeln, die Quäkern bei dieser Konvention wichtig sind. Dazu war diese Studientour ein Beitrag.

Ein zweiter Arbeitsbereich von QCEA ist die Konfliktprävention und die Entwicklungshilfe, die beide eng miteinander verzahnt sind. Verschiedene Organisationen stellten dazu ihre Ideen vor. Interessant fand ich den Vorschlag eines Angestellten des Europaparlaments, um eine Datenbank einzurichten, in der Personen mit ihrem Wissen und Erfahrungen zu ziviler Konfliktprävention aufgenommen werden sollen, sodass auch offizielle Institutionen hierauf bei Bedarf zurückgreifen können.

Alle Teilnehmer stimmten darin überein, dass sich die Studienreise sehr lohnt, vor allem, weil man einen persönlichen Eindruck von den verschiedenen Institutionen und den Menschen, die dort arbeiten, erhält. Zudem war es für alle sehr wichtig, die Teilnehmergruppe kennenzulernen und sich untereinander auszutauschen. Dazu beigetragen haben sicherlich neben der sehr guten Organisation und Begleitung von Bronwen Thomas und David Ferrard auch die beiden Treffen mit den Brüssler Freunden und die vielen interessanten und humorvollen Gespräche bei dem sehr sonnigen Wetter und dem leckeren Essen.

Jan List, Oldenburg, Germany Yearly Meeting

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Based on the Quaker Vision of Europe, our submission raises four very general points in answer to some of the key questions tackled by the Convention. We stress:

- The “importance of civil dialogue”;

- That “the values of transparency, subsidiarity, democracy, accessibility, accountability and integrity are crucial if we are to achieve the aims of a Europe where its governments are at the service of their communities”;

- That “Europe can share and apply [its] experience of peaceful conflict prevention …and play a leading role in the world without resorting to military might”;

- That the Convention must identify the key values of Europe, and that the Charter of Fundamental Rights provides a starting point for this process and should be given legal force.

At this stage our submission sets out some of the broad concerns of QCEA. The consultation process which we are undertaking with European Friends will lead to a more detailed report which we will submit to the Convention in due course.

For more details of the Spiritual Values and Citizenship project contact Bronwen Thomas

For the full text of the QCEA submission

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Towards a Quaker view of good governance

Friday 18 – Sunday 20 October 2002

Associate Members Conference of QCEA in cooperation with Woodbrooke

To be held at Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre in Birmingham, UK.

Part of the QCEA project on Spiritual Values and Citizenship, this conference will be an opportunity for Friends to work on the areas of spiritual values, governance and citizenship, and to contribute to feeding back the Quaker voice to the Convention on the Future of Europe. QCEA will report on its on-going consultation amongst European yearly meetings on these issues.

Keynote speakers Niels Jørgen Thøgersen of the European Commission and Brigid Laffan, Director of the Dublin European Institute will talk on the EU today, and present up-to-date information on the progress of the Convention’s work. Group sessions will be led by invited facilitators with relevant experience of European affairs.

The conference is for associate members of QCEA and also open to all interested in the conference topic and in QCEA.

Cost: £120 (£78 non-resident incl. all meals except breakfast). Some bursary support is available.

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