Belgium’s Foreign Minister, Louis MICHEL will brief MEPs on the outcome of the special Summit held on terrorism and preparations for the informal Ghent Summit to be held on 19 October to review the latest developments in the enlargement negotiations.

Also on the agenda for Ghent will be preparations for the introduction of the euro, the future of the EU and the latest international developments.

Belgium’s Minister for Finance, Didier REYNDERS and Economic Policy Commissioner Pedro SOLBES MIRA will be making statements in the light of the meeting of Finance Ministers convened to review the state of Europe’s economy following the attack in the United States and the latest growth forecasts.

The Commission is now acknowledging that growth is likely to be less than 2% this year but cuts in interest rates, low inflation and tax reductions in some eurozone countries are expected to mitigate against the threat of a long-term downturn. Furthermore, although there have been some calls for a relaxation of the normal conditions governing the application of the Stability Pact designed to keep budgets more or less in balance and deficits less than 3% of GDP in line with the rules for the operation of the single currency, Finance Ministers have so far expressed their support for the Pact as it stands. There are provisions in the Pact for the application of ”automatic stabilisers” or the recognition that factors such as rising unemployment at the time of a recession will put undue pressures on national budgets and thus imply an increase in public spending. The problem is that Germany, France, Italy and Portugal are not considered to have used the recent period of strong growth to bring budgets into balance.

The Commission will be making a statement outlining its priorities for the reform of the EU institutions and making the Union more visible to its citizens in the light of reactions to its White Paper on ”European Governance” published before the summer. The Commission’s goal is to improve the image and workings of the EU by simplifying procedures and involving more grass roots bodies in the decision-making process. The ”no” vote in the Irish referendum, the forthcoming inter-governmental conference on Treaty reforms and enlargement make the need for agreement all the more pressing.

The Commission considers that good governance should be based on openness, participation, accountability, effectiveness and coherence.

Specific proposals in the White Paper include striking a balance between a uniform approach to legislation and allowing greater flexibility in the implementation by the Member States and the publication of guidelines and the experts’ reports which provide the basis for legislation. It also considers that the Council of Ministers should play a stronger role in publicising EU policies at a national level, while the European Council should concentrate on more long-term strategic goals. The European Parliament should concentrate more on defining the essential aspects of policy together with the Council of Ministers and monitor the implementation of policy more closely. The Commission is also concerned about the development of the legislative process which has seen both Council and Parliament defining legislation down to the last details, whereas in national legislation this would be done through implementing rules, subject to Parliamentary scrutiny. Furthermore, the Commission’s view is that legislative proposals should only come forward after a thorough analysis of the need for a European approach, accompanied by an assessment of the probable social, economic and environmental effects.

Council and Parliament should focus more on defining the essential elements of policy and controlling the way in which those policies are executed. The Parliament should enhance its role in feeding the views of its electors into the political debate.

For further information:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/governance/index_en.htm

Belgium’s Interior Minister Antoine Duquesne will report to the House on the outcome of the Extraordinary session of the Justice, Home Affairs and Civil Protection (20 September 2001) on measures to combat terrorism

Commissioner Loyla de PALACIO will be making a statement on TransEuropean networks.

Council and Commission will make statements on the recent Durban UN Conference on Racism.

In a draft resolution put forward by Karla PEIJS (EPP-ED, NL), on behalf of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, in response to a recent Commission discussion document on the contribution of public finances to growth and employment, the committee comes down firmly in favour of respecting the Stability Pact as it stands. In the light of recent comments regarding the possible relaxation of the rules governing the Stability Pact, the committee takes the opportunity to remind the Member States that there is still a need for budgetary consolidation and warns against any temporary relaxation of keeping budgets in balance. Policy should be based on ”making work pay” with any reduction in taxes on labour concentrated on the lower end of the market. More effort should be made to coordinate tax systems and introduce an ecological element.

Reporting for the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, Pervenche BERÈS (PES, F) agrees with the Commission on the need for closer coordination of economic policy in the eurozone. This should involve not only the Eurogroup of Finance Ministers but the European Commission, which is encouraged to use its right of initiative to put forward policy proposals. In addition, there should be more information exchange between the Member States on tax revenues and national treasuries should reveal any new tax proposals to their European partners. Mrs Berès also wants to see more participation by national parliaments in the preparation of the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines and discussions on national stability programmes.

Alejandro AGAG LONGO (EPP-ED, E) will be presenting the reaction of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee to the Commission’s thirtieth annual report on competition policy. While there is welcome for the report in presenting an accurate description of events at a time of unprecedented change in EU markets with a record number of 345 mergers taking place in 2000, the committee regrets the Commission’s failure to pursue cases of unfair competition caused by tax concessions. There is also welcome for the Commission’s reform of competition policy as long as this does not lead to any distortions of the market. However, there is criticism of the Commission’s proposed new role in the process of acting as ”regulator, judge and executor of the Community”.

