Sumario: June 20, 2002: Weekly Highlights. Palestinian Authority, WSSD, EU refugee status, WHO and more
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Yesterday, the European Parliament's Committees on Foreign Affairs (with two abstentions) and on Budget approved unanimously the transfer of EUR18.7 million to the Middle East Peace Process budget line, which funds EU assistance to the Palestinian Authority. Appearing before the Foreign Affairs Committee, Commissioner Patten declared that, after scrupulous examination, "there is no evidence for EU funds used for other purposes than those agreed. There is no reason to state that EU money had financed terrorism or brought weapons". The EC carried out its enquiry jointly with the IMF, with the cooperation of the Israeli Government, the Israeli Defence Force and the Palestinian Authority. For further information, please click here.
EC President Romano Prodi has just written an open letter to EU President Jose Maria Aznar which includes views on the forthcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development which will be on the EU summit agenda this weekend. He said the EU is serious about implementing the commitments made in Monterrey and Doha; that a strong Political Declaration should be agreed which would support the Doha Development Agenda process and show how the increased funds pledged in Monterrey will be used in a sustainable manner; and that strong emphasis needed to be put on implementation, following the priorities set by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on water, health, energy, agriculture and biodiversity. More information can be obtained here.
The EC has just adopted a modified proposal for a Council Directive on minimum standards on procedures in EU Member States for granting and withdrawing refugee status. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will continue to have access to applicants, including those in detention and in airport transit zones.
On Tuesday, the EU made a statement at the General Assembly Special Session devoted to Information and Communication Technologies. The EU is looking forward to the upcoming World Summit of the Information Society in Geneva in 2003 and in Tunisia in 2005, which will have the ultimate objective of developing a strategic Plan of Action in this area. The EU said it will spare no efforts to ensure its success. For more on this subject, please click here.
The European Commission and the World Health Organisation (WHO) held a series of high-level consultations in Brussels to take forward their global alliance in tackling health threats. They discussed joint strategies to address a wide range of health issues, including combating smoking, the fight against communicable diseases, health research, environment and health and nutrition and food safety. Additional information is available here and here.
This week, EU Foreign Ministers unanimously endorsed a far-reaching mandate for the European Commission to negotiate Economic Partnership Agreements with 76 countries of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP). This will include enhanced market access to the EU. Already 93% of ACP exports to the Community enter the EU duty and quota free. The EU will further abolish remaining tariffs, focus on co-operation with the ACP countries to remove non-tariff barriers and assess technical hurdles (such as rules of origin) with a view to facilitating market access for the ACP.
The European Parliament passed a resolution on the recent massacre in Kisangani in the Democratic Republic of Congo, supporting the UN's role in the region. In another resolution, it called on the Commission on Human Rights to send the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture to Equatorial Guinea, and called on Member States to propose to the UN Commission on Human Rights that it once again appoint a special rapporteur on Equatorial Guinea. The EU Presidency also echoed its concern about Equatorial Guinea in a recent Declaration.
The latest EU statement on the Middle East at the UN Security Council can be found here.
The latest detailed summary of the EU's response to 11 September can be found here.
During the past few days, issues of further interest include:
* The Commission has announced €22 million and a further €9.25 million to help refugees and internally displaced persons return home in Afghanistan; more than €14 million to help Western Saharan refugees in Algeria; an additional €4.5 million to assist the victims of the Chechnya conflict; a grant of €0.8 million to Ecuador to help victims of coastal flooding; and further assistance to India (€2 million), Sri Lanka (€1.5 million), Uganda (€1.2 million) and Ethiopia (€1.15 million); as well as Indonesia (€1.54 million), Cambodia (€0.7 million) and Burmese refugees living on the Thai-Myanmar border (€2 million). A five year strategy for an indicative sum of €216 million was launched for Indonesia while East Timor will receive an indicative sum of €46 million over three years. A €125 million action plan was also adopted for Angola to support the peace process.
* An EU summary of the results of last week's World Food Summit is now available here; including speeches by EU President Jose Maria Aznar (in Spanish); EC President Romano Prodi; and Commissioner Poul Nielson. Just before the World Food Summit, the 15 EU Member States as well as the European Community signed the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Background details are available here.
* The European Commission kicked off a series of eight regional Human Rights Workshops across the world on June 10th, with an event concentrating on the Middle East, taking place in Amman, Jordan. Further Workshops will be held in North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Southern Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and South Eastern Asia. The aim of this initiative is to present EU policy and programmes for promoting human rights and democracy worldwide. For further details, please click here.
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