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February 21, 2008 9:50 Member organisations of the Seattle to Brussels Network (S2B) are calling for concerted efforts to roll back the strategy of the European Union called Global Europe: Competing in the World, the EU's exploitative bilateral trade agreements, and corporate power. The groups also reject what they call "the false solution of unfair multilateralism and the EU's proposals at the WTO." S2B, which brings together civil society activists engaged in a wide range of peoples' movements and organisations in Europe, issued the statement below in order, they say, to "express our opposition and resistance to the neoliberal trade and investment policies that the EU governments and European Commission are implementing in our countries and worldwide. Simultaneously, we are also building the alternatives." Spectrezine applauds this vital initiative, the full text of which is set out below, along with links to information about how you can get involved. Global Europe: Serving European corporations In 2006, the European Commission (EC) unveiled its new Communication entitled Global Europe: Competing in the World which outlines how the EU will pursue bilateral trade agreements with major emerging economies in order to secure new and profitable markets for EU companies. While pushing for even more business-friendly 'domestic reforms', the EU sets out an aggressive so-called 'external competitiveness' strategy. As the EU Trade Commissioner puts it: "What do we mean by external aspects of competitiveness? We mean ensuring that competitive European companies, supported by the right internal policies, must be enabled to gain access to, and to operate securely in, world markets. That is our agenda." The core elements of this strategy are: " Access to resources (from agricultural commodities to energy) "New and better market access for European products "Rules securing European investments and intellectual property rights In addition to the ongoing multilateral WTO negotiations, the EU seeks these objectives by negotiating bilateral free trade agreements with the so-called emerging economies such as India, South Korea, the ASEAN states, and also Central America and the Andean Region. Russia, the MERCOSUR countries and the Gulf Cooperation Council are also on the priority list of the EU. The goal of these bilateral or bi-regional free trade agreements is to open and deregulate developing country markets for European companies, to increase their access to natural resources, particularly to energy reserves, and to secure their profits by enforcing intellectual property rights and other trade defence mechanisms. This strategy not only undermines regulation in target countries. It also clearly links EU internal deregulation to this agenda. It says, for example, that future directives on social, labour or environmental issues for instance, should not be threatening the global competitiveness of European corporations. In this way, Global Europe poses a serious threat to social justice, gender equality and sustainable development not only outside the EU, but also within. The erosion of workers' rights, the worsening of the quality of jobs within the EU, the destruction of a sustainable model of farming is also intrinsically linked to the external EU trade agenda. With trade liberalisation across all sectors - agriculture, industry and services - the beneficiaries are a handful of corporations but millions lose their jobs. Stop EPA campaign needed more than ever Recently we met in Lisbon from 7-9 December 2007 to express our opposition to the "Africa-EU Strategic Partnership" and the so-called "Economic Partnership Agreements" (EPAs). These unfair trade deals based on an ultra-liberal perspective, threaten the livelihoods of millions of farmers and workers of both the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) and European countries. We noted the historical and contemporary role of European governments and corporations in Africa, and stressed that Europe constitutes a direct source of threats and pressures on the peoples and the environment of Africa. During the last few years ACP countries have been confronted with the reinforcement of policies through the EU's proposed EPAs such as trade liberalisation, the promotion of export-oriented economies, the liberalisation of capital markets, the promotion of foreign investment, and the privatisation of public services. These agreements are also motivated by the aspiration of the EU to secure or re-gain geo-political and economic influence in its former colonies. In the last few months the EU and the EC have abused the expiration date of the Cotonou Treaty to apply pressure and push 20 ACP countries into signing very unfavourable "interim agreements". ACP Ministers, meeting in Brussels on 13th December 2007, have stated that the "European Union's mercantilist interests have taken precedence over the ACP's developmental and regional integration interests". The interim agreement on the liberalisation of goods trade have been rushed through in the last weeks on the basis of draft texts proposed by the EC that ACP negotiators have not been able to examine or amend properly. The result is devastating agreements, that contain onerous commitments on the side of the ACP countries and, among other things, do not offer adequate protection for Food Sovereignty and emergent industry. It is clear that the EC has deliberately crippled the interim agreements to maintain leverage to force the ACP countries to accept negotiations on the infamous liberalization of services and the 'Singapore issues' next year. The Stop EPA Campaign<http://www.stopepa.org/> must continue to undo these interim agreements and ward off further damaging EU demands. The EU's new external trade strategy is destroying our jobs, rights and environment EU policies based on so-called "competitiveness" and increasingly open and deregulated markets, have failed to deliver on sustainable development and social justice. Instead, tougher and tougher competition and trade liberalisation have lead to more insecurity, precariousness, deteriorating salaries and working conditions, deepening inequalities between countries, regions and between women and men. This strategy also puts under threat environmental and health regulations. For poor countries, market opening means the collapse of farming and industry in the face of unfair competition from European corporations - threatening the livelihoods of millions. Rural communities, often still a majority of the population in the targeted countries, will be particularly harmed as cheap, processed and subsidized agricultural goods flood developing countries' markets. Farmers, and particularly small-scale women farmers, who simply cannot compete with powerful European agribusinesses, will be driven off their land. Trade chiefs from the EU and the United States warned recently that tackling climate change should not become an excuse for throwing up new barriers to foreign trade. Trade Ministers, whose decisions are perpetuating unsustainable modes of production, consumption and trade, are directly responsible for climate change. Global warming shows the failure of a development model based on unfettered economic growth, the irrational exploitation of fossil fuels, over-production, over-consumption and trade liberalisation. While the society has never been as conscious about the social and environmental crisis of the planet as today, the political class is still promoting "development-as-usual". Instead, we need a real paradigm shift. We demand Climate Justice Now, with solutions including: "Reduced consumption in the EU "Huge financial transfers from EU to the South based on historical responsibility and ecological debt in order to support adaptation and mitigation costs "Financing provided by redirecting military budgets, innovative taxes and debt cancellation "Leaving fossil fuels in the ground "Investing in appropriate energy-efficiency and safe, clean and community-led renewable energy "Rights-based resource conservation that enforces indigenous land rights and promotes peoples' sovereignty over energy, forests, land and water "Sustainable family farming and peoples' food sovereignty The Lisbon Treaty: the wrong solution to an undemocratic and unsocial
Europe We condemn the so-called EU Reform Treaty (Lisbon Treaty)
which reinforces the power of the EC in matters of trade and development
and further reduces the capacity of citizens to influence democratically
its policies. The new treaty is deepening the neoliberal policies
and the democratic deficit of the EU, perpetuating the power of
transnational corporations and serving the interests of European
capital, increasing the militarisation of Europe, strengthening
"fortress Europe" and bringing no substantive protection
to European citizens against the downward spiral in social and environmental
standards. "In order to dismantle the power of transnational corporations
(TNCs), we aim to: See also: http://www.spectrezine.org/Africa/Europe-Africa.htm |
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