The committee also wants to see more action taken at an international level to deal with the growing number of world-wide mergers. As far as the EU is concerned, there is support for speeding up the process of liberalisation of energy, transport and postal services. The committee also believes there should be more involvement of the European Parliament in legislative procedures through the extension of the codecision procedure to competition policy. Decisions could also be speeded up by more application of qualified majority voting in Council. Otherwise the draft resolution calls for more transparency on privatisation, the removal of restrictions on the single market, thus enabling consumers to buy goods at the lowest price and a reform of the rules on car distribution to take more account of the interests of consumers. The committee also acknowledges the role of public investment in infrastructure and calls for more data on the repayment of illegal state aid.

Looking to the 2005 deadline set by the Lisbon Summit for establishing an integrated market in financial services, especially in connection with the use of the Internet, Christopher HUHNE (ELDR, South East) will be presenting the response of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee to a Commission communication. The EU has already introduced legislation governing e-commerce based on home country supervision which is due to enter into force on 17 January 2002 but Mr Huhne considers that there are a number of issues relating to financial services such as the rules affecting insurance, the advertising of unit trusts and electronic money which are not covered.

Furthermore, there is concern that some Member States want to undermine the country of origin principle and introduce new national rules to restrict competition. It is, therefore, necessary to ensure that derogations in the existing legislation do not jeopardise the country of origin principle. The draft resolution, therefore, emphasises the importance of the country of origin principle applying to financial services as a means of ensuring high standards of consumer protection. At the same time, the committee is anxious to see some form of uniform protection, wherever possible, in order to avoid distortions of the market.

There is a specific call on the Commission to lay down a clear timetable for the removal of derogations relating to consumer contracts and insurance as well as the advertising of unit trusts. There is also concern that recent moves by the Commission regarding the dispute procedure for consumer contracts may undermine the country of origin principle. While there is welcome for the establishment of a Financial Services Ombudsman to rule in cross-border disputes, more measures are needed to facilitate the use of electronic money across the EU and to guard against fraud. Consumers should be allowed the right to a refund from card payments in the event of non-authorised transactions as happens in the UK and USA.

Reporting for the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, Alexander RADWAN (EPP-ED, D) will be recommending approval of a voluntary Code of Conduct governing information to be provided to home buyers seeking a mortgage. With the completion of the internal market in financial services now a priority, the new Code is particularly important in the context of cross-border loans. The Code covers such points as the types of interest rate and will also apply to banks and building societies offering loans on the Internet. The European Commission is to maintain a register of banks, building societies and other financial companies signing up to the Code.

A common European asylum policy should maintain high standards for refugee protection, should include a common definition of refugees and should ensure full and inclusive interpretation of the Geneva Convention, taking account of persecution by both state and non-state agents and of an asylum seeker’s fear of future persecution as grounds for the granting of asylum, is the view of the Committee on Citizens’ Freedoms and Rights. This is presented in a draft resolution by Robert EVANS (PES, London) in response to a Commission communication to complement the proposal on asylum procedures approved in September. The committee believes there should be adequate procedural guarantees to protect individual applicants and the right to a suspensive appeal against all unsuccessful applications. Appeals procedures should be harmonised before the principle of mutual recognition of judicial decisions can be included.

The committee wants the processing of asylum decisions to be carried out within a strict timetable applicable to all Member States. Also, there should be a single procedure for the recognition of refugee status and the granting of complementary forms of protection.
The use of concepts such as safe third country, safe country of origin, accelerated procedures and procedures for manifestly unfounded applications should be limited to where justified and include legally binding guarantees.

As far as safe countries are concerned, there should be agreement on a common list which should take account of recent developments and be based on human rights considerations. Arrangements should however be flexible to take account of individual circumstances.

In the case of an asylum seeker being sent back to a third country, the committee wants to make sure that he or she will be admitted to that country with access to asylum procedures. The Commission should monitor the transfer to safe countries and provide an annual report to the Parliament. The committee is concerned that the Commission has not yet submitted proposals on a common repatriation policy for asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected. Member States should encourage and organise voluntary return to the country of origin for asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected, and offer them support. The Commission should develop resettlement programmes.

The Commission should also consider measures to combat the root causes of migration, i.e. to improve access to EU territory for people fleeing persecution, as well as a complementary procedure for asylum applications made outside the EU and outside the country of origin. MEPs want the Commission to produce a detailed study of the reasons for the persecution of refugees.

Finally, the EU should provide even greater support to the UNHCR and the High Commissioner for Refugees in the reception of refugees in regions affected by conflict. Appropriate financial support for the UNHCR from the EU and Member States is urgently needed.

Reporting for the Citizens’ Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs Committee, Hubert PIRKER (EPP-ED, A) is welcoming a Commission communication on EU immigration policy. However, he notes that in the short term, immigration may help to offset acute labour shortages in certain sectors but in the long term it cannot provide the answers to shortages caused by demographic trends and an ageing population.

