Civil Society Forum

Joyce van Generen-Naar

On 13 October 2010 the Conference 'Can Trade Policy Improve Human Rights' was organized by the Socialists & Democrats in the European Parliament in Brussels.

Presentations were made by representatives from the WTO, ILO, George Washington University, Avocats sans Frontiéres France.

EU Commissioner De Gucht also adressed the audience, explaining his pro free trade policy.

In his conclusions the President of the S&G Group, Mr. Martin Schultz, said that he is not supporting the opinion of Members in the European Parliament who say 'First Trade and than Human Rights'. He also does not support views that say 'no human rights no trade'. There has to be a good balance.

Another concern is that the European Parliament does not have the tools (capacity) yet for its new co-decision competency and responsability with regard to the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) Negotiations, provided for in the Lisbon Treaty. That is why they are organizing these conferences and hearings, to listen to the opinions of the experts and to learn.

So it is a kind of capacity building of the European Parliament and its members. But will it be efficient to deal with these complex global trade issues?

Now the focus is on human rights and social and environmental rights and standards of the FTAs, but there are other trade policy issues to address.

Recommendations were made to establish a binding complaint management system for human rights violations in FTAs.

Dispute settlement should be applied to all chapters, also to the sustainable chapter, which is not the case in the FTA Korea (and in the CF-EC-EPA and probably other FTAs).

The conclusion is that Trade Policy can improve the economic development of a country, but economic growth does not mean that human rights, labour rights and social and environmental rights are improved. In some countries they are (for example Mauritius), but in many countries in the South social-, environmental and labour conditions are worsened because of FTAs (longer working hours, no job security, no healthy circumstances, no more access to cheap medicines etc.).

That has also been said by Asian and European representatives during the 8th ASIA-Europe's People's Forum, organised from 2 - 5 October 2010 in Brussels, parallel to the 8th Asia-Europe ASEM Summit in Brussels, and in the Recommendations on www.aepf.info

Joyce van Genderen-NAAR, Lawyer
Advisor ACP Civil Society Forum: http://acpcsforum.igloocommunities.com
email: vangenderen@unicall.be

Caribbean Net News, 22 June 2010

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (GINA) -- Guyana participated at the African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) Council of Ministers Meeting held in Ouagadougou, Africa on June 17 to 19 where member states echoed the concerns first raised by Guyana about unresolved issues including Most Favoured Nations (MFNs), Rules of Origin, market access and export taxes.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett and Guyana's Ambassador to Belgium Patrick Gomes, represented Guyana at the meeting which preceded the joint ACP-EU Council meeting on June 21-22.

Prior to signing the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between CARIFORUM and the European Union in 2008, Guyana had raised its concerns but eventually signed on to the agreement to avoid trade disruptions.

The Council discussed several issues including the status of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPAs) trade in bananas, sugar and cotton, climate change and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and has petitioned the EU to revisit some of the conditions which the ACP finds difficult to accept.

Since the launching of the EPA process in 2002, only 27 of the 78 countries including the CARIFORUM group have signed full or interim agreements while nine have only initialled agreements.

The other negotiating groups are advocating for an automatic five-year review to be included in the EPAs, a position first taken by Guyana, leading up to the signing of ACP/EU EPA.

A Joint ACP-EU Declaration on EPAs was expected at the end of the Joint Council meeting but Minister Rodrigues-Birkett opined that such a Declaration will not encapsulate the concerns expressed by member states during the discussion.

The Foreign Minister indicated that while efforts should be made to find common ground on a Joint ACP-EU Declaration on EPAs and unresolved issues, it is incumbent on the ACP Council to issue a Declaration. The suggestion received widespread support from member states and an ACP Declaration is being finalised.

With regards to sugar, the ACP group noted the negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the European Commission and the Group of Central American countries which will further erode the preferences accorded to ACP countries in their respective EPAs and adversely affect their competitiveness.

The group is of the view that the European Commission failed to adequately consult the ACP on these trade arrangements as stipulated by the Cotonou Agreement and the EPAs.

Member states, while noting that the EU is reforming its Common Agricultural Policy for 2013, called for fair remunerative EU market prices for ACP producers.

The group also called for continuing preferential sugar access beyond 2015 given the fact that major investments in sugar industries are amortized over long periods.

It asked that the EU and the Commission "ensure that the new provision of the Cotonou Agreement regarding the need to review support programmes such as the Accompanying Measures Support Programme with a view to deciding on appropriate additional measures to be implemented in order to guarantee the Commission's commitment to continued support of the ACP Commodity Sector, including sugar, beyond 2013."

