Economy & Trade, Europe, Headlines, Latin America & the Caribbean

TRADE: Human Rights Issue Thwarts Cuban Admission to EU-ACP Deal

Patricia Grogg

HAVANA, May 2 2000 (IPS) - Cuba withdrew its request for admission to an agreement through which the European Union (EU) provides preferential treatment to a large group of developing countries after several members of the European bloc voted in favour of a United Nations resolution condemning Havana for alleged human rights abuses.

The motion condemning the Cuban government for “continued violations” of human rights and individual liberties, approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights on Apr 18 in Geneva, was backed by Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal and Spain, the EU countries sitting on the commission.

In response, Havana withdrew its application for admission to a new trade deal between the EU and the group of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) nations, which are mainly former European colonies.

The new agreement, which was unanimously approved by the 71 ACP nations after two years of negotiations, is set for ratification on May 31 in Fiji. It will replace the Lome Convention, in effect since 1975.

Through the new trade deal, the ACP countries will continue to enjoy preferential tariffs and quotas over the next eight years. But in 2004, the EU will begin negotiating free trade agreements with regional ACP blocs, to go into effect when the new pact expires.

For a quarter century the EU has provided, through the Lome Convention, financial and technical assistance, emergency aid and preferential treatment to the ACP countries, which include the world’s 38 poorest nations, most of which are in Africa.

The resolution condemning Cuba’s human rights record was sponsored by Poland and the Czech Republic, but Havana insists that the United States was behind it.

Annoyed by the EU members’ support of the resolution, the Cuban government called off a visit to Havana by a delegation of European authorities scheduled for the last week in April.

According to diplomats, the agenda of that visit had been carefully planned for three months, and included a “respectful and critical” dialogue on human rights in Cuba, as well as an analysis of Cuba’s request to join the group of ACP countries.

“To leave the request for admission standing would only expose us to becoming victims of unacceptable demands by the European Union,” said Cuban foreign minister Felipe Pérez Roque in a letter to his ACP counterparts.

Cuba had previously confirmed its interest in joining, while reserving for itself the right to review the final text.

“After taking that step, we have observed arrogance…and the tendency to impose conditions on Cuba on the part of several European countries,” said Pérez Roque, who pointed out that according to EU norms, Cuba’s incorporation into the agreement could be vetoed by a single EU member.

The foreign minister said that during the preparations for the cancelled visit by EU authorities, Cuban officials had noted that the European bloc was planning to set forth demands for political, economic and social changes in Cuba as a condition for admission to the new agreement with ACP nations.

“From the start, Cuba has expressed in a clear and transparent manner that it would not accept selective and discriminatory conditions of any kind by the European Union as a requisite for admission to the new Convention,” Pérez Roque stressed.

In December 1996, the EU decided to step up its efforts to lobby for internal reforms in Cuba, which it has continued to do every six months.

Cuba’s incorporation to the new trade agreement with the ACP countries would have given an institutional framework to Havana’s ties with the EU, which have no formal framework unlike the European bloc’s cooperation agreements with the rest of Latin America.

The new deal would have resolved the contradictions between Cuba’s tense relations with the EU and its smooth bilateral trade ties with the 15 members of the European bloc.

Above and beyond political differences, 35 percent of Cuba’s trade is with EU nations, which are the source of around half of the tourists that visit the island.

EU members also account for 52 percent of foreign investment in Cuba.

Inclusion in the EU-ACP regime would have facilitated Cuba’s access to European funds for development projects, while boosting trade with the European bloc, as well as with African, Caribbean and Pacific nations.

Today, one-quarter of Cuba’s foreign trade is with other Caribbean nations, and Cuba is a full member of the Association of Caribbean States, along with the nations of the Caribbean Community, the Group of Three – Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela – and Surinam.

 
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