Eurostep WeeklyRegular News Update from Eurostep, N° 532 8 December 2008 Civil society response to follow-up conference on Financing for Development On 29 November - 2 December a follow-up international conference was held in Doha, Qatar to review the implementation of the 2002 Monterrey Consensus on Financing for Development (FfD). The conference was attended by officials of more than 160 countries, including nearly 40 heads of state or government. A declaration was adopted which reaffirmed the principles of the Monterrey Consensus and urged that the global financial crisis should not detract attention from development financing. A statement released by the Civil Society Forum for Financing for Development following the conference commented: "The Review Conference re-affirmed Monterrey goals, took hesitant note of the current crises and their impacts, failed to move adequately forward in a number of urgent subjects, but moved beyond Monterrey in several important areas. In many respects this Conference was a missed opportunity." The statement praises the conference's written declaration for its strengthened commitment to gender equality, but notes that "the commitments to gender equality in the document will only be truly meaningful if the systemic issues that underpin poverty are decisively addressed". While the statement welcomes the decision to hold a high-level UN conference on the world financial and economic crisis and its impact on development in March 2009, it states that civil society is "most concerned about the lack of urgency and of any further commitment concerning the implementation of a great number of recommendations - including core issues challenging financing for development such as trade, Foreign Direct Investment, mobilizing local resources, innovative funding - all these were inadequately dealt with or postponed to forthcoming meetings, at a time that people around the world are suffering directly from the persisting and combined crises". Sources: European Investment Bank "financing destruction" in Africa NGOs have fiercely criticised the European Investment Bank (EIB) for funding ecologically and socially destructive projects in Africa. While the bank is in principle committed to using its annual 53 billion euro budget to finance projects that protect the environment and alleviate poverty, a Brussels conference was told that in practice the loans it makes are achieving the opposite. Thérèse Mekombe, President of the Association of Women Lawyers of Chad, claimed that an EIB-funded project to construct a 1,070 km oil pipeline in Chad and Cameroon has resulted in increased military spending in her country. "On Aug. 11 - Independence Day - the government was so happy to show off its war vehicles," said Mekombe. "This is not what the population expected from the exploitation of oil. They wanted the revenue to be invested in development projects and to help the Chadian population get out of extreme poverty." Other speakers at the conference drew attention to abuses of human and labour rights in various EIB-funded projects, and criticised the bank for funding projects which exploited natural resources rather than promoting sustainable development. Anne-Sophie Simpere from Friends of the Earth France said that national parliaments throughout Europe need to scrutinise the bank's activities. "The EIB is barely known by the public at large but it provides enormous funds to developing countries and is the leading public financier to the extractive industries," she added. "Apart from their disastrous impacts in Africa, these investments grossly contradict EU efforts to fight climate change, as well as to reduce poverty and conflicts." Source: Council response to concerns over human rights in Eritrea MEP Charles Tannock (PPE-DE) recently submitted a written parliamentary question to the Council with regards to the deteriorating human rights situation in Eritrea. The questions focused, among others on what guarantee the Council has that the government of Eritrea implements Article 9 of the EU-ACP Cotonou Agreement: 'Respect for human rights, democratic principles and the rule of law, which underpin the ACP-EU Partnership, shall underpin the domestic and international policies of the Parties and constitute the essential elements of this Agreement.' In its response, the Council reiterated its deep concern about the continuing violation by Eritrea of basic human rights and other obligations under domestic and international law. These concerns are expressed and repeated in regular contacts with the Eritrean authorities. In particular, compliance with these obligations is emphasised in the political dialogue meetings under the Cotonou Agreement. Governance issues are also frequently the topic of bilateral discussions with the relevant authorities. "If an ACP State fails to respect its obligations under Article 9 of the Cotonou Agreement, the European Community can intensify the dialogue with that country under Article 96 of the Agreement in order to assist that country in improving the situation. If the need arises, appropriate measures could be adopted by the European Community in accordance with that provision, in order to persuade the authorities of the ACP State to engage in an intensified dialogue. Relevant provisions of international law could also apply. In this context it might be noticed that a new Country Strategy Paper outlining future cooperation between the European Commission and Eritrea under the 10th EDF has not yet been signed." Source: Parliament postpones vote on strengthening EU ties with Israel The European Parliament has voted to postpone ratification of a protocol which would increase economic and political cooperation between the EU and Israel. The postponement was requested by the European United Left grouping on the grounds that Israel continues to commit human rights violations in the Gaza Strip, and gained the support of Green and Socialist MEPs. "Until the Israeli Government signals its willingness to abide by international law and especially human rights and humanitarian law, the European Parliament is not disposed to vote", declared Luisa Morgantini, Vice President of the European Parliament, in a press release dated 4 December. Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad welcomed the postponement of the vote, which, he said, "shows that the European Parliament is attached to international law and to a settlement based on two states, Israel and Palestine. Justifying the vote, Belgian Socialist MEP Véronique De Keyser argued that Israel's blockade of Gaza has the effect of radicalising rather than weakening Hamas. "Innocent people are suffering and the aggravation of the humanitarian situation in Gaza obliged us to postpone the vote," she said. The vote was criticised by pro-Israeli MEPs such as German Christian Democrat Elmar Brok, who said: "This gives the wrong signal and does not contribute to the stabilisation of the region". Defending her government's actions during a trip to Brussels last week, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said: "I don't have the miracle situation for how to delegitimize a regime, how to fight terror, without any impact on the population. It is not a surgical operation, it is war". EU foreign ministers will discuss the upgrading of the EU's relations with Israel during its next General Affairs and External Relations Council on 8-9 December. Sources: EU sets out Eastern Partnership plans On 3 December the European Commission presented proposals for an enhanced formal relationship with the five former Soviet states of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine that will go beyond the EU's current European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). Although the Eastern Partnership is not a road-map to membership, it allows for free trade agreements between these countries and the EU. The Eastern Partnership will offer the prospect of ‘association agreements' to any of the countries which manage to achieve sufficient reforms, which would include the establishment of a "deep and comprehensive" free-trade agreement with the EU. Commission President José Manuel Barroso, said that "the message [to the five countries] is clear: we want to help you with the political and economic challenges you are facing". He added that the Partnership would demonstrate the "power of soft power" and acknowledged that the conflict in Georgia in August had been an influence on the decision to launch the Partnership. "The time is ripe to open a new chapter in relations with our Eastern neighbours", commented Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner. "Building on the progress of the last years we have prepared an ambitious and at the same time well-balanced offer. The security and stability of the EU is affected by events taking place in Eastern Europe and in the Southern Caucasus. Our policy towards these countries should be strong, proactive and unequivocal. The EU will continue with the successful approach of tailor-made programmes on a new scale and add a strong multilateral dimension. It remains our principle though that progress must go hand in hand with reform efforts by our partners, but this new package also offers more intensive assistance to help them meet their goals." Sources:
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