Commonwealth urges greater EU responsiveness to concerns of developing countries
17 October 2006
The EU can become a greater force for good in the world if it puts local concerns first in developing countries, and makes better use of local partnerships, said Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon.
Speaking at the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels today, Mr McKinnon said that the EU’s achievements and potential are not fully realised because it has not yet fully addressed the trade needs of developing countries.
“My biggest complaint – most people’s biggest complaint – is over trade. Because the EU hasn’t yet done enough to help poor countries trade their way out of poverty”, he said.
Mr McKinnon said there is a lack of balance between trade and development concerns in the Economic Partnership Agreements being negotiated with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) developing countries, including the lack of will to conclude a pro-developing country Doha Development Round in the WTO.
He called on the EU and other wealthy members of the international community to give something in return by increasing trade and aid to developing countries. “They (developing countries) feel pressurized in both global as well as regional trade negotiations. A large number of developing countries are having their preferential trade access arrangements phased out at a pace which makes adjustment very hard to achieve without significant disruption,” he added. “And while they value European financial support, it is often delivered without regard to local experience and expertise.”
The Secretary-General further said that developing countries are concerned by a lack of equity between the financial support given to European farmers and to developing country farmers undergoing economic transition.
Note to Editors
Mr McKinnon will meet EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson later today. Yesterday, he met European Commission President José Manuel Barroso in London.
Mr McKinnon hopes to reach agreement on Commonwealth cooperation with the EU in Africa in the implementation of the European Commission’s governance elements of the October 2005 ‘EU Strategy for Africa’.
The Commonwealth is currently providing governance advice to all of its 18 member states in Africa. Actions envisaged under the new EU/Commonwealth collaboration would include joint work on:
- strengthening Election Commissions and electoral process
- strengthening Parliaments, especially in defining more clearly the roles and responsibilities of governments and opposition parties
- strengthening the Judiciary, especially through training judges
- advancing Public Sector reform, especially by strengthening systems of public accounting
- supporting institutions like Ombudsmen, Privacy Commissioners, Media and Police Complaints Commissions, anti-corruption institutions
- developing independent Human Rights Commissions.
The European Commission and the Commonwealth are already partners in a joint project to strengthen the trade negotiating capacity of ACP Countries. The ‘Hubs and Spokes’ project has set up a network of senior ACP advisers based in the secretariats of regional organisations (the ‘hubs’) who are coordinating networks of advisers (‘spokes’) installed in trade ministries of individual countries. The EU and Commonwealth have also worked together on election observation, especially in Africa, and most recently in the Maldives.
The EU has 25 member states and a population of some 460 million; the Commonwealth has 53 member states and a population of some 1.8 billion. Three countries belong to both organisations: Cyprus, Malta, the United Kingdom.
For further information, please contact:
Joel Kibazo, Commonwealth Secretariat, London. +44 20 7747 6385 or +44 7740 450901 (mob.)
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