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Mandelson offers Saint Nicholas gift to EU business
New bilateral free trade agreements will give EU business interests more control over poor countries' natural resources
Brussels, 6 December 2006 (St Nicholas Day) - Friends of the Earth Europe today criticised EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson for pursuing business-friendly reforms in the global South and in Europe, at the expense of people and the environment. Peter Mandelson today formally requested a negotiating mandate for a 'new generation' of bilateral trade agreements with Southern countries.
Charly Poppe, Trade Campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe, said:
"The EU didn't get what it wanted at a multilateral level, but the European Commission is on the wrong track pursuing the same aims in bilateral trade agreements with Southern countries. The right solution would be to address the impact of the EU's trade policy on sustainable development, as continuously requested by developing countries and global civil society."
Peter Mandelson plans to negotiate bilateral trade agreements with India, South Korea and the country groupings ASEAN, Central America and the Andean Community. The EU member states will consider the request for a new negotiating mandate in the next few weeks. If agreed, this would put an end to the so-called EU 'moratorium' on free trade agreements since the launch of the Doha Round at the WTO.
The proposed new mandate for bilateral trade agreements, drafted by the European Commission, is based on the aggressive approach to market access defined by the 'Global Europe' Communication on the EU's external competitiveness (1). The EU new bilaterals aim to eliminate all import and export restrictions, in order to achieve the "highest possible degree of trade liberalization". Through its new bilaterals, the EU will notably seek to guarantee EU corporations increased control over poor countries' natural resources by eliminating "all restrictions on access to resources", for instance log exports bans (2).
The far-reaching provisions proposed for the new bilaterals will give developing countries' governments less freedom to orientate their trade policy and will give European companies more rights to exploit developing countries' fragile markets (3).
The EU is attempting a bilateral approach after its multilateral trade strategy failed in nearly all areas key to EU interests: the EU failed to introduce a multilateral investment agreement at the WTO, it failed to start negotiations on public procurement, it failed to substantially open up foreign services markets for EU companies and, recently, it even failed to reach an agreement in the Doha Development Agenda.
"The Commission claims that, in its bilaterals, it will promote good social and environmental practice through market incentives and political dialogue. But what will these good intentions achieve when developing countries' governments have less freedom to orientate their trade policy and European companies have more rights to exploit those fragile markets?" Mr Poppe added.
Friends of the Earth Europe calls on EU Member States to follow the precautionary principle and give a restricted negotiating mandate to the Trade Commissioner, so as to prevent the new EU bilateral trade agreements from jeopardizing the Community's own sustainable development objectives.
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For further information, please contact:
Charly Poppe, Trade Campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe:
Tel: +32 25 42 0189, Mobile: +32 485 534193, Email: charly.poppe@foeeurope.org
Rosemary Hall, Communications Officer at Friends of the Earth Europe:
Tel:+32 25 42 61 05, Mobile: +32 485 930515, Email: rosemary.hall@foeeurope.org
NOTES:
(1) The Commission has set new directions for its external trade policy in the Communication 'Global Europe - Competing in the World' published on 4 October 2006. This strategy on 'external aspects of competitiveness' contains a post-Doha vision and sets out new policy targets such as new and far-reaching bilateral trade agreements with EU's key trading partners, stronger intellectual property rights, and better access to other countries' public procurement markets. This plain de-regulation agenda in favour of European business contradicts EU's objectives in the field of sustainable development and poverty eradication: http://ec.europa.eu/trade/issues/sectoral/competitiveness/global_europe_en.htm
(2) Commission staff working document, Annex to the Communication 'Global Europe - Competing in the World': http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/html/130370.htm
(3) Apart from the usual SPS, TBT, IPR issues, the Commission wants
to open up a new frontier: it sees barriers not only in certain measures themselves, but also in the way they are introduced "without sufficient consultation". The European Commission will therefore seek to ensure that its trading partners prioritise trade liberalisation disciplines over other policy objectives through "regulatory convergence". In addition, "dispute avoidance and resolution mechanisms" will empower the EU to influence future environmental, social and health policies in the its trading partners that could affect trade.
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.