However, the different historical and cultural circumstances in the individual Member States make it impossible to lay down a uniform requirement for the entire EU. Member States should gear authorisation for entry and residence in their territory to the requirements of their own labour markets and restrict such authorisation on the basis of their own capacities for accommodating migrants, in particular the availability of a job, accommodation and educational opportunities for children. Moreover, in drawing up an immigration policy, account must be taken of enlargement and its possible implications for Member States’ labour markets, while Member States should fill job vacancies initially with third-country nationals already resident in the Member States of the EU, the committee believes

The committee points out that immigrants should be expected to respect European values but stresses that Member States are also obliged to respect the rights and freedoms of third-country nationals. Integration into society must be promoted, while immigrants should show a willingness to integrate.
There is also a need to combat illegal employment and trafficking in human beings. The committee is calling for a study of measures to mitigate the brain drain from countries of origin. It welcomes moves taken to regulate freedom of travel for third-country nationals resident in the EU but emphasises that the right to work and the right of residence granted to third-country nationals applies only in the Member State where these rights were granted.

In all, the committee calles for uniform European legislation on the conditions governing entry and residence for migrant workers; a flexible and coherent concept for issuing visas; a graduated system of residence permits for migrant workers; mobility of third-country nationals holding a residence permit for one Member State; and the introduction of a combined work and residence permit for immigrants, allowing free movement within the EU while restricting in the short term the right to live and work to a single Member State.

EU policy on arms export must ensure the consistency and efficiency of the EU's external action. It should also reinforce the EU's development cooperation objectives; satisfy its security policy needs; meet the needs and challenges of the European defence industry; and contribute to the development of a common defence policy. These are the messages of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy in the draft resolution being tabled by Gary TITLEY (PES, North West) in response to Council's annual report for 2000 on the implementation of the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Export. The Code was adopted in 1998.

The committee welcomes the "considerable" progress being made towards greater convergence of Member States' policies towards arms controls. It calls for applicant countries to give guarantees in their negotiations with the EU that they will implement the Code of Conduct. It regrets that so far the USA has not adopted its own Code on arms exports and wants this to be made a permanent component of the Transatlantic Dialogue. Indeed Council, Commission and Member States are urged to work towards an international Code of Conduct on arms transactions. There is regret too that so far the UN has been unable to establish a global arms exports control regime and that some of the members of the Security Council, in particular Russia and China, continue to export arms without any restraints. Council is therefore urged to take EU-action to establish a global arms exports control regime on a UN basis.

There is a welcome for the agreement within Council on a common list of non-military security and police equipment and the Commission is urged to act swiftly to bring forward an appropriate Community mechanism to control such exports. However the draft resolution expresses disappointment with the lack of progress towards controlling arms brokerage and there is a call for Member States to work towards the development of an international legally binding agreement on brokering. There is regret too that no action has been taken to place controls in the licenced production abroad of military equipment by EU companies and there is a call on Member State governments to require their explicit consent for the transfer of military items produced abroad under a licencing agreement to reduce the risk that equipment is transferred on to "dubious and proscribed end-users".

The draft resolution also underlines the need for transparency and all Member States are urged to publish harmonised annual reports on implementation of the Code. There is a call too for the Code to be legally binding. Council is urged to encourage Member States to deny arms deliveries to countries which do not submit information to the UN's Register of Conventional Arms. Finally Member States are urged to promote the adoption of legally binding criteria on arms transfers in the form of a Framework Convention on International Arms Transfers.

&

In two reports Parliament will be considering the Commission's proposals for the future of the Coal and Steel Research Fund, which until now has been governed by the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). The ECSC Treaty is due to expire on 23 July 2002, at which point the ECSC's assets will be transferred to the remaining European Communities.

Under the Commission proposals - on which Parliament is only being consulted - all the net revenue from the management of ECSC assets (generating approximately EUR 45m in revenue per year) would be used to finance research projects in sectors relating to the coal and steel industries. The Commission proposes that 27.2% of the funds be earmarked for the coal sector and the remaining 72.8% for the steel sector.

The financial management of the assets of the Coal and Steel Research Fund is the subject of a report by Francesco TURCHI (UEN, I) for the Budgets Committee. The committee argues that if Parliament is to be asked to approve the Fund’s accounts through the discharge procedure it should have an equal say with Council in laying down the financial guidelines, by using the codecision procedure. In addition, given the impact of enlargement on the coal and steel industries, there should be an "enlargement clause", to allow the breakdown between funds available for coal research and those for steel research to be revised. Moreover, new Member States should contribute to the assets of the Coal and Steel Research Fund as they will be the main beneficiaries of Community-funded modernisation programmes for these industries. Finally, it is proposed that the financial guidelines be reviewed every two years if necessary rather than every five.

The technical guidelines for the Fund's research programme are dealt with in a report by Rolf LINKOHR (PES, D) for the Industry Committee. It too argues that Parliament should be placed on an equal footing with Council through the use of codecision when adopting the technical guidelines. It further suggests that the proposal should contain a special "opening up" clause to enable the Fund to be converted at a later date into a European Research Foundation which would cover other fields in addition to coal and steel.

Esko SEPPÄNEN (EUL/NGL, FIN) reporting for the Budgets Committee will be recommending approval of a Commission proposal to extend EU guarantees in respect of a new EIB programme to provide some €350m in aid for projects in Yugoslavia, mainly in the transport and energy areas.

The Legal Affairs Committee is backing the Commission’s strategy to complete the Internal Market for services, through a two-tier approach to achieving this goal by the end of 2002.

The committee believes that the Commission should, as far as possