Peace

Human Rights

Economic Justice

What is QCEA?

Structure & Staff

Contact Us

Take Action

Subscriptions and Membership

Donate

Study Tours

Internships

Around Europe

Briefing Papers

Occasional Papers and other publications

Ordering Printed Copies

History

Meeting Rooms Available

• Old Europe – New Europe

• QCEA Council Approves Programme Work for 2003 - 2005

From A Statement on Peace issued by New Zealand Quakers, 1987

Europe is not synonymous with peace in the minds of people. Indeed, the history of Europe is littered with wars, destruction and killing. Europe has a history of world dominance, of attempting hegemony and of ignoring the rights of other cultures, other ways of life to exist.

At this early stage of the twenty first century, Europe is in a very different place. Whilst certain European countries are being derided by US politicians as ‘old Europe’, the whole of Europe is at an important crossroads which US politicians are unlikely to fully appreciate.

In 1950 Robert Schuman led six European countries towards the principle of equal balance of power by opting for joint management of the coal and steel industry in the Ruhr region. Europe learned that it is much more useful to co-operate than to compete and fight. That was the beginning of what is now the European Union. It is important to remember two critical facts about those early days of the European project:

- The original six member states included countries that had been enemies in very recent wars. The European project was a practical exercise in reconciliation.

- One of the motivations for the European project was the desire to prevent wars ever happening again in the ‘old Europe’ because the founders of the European project had seen with their own eyes the harm done by war. This was very much a sign of a ‘new Europe’.

Europeans demonstrating in all the capitals of Europe against war on Iraq testifies to this desire to prevent war. The success of the European institutions in maintaining peace among its members testifies to what can be achieved when peoples and governments want to prevent war. It is at least one of the imperatives of the ‘new Europe’ to continue to work for the globalisation of co-operation and a balance of power which will make war unthinkable the world over.

As we stand on the brink of another war, of the possible disintegration of the UN and the danger which the lack of unanimity amongst member states poses for the European Union, we must focus our minds and those of our politicians on the fact that peace is possible, even if we start from a place where war seems inevitable.

In the words of Quakers in Britain (1943): ‘Now is the time to issue an open invitation to co-operate in creative peacemaking, to declare our willingness to make sacrifices of national prestige, wealth and standards of living for the common good of all.’

Martina Weitsch

Return to contents

In introducing the programme, Martina Weitsch stressed that this was a start up programme. It is designed to show the general direction of work over the next few years but is heavily dependent on successful fundraising for a number of the key projects. Because of this, the timing of a number of the projects is also only indicative.

Objectives and Principles

An outline of the programme is shown in a separate box on the opposite page. The fundamental principles underlying the development of this plan for our future are:

- To ensure that project work addresses issues of concern to Friends and, more particularly, issues within the areas QCEA has identified as its priorities: human rights, peace and economic justice. Wherever possible, we will ensure that the connections between these three themes are highlighted in our projects.

- To tackle areas of work, which are not already being dealt with effectively by others or where QCEA can work in productive partnership with others.

- To undertake work, which can be done within the human resources available to us (subject to additional funding).

- To do work that fits with other Quaker work being done elsewhere in Europe.

- To build on the history of QCEA and pick up on issues which have been tackled before and where work is still to be done.

- To avoid jumping on the bandwagons of current themes and topics because the Quaker way is to tackle issues over the long term. By tackling issues which are not currently being discussed by everyone, we hope to have the chance to influence tomorrow’s discussions.

- To ensure that the results of projects are well publicised. In most cases, this will involve some form of publication at an appropriate stage in the project. Wherever possible (i.e. where funding allows) we will ensure that publications are available in more than one language.

- To include in each project information for Friends about the issues involved, with, where appropriate, ideas and resources for Friends to take independent action.

Involving Friends in Our Work

By outlining a broadly based programme of projects we hope to have identified a range of work which will engage the interest, support, commitment and enthusiasm of Friends across Europe.

We have identified a number of ways of involving Friends in our work:

- Several of the projects involve consultation with Friends in their local groups so that we may be aware of the thinking and work being done locally.

- In addition to the study tours which will continue, we are planning to hold several seminars and conferences to offer opportunities of detailed work and exchange of views on the themes we are tackling.

- We are asking Friends with particular knowledge and experience in relevant fields related to our projects to contact us so that we can consult with them at different stages of the project development and work.

- In particular, we are seeking Friends to join small, ad hoc Project Advisory Groups (each of 2 or 3 Friends), whose aim will be to support the team working on the project in terms of project development and helping with fundraising. These groups are intended to work by e-mail or phone and to last for as long as the project does.

Core Work to Continue

In addition to the projects detailed in this programme, our core work will continue:

- The production of Around Europe; we are going to review the frequency and content during the course of this year. We welcome comments from all our readers.

- The two study tours; we will also consider the possibility of study tours which will have a working language other than English and we welcome feedback on the level of interest in such tours.

- Networking with decision-makers in the European institutions and monitoring ongoing work within the institutions to ensure that we take the opportunity to comment on issues when they are topical.

- Developing a network of relevant contacts within the press across Europe to ensure that we have effective means of getting our message across to wider audiences. We encourage Friends to assist us by identifying appropriate media and the journalists who write for them on European affairs. Please send these details to us.

- Networking among Friends by visiting Yearly/Quarterly Meetings and other Quaker gatherings, speaking about our work and hearing at first hand of Friends’ concerns. We welcome invitations for such dialogue.

Europe at a Crossroad

As the international institutions at a global and European level are tested to their limits, there is a sense that the European institutions could be a force for good in the world. Individuals, interest groups and communities of faith have a key role to play. We can choose to be victims of ever increasing levels of control or we can take the initiative to affect the decisions which are being made about our lives and the lives of others the world over. QCEA sees its role as taking that initiative on behalf of Friends. We need you to be engaged in that process.

Liz Scurfield & Martina Weitsch

Return to contents

The UN Millenium Development Goals set the target of halving the number of people without adequate access to safe drinking water (1.1 billion) and adequate sanitation (2.4 billion) by 2015. It is doubtful whether the EU’s drive to “reduce the barriers which European operators face in third countries’ markets” will help to achieve this. It is claimed that this liberalisation will harness the investment power of large multinational utility companies, improving water access for people in developing countries.

Campaigners argue that GATS will set up a one-way street, progressively reducing the ability of developing countries to adopt alternative water strategies. Multinationals will never be able to achieve access for all, as the most marginalized and excluded are the least able to pay to make the necessary investments profitable. In an address to the World Bank, the Chief Executive of SAUR, the world’s fourth largest water company, highlighted how the water companies would only invest in the poorest countries if subsidies and soft loans were provided to the water companies through the World Bank. It is very unlikely that innovative co-operative and not-for-profit companies, which have been set up in some of the countries to which the EU has made demands under GATS, would survive a further liberalisation. Many of these alternative strategies have been successful in providing water, which the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights said “should be treated as a social and cultural good, and not primarily as an economic good”.

Pascal Lamy, the EU Trade Commissioner, argues that GATS would not mean an irreversible move towards the privatisation of water provision: developing countries will always be able to compensate private investors and reverse a privatisation. However, in practice they would have to compensate both for the investments made and also for the predicted profits. The large investments necessary for water infrastructure and the fiscal austerity enforced upon developing countries by the IMF would make this almost impossible, without seriously undermining countries’ ability to provide other public goods such as education and health.

This inability to reverse any strategy adopted under GATS is just one of the many imbalances in world trade. The EU devotes significant resources through the Markets Access Database to provide European business with the information they need to trade in third countries, as well as to gain information about the barriers to trade that business encounters, which is used to enforce compliance by third countries. Whilst business has an estimated fifteen thousand lobbyists at the EU, many poor countries have no permanent representation in Brussels and struggle to have representation at all WTO meetings. World trade’s uneven playing field is exacerbated by the lack of transparency of the Commission; details of the demands for water liberalisation were only made available for public scrutiny as a result of a leak.

Owen WJ Espley

Return to contents

Back to the main Around Europe page