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European organisations unite to condemn Mandelson's anti-development WTO agenda

Brussels, 1 June 2006 - Over 70 groups from 16 European countries united today to denounce EU trade policy. An open letter entitled 'Not in Our Name', addressed to Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson and the governments of the 25 EU member states, was published as an advertisement in today's Financial Times [1] .

Sonja Meister, Trade Campaigner for Friends of the Earth Europe, said: "The EU claims to pursue a pro-development agenda. But these are empty words - the EU almost exclusively serves the interests of big business. The EU's current approach at the WTO is pushing poor nations into deeper misery, aggravating climate change and increasing forest and biodiversity loss [2] ."

"With an open letter to Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, over 70 European organisations are disassociating themselves from EU trade policy. Our letter highlights that Mandelson does not have the support of EU civil society. The EU trade agenda must be reorientated towards economic alternatives that are truly sustainable and are fair to developing countries," Meister added.

The coalition responsible for writing the open letter is comprised of trade unionists, faith groups and development and environmental NGOs. The letter specifically criticises the EU for pressurising developing countries to open up their agricultural, industrial goods and services markets, whilst continuing with its own trade-distorting agricultural subsidies regime.

For example in the ongoing negotiations on industrial goods, the EU continues to force developing nations to agree to "ambitious" market access commitments. This would result in the deindustrialisation of poor nations and the further exploitation of their natural resources.

The WTO's deadline for the conclusion of the Doha trade talks is fast approaching. Government delegations are currently in the middle of a six-week period of intensive negotiation, which is seen as the last chance to meet the official deadline of the end of July.

Contacts:
Sonja Meister, Friends of the Earth Europe Trade Campaigner: Office +32 25 42 61 00, Mobile: +32 484 975107
Rosemary Hall, Communications Officer at Friends of the Earth Europe: +32 25 42 61 05, Mobile: +32 485 930515

Notes:

[1] The open letter "Not in our name" can be downloaded from:
http://www.foeeurope.org/publications/2006/Not_in_Our_Name.pdf

[2] The WTO's Hong Kong Declaration: An analysis of key impacts on the global environment and livelihoods, analysis by Friends of the Earth on the Hong Kong negotiations, http://www.foeeurope.org/publications/2006/HongKong_analysis_Feb2006.pdf

Friends of the Earth Europe campaigns for sustainable and fair societies and for the protection of the environment,
unites more than 30 national organisations with thousands of local groups
and is part of the world's largest grassroots environmental network, Friends of the Earth International.

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