As of August 1, 2010 Guyana will be chair for the ACP Council for six months. Minister Rodrigues-Birkett acknowledged the work of the ACP while noting its significant role in the Organisation as evidenced by the Georgetown Accord.

The Foreign Affairs Minister however, highlighted the need for an assessment of the Organisation in the context of the new and ever changing global environment.

The African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group with its principal development partner, the European Union, today signed the second five-yearly review of the Cotonou Agreement in a historic event in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

After more than a year of negotiations with the EU, both parties signed the revised agreement in a colourful event - witnessed by ministers, ambassadors and officials from the ACP and the EU countries at the close of the 35th Session of the ACP-EU Council of Ministers.

At the 91st Session of the ACP Council of Ministers that took place a few days earlier in Ouagadougou, ACP ministers gave their approval on the revised agreement and commended the ACP Committee of Ambassadors for successfully negotiating with the Europeans.

The President of the ACP Council of Ministers, His Excellency Mr. Paul Bunduku-Latha, the Gabonese Deputy Minister to the Ministry of Economic Planning, Trade, Industry and Tourism said the signing of the Second Revised Cotonou Agreement in Ouagadougou signified a rewarding relationship that has grown from strength to strength and spans over 30 years.

Mr Bunduku-Latha and H.E Ms. Soraya Rodriguez, Secretary of State for International Cooperation of Spain (EU Presidency), presided over the signing ceremony. Ministers and government representatives from the ACP and the European Community signed the revised agreement.

Mr Bunduku-Latha said that for the past year - both sides had looked and scrutinized in fine detail, the Cotonou Agreement in the revision process to meet the difficult challenges and cope with shifting trends in a fast challenging world.

The revised Agreement, amongst other things, addressed a number of important issues between the two parties. One of them is the need to expedite progress towards the attainment of MDGs as well as aid effectiveness and global challenges such financial market shocks. It also emphasizes the link between peace and security and poverty reduction and peace and security. The provisions on humanitarian assistance have been improved to emphasis not only responses to emergency situations, but also support for ACP States' efforts in disaster risk reduction and post conflict reconstruction and rehabilitation.

"Our believe is that the revised agreement will help to fight against poverty and assist in our efforts to achieve sustainable development and help to mobilize the international community to attain the MDGs," the ACP President, Mr. Bunduku-Latha said.

The Secretary-General of the ACP Group, Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, said that the signing marked an important development of the ACP-EU relationship - reiterating that the revision was not simply about changing words in a document. Rather, it was about improving an agreement whose implementation would grant better opportunities and positive outcomes in the lives of the ACP people.

The Cotonou Agreement is a treaty between the European Union and the ACP states. It was signed in June 2000 in Cotonou, Benin, by 79 ACP countries and the then fifteen Member States of the European Union. It entered into force in 2003 and is the most recent agreement in the history of ACP-EU Development Cooperation. It is reviewed every five years.

Meanwhile, the birth of the ACP Group was signified by the signature of the Georgetown Agreement on the 6th of June 1975 in Georgetown, Guyana. The ACP cooperation with the EU has been anchored around the First Lomé Convention in 1975 - and was followed by Lomé II, III and then Lomé IV which was signed in 1990. It was succeeded by the Cotonou Agreement in 2000, and was revised in 2005 and earlier this year for the second time, which has just been signed in Ouagadougou.

Also present at the Ouagadougou signing were representatives from the African Union (AU), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) and Economic Community of Central African States (CEEAC).

Note: The Cotonou Agreement provides for a review every five years as stipulated under Article 95 (3). The ACP States on the one hand, and the European Community and its Member States on the other, shall notify the other Party not later than 12 months before the expiry of each five year period of any review of the provisions they desire to make with a view to possible amendments.

Regarding the current revision process, notification to the EU took place before 28 February 2009. After notification, the Parties had a period of two months up to 30 April 2009 in which to request the extension of the review to other provisions related to those which were the subject of the initial request. On the 1 May 2009, ten months before the expiry of the current five year period, the ACP + EU entered into negotiations and was concluded and initialed on the 19 March 2010.

La deuxieme Revision de l'accord de Cotonou: [View]  [Download]

2nd Revision of the Cotonou Agreement:  [Download]

2010-06-21
Categorie(s) : Rural development

The ability of poor rural communities around the world to access finance received a significant boost earlier today with the creation of Rural Impulse II, a new specialist microfinance fund backed by leading public and private financial institutions and investors. The European Investment Bank, IFC - part of the World Bank Group, KfW Entwicklungsbank (The German Development Bank), the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries and Netherlands Development Finance Company formally agreed to participate in the fund.

