Africa, Asia-Pacific, Development & Aid, Economy & Trade, Europe, Headlines

DEVELOPMENT: For Whom the Trade Rules Toll

Stefania Bianchi

BRUSSELS, Apr 14 2005 (IPS) - A ‘funeral procession’ descended on the European Union quarter of Brussels Thursday, but it was not to mark the death of a great European statesman. Instead, it was a stark message from development groups to the bloc that its trade policy is destroying the lives of poor people.

Dozens of ‘mourners’ from European and Belgian civil society groups carried a coffin filled with agricultural products such as rice, chicken and tomatoes through the heart of the European Union (EU) offices area to make the point that livelihoods are being destroyed by "unfair international trade."

The procession, led by Friends of the Earth Europe (FoEE), Oxfam International, Christian Aid and the Belgian non-governmental organisation (NGO) 11.11.11, made its way past the EU institutions which the groups say are guilty of imposing harsh trade rules.

The stunt is part of the ‘Global Week of Action on Trade’ in which some 10 million people from thousands of organisations in 80 countries have been campaigning for fair trade.

The message from the development groups was clear. "Trade is not just about economics and business, but about peoples’ lives, livelihoods, and access to basic services and the environment on which they depend," they said in a joint statement.

The European Commission, the EU executive, and EU member states have been leading promoters of ‘free markets’ that bring trade liberalisation, privatisation and deregulation. The development NGOs insist that free trade harms poor countries and robs poor countries of 1.9 billion euros (2.4 billion dollars) a day – 14 times what they get in aid.

The groups are demanding that the bloc ends agricultural export subsidies and stops forcing further market opening of agriculture in developing countries.

"The trade policies of EU governments and the European Commission are devastating poor communities the world over. To achieve trade justice they must stop forcing liberalisation on poor countries. This is the message we hope will go to the heart of the European Commission today," Martin Gordon, international campaigns manager with Christian Aid told media representatives before the funeral procession set off.

The NGOs are also challenging the EU’s Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) which the bloc is currently negotiating with 77 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries.. Negotiations are due to be concluded by December 2007, and the EPAs implemented between 2008 and 2020.

These would replace the existing agreement that gives ACP products non-reciprocal, preferential and in most cases free access to the EU market, while also providing financial assistance to ACP countries through traditional aid and policies intended to stabilise export earnings.

The development groups denounce the EU’s argument that EPAs will integrate ACP states into the world economy, promote sustainable development, and contribute to poverty eradication. Instead, they are urging the EU to provide ACP countries with "viable non-reciprocal alternatives" to EPAs.

"These agreements are supposed to be about development, but they will force 37 developing countries and 40 least developing countries to open their markets almost completely to EU competition," Marc Maes from 11.11.11 said Thursday.

"The Commission said it would listen to the needs of the ACP countries during the EPA negotiations, but this hasn’t happened. Instead, the Commission has already decided the outcome of the negotiations and is forcing ACP countries into a straitjacket," he added.

The groups are also calling for a change of course in the bloc’s approach to water and sanitation in developing countries.

The EU is proposing that water delivery becomes part of its General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) – a World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreement that increases the ability of big business to supply services such as health, transport and education.

The EU maintains that the agreement is flexible and that developing countries do not have to offer access to their water sector, but the NGOs insist that the EU will keep on pressurising countries until they do. The groups are urging that the bloc withdraw its demand on water from GATS.

"I don’t know why the EU is pushing for water privatisation especially when developing countries should keep their options open with so many environmental and climate changes. The EU and its member states need to show more restraint," Maes added..