THE PUBLIC EYE ON
DAVOS
Every January at the annual meeting
of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos,
this remote Swiss ski resort turns into a
global village. CEOs from the world's
largest corporations meet with politicians
in private meetings to further push their
agendas of trade liberalization and open
markets. This year, an unprecedented number
of NGOs came to Davos to criticize the
Forum's untransparent and undemocratic
nature and to raise public awareness about
the global importance of this
meeting.
What is the WEF?
The World Economic Forum is a foundation
devoted to furthering economic and
financial globalization. Its members are
the 1,000 largest global corporations as
well as media leaders, scientific and
economic experts, academics and of course
key decision makers from governments and
major international organizations.
Participation is costly, and admission is
limited in order to preserve the intimate
atmosphere. Meetings take place with
absolutely no democratic legitimacy, far
away from public debate, and with very
little transparency.
Past WEF meetings have provided momentum
for the launching of the Uruguay Round of
the GATT as well as the North American Free
Trade Agreement. The Forum also publishes
an 'Annual World Competitiveness Report'
which ranks countries in order to
facilitate investment choices by
businessmen and financiers.
Davos 2000: In the Shadow of
Seattle
This year's annual meeting brought
together more than 3,000 corporate leaders,
media representatives and politicians. CEOs
from Novartis, McDonalds and Shell mixed
with some of the world's most powerful
leaders, including Bill Clinton and Tony
Blair. Issues of global importance were
discussed in hundreds of business sessions
and private meetings.
This year, NGOs were determined to put
the spotlight on this important meeting.
Friends of the Earth groups joined other
NGOs in Davos in the hopes of making the
world take notice of the untransparent
nature of discussions in this elite group.
"Public affairs must be discussed in public
fora, in a spirit of openness and
participation, with full public debate and
dissent," according to Andrea Durbin of FoE
US.
FoE Switzerland, FoE US, the Berne
Declaration and the Globalization Challenge
Initiative took the opportunity to launch
'The Public Eye on Davos' initiative to
press for more democratic space at the
forum so that social groups paying the
price for globalization could be heard. FoE
activists from three countries were among
those raising their voices both inside and
outside the meeting. While FoE US president
Brent Blackwelder spoke on several panels
inside the meeting, Andrea Durbin (FoE US),
Tony Juniper (FoE England, Wales and
Northern Ireland) and Miriam Behrens (FoE
Switzerland) were in the streets of Davos,
speaking with the media and participating
in demonstrations.
As the WEF annual meeting in Davos was
the first high-level gathering since
Seattle, the main issue was the future of
the World Trade Organization. WTO chief
Mike Moore and many global leaders have
confirmed their desire to initiate a new
round of trade liberalization negotiations
as quickly as possible. They reaffirmed the
free trade agenda while making only vague
references to social and environmental
concerns.
Unfortunately, the WEF did not seize
upon the chance to reconsider economic
policies after the failure of the
Millennium Round in Seattle. Instead of
bringing about 'New Beginnings', as this
year's annual meeting was titled, the forum
has warmed up many old recipes. Brent
Blackwelder of FoE US drew the following
conclusions: "As long as economic policies
are defined in exclusive elite gatherings
like the WEF, opposition against economic
globalization will increase around the
world."
Miriam Behrens, FoE
Switzerland