A range of private banks and investors will also participate. The fund managed to mobilize private resources and specialist expertise from additional investors: Italian Fund of Funds "Microfinanza 1", Belgian trade union ACV-CSC Metea and VDK spaarbank, Germany's Bank fuer Kirche und Caritas, Norwegian Microfinance Initiative (NMI), and others. The Fund is an initiative of Incofin Investment Management, which will act as fund advisor.

Source: European Investment Bank

2010-06-04

The European Economic & Social Council will be holding the 11th Regional Seminar of ACP and EU Economic Interests Groups from 6th - 9th July 2010 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Africa. The coalition of NSAs in Ethiopia is seeking to have its executive committee attend the seminar.

This is being supported by the ACP Civil Society Forum on the grounds that there should be no additional costs to the organisers and that this will help the information coming out of the seminar to be more widely shared. It is believed that hosts countries should benefit in this way so that the knowledge of these processes could increase in the local communities over time.

2010-05-20

The 19th Brussels Development Briefing will be on Youth and rural development in ACP countries and will take place on 16th June 2010 (8h30-13h00) at the Borschette Center. This Briefing will discuss the challenges and opportunities for future ACP young farmers and the potential of rural youth in terms of employment, income generation, access to financial services, investment and ICTs as well as provision of formal and non-formal agricultural education and social services. The Briefing will also look at the policy options favourable in support of young farmers and their contribution to development thinking.

Dear Colleagues,

CIVICUS has been following with alarm, the rapid slide of Uganda towards authoritarianism since last year in the run-up to the 2011 general elections. Many of the measures being adopted by the Ugandan government closely resemble those being implemented by the Ethiopian authorities who have brought civil society advocacy activities in the country to a virtual standstill as the May 23 elections approach.

The motivation for the Ethiopian government's actions stem from the role played by civil society groups in highlighting electoral malpractices in the contentious 2005 elections. At that time, civil society groups mobilised on a large scale to sensitise voters on key governance issues and also managed to document numerous irregularities committed by government agents and supporters before, during and after the elections.

Since the beginning of this year, a number of human rights and media groups in Ethiopia have been forced to discontinue their work through both legal sanctions and threats of grave harm. Uganda is presently witnessing a spurt in restrictive legislation which has obvious parallels with the situation in Ethiopia. Drawing up of a restrictive media bill in January 2010, earnest implementation of prohibitive NGO regulations since last year and tabling of a draconian anti-homosexuality bill in parliament has raised serious concerns about the operating environment for civil society in Uganda.

Please find attached a press release that discusses the alarming situation in both countries. We believe that positive diplomacy by the African and international community can help allay arbitrary restrictions on the fundamental freedoms of the Ethiopian and Ugandan people. Please feel free to share this alert with interested stakeholders.

 David Kode

CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
Download Press Release

19th Session of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly
Tenerife, Spain

29 March - 1 April 2010

Presentation on "How the Social Economy Can Contribute to Africa's Development - The Consumer Perspective" By Mr. Kimera Henry Richard, Chief Executive, Consumer Education Trust (CONSENT) and Consumers International (CI) Africa Representative on the ACP-EU Follow-up Committee of the European Economic and Social Committee.
31 March 2010
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Your Excellencies, Co-presidents and Members of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is with great honor that I join Mr. Luca JAHIER the President of ACP-EU Follow-up Committee of the European Economic and Social Committee to compliment his speech on a topic "How the Social Economy Can Contribute to Africa's Development - The Consumer Perspective".

Introduction
The social economy and its numerous institutions like formal and informal cooperatives, social community group arrangements among others exist in Africa and contribute to the welfare of the citizens and development on a big scale irrespective of not being formally documented.

Social economy is understood and appreciated in Africa and other regions in many forms and delivers goods and services irrespective of societal and national challenges. Majority of us are beneficiaries of respective social economy arrangements directly and/or indirectly as we consume a number of its products.

Social economy has been around and will be around long enough to contribute to human, societal and national development globally. Examples are seen in challenging times within society. It played a role in absorbing effects of food and financial crisis where beneficiaries of the social economy were not greatly impacted due to collective social inclusiveness actions and solutions in society that enabled consumers sharing the limited resources available and accommodating those in need... read more