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5 december
2000
campaigners say no, non and nein to
expanding eu power on trade negotiations
The World
Development Movement (WDM) and Friends of the
Earth Europe (FOEE) today condemned moves to
give the European Commission expanded
'fast-track' negotiating powers on trade.
European leaders meeting at the
Inter-Governmental Conference in Nice this
week (7-8 December) will decide whether to
extend the Commission’s mandate to trade
negotiations in services, intellectual
property rights and investment and to apply
Qualified Majority Voting.
WDM and FoE
are concerned that the changes will reduce
public scrutiny and democratic accountability
over trade negotiations that could have
massive implications for citizens in EU
countries and around the world. WDM and FoE
are particularly concerned that it will allow
the commission free reign to negotiate on the
EU’s behalf at the World Trade Organisation
(WTO).
The proposed
changes to the European Treaty are backed by
the European Commission and most of the
member states. The move extends the
commission’s negotiating mandate and
increases its role in negotiating on a wider
range of trade issues (services, intellectual
property rights and investment) by changing
Article 133. This currently covers relations
between the European Commission and EU member
states only on international trade in
goods.
Negotiations
on some of these issues currently require
unanimity amongst member states and
ratification by national parliaments. The
changes proposed mean that the European
position on most trade-related issues would
be decided by Qualified Majority Voting and
national parliaments could lose their right
to ratify. There would be no increase in the
powers of the European Parliament to
compensate.
Barry Coates,
Director of WDM said:
"The EU is
about to enter negotiations on the General
Agreement in Trade in Services (part of the
World Trade Organisation). Given the threat
posed by this agreement to public services
worldwide it is madness to reduce the level
of public scrutiny by handing the EC expanded
fast-track negotiating powers at this time.
Considering the prominence of the European
question in politics it is astonishing that
there has been so little public debate about
this crucial change to the European
Treaty."
Alexandra
Wandel of Friends of the Earth
said:
"We need more
democratic accountability over international
trade negotiations, not less: ministers,
parliamentarians and the general public all
need to be fully informed about what is at
stake and have a say on decisions that could
significantly affect their own and others'
health and environment. When Environment
Ministers opposed the European Commission's
attempt to do a deal with the US on
biotechnology in Seattle, Pascal Lamy
demonstrated very clearly that he was willing
to ignore Ministers' demands if they didn't
fit the bill. We need to retain our ability
to influence trade negotiations, not give the
EC carte blanche."
Notes for
editors:
1. The
proposed changes will expand Article 133 to
cover trade in services, intellectual
property and investment:
- Current WTO
negotiations to liberalise services look set
to include a huge range of 160 different
sectors, including health, education, water
supply, transport, broadcasting and
entertainment, which could limit public
access to and risk the safety of services in
both the UK and developing
countries.
- WTO
negotiations on intellectual property rights
include issues related to genetically
modified organisms (GMOs) and patenting of
life forms (the properties of plants and
animals), issues of great concern to many
citizens all over Europe and elsewhere.
Whilst the Commission already has a mandate
for some of these areas, the potential for
disagreement between the Commission and the
Member States was clearly illustrated in
Seattle, when Pascal Lamy, the EU's Trade
Commissioner, refused to take direction from
Environment Ministers on the matter of
biotechnology and trade.
- Investment
includes the EU's proposals for an investment
agreement in the WTO with similar objectives
to the failed Multilateral Agreement on
Investment (MAI). Negotiations in the
Organisation for Co-operation and Development
(OECD) were abandoned on 4 December 1998
after strong opposition from NGOs, trade
unions, academics, many Local Authorities and
Members of Parliament. The MAI came to a halt
when France used the 'emergency brake' veto
option that Nice could remove.
Contact
World
Development Movement, Dave Timms, Press
Officer, Tel: 44-20 7274 7630
Friends of the
Earth Europe, Alexandra Wandel, Tel: 32-2-542
01 85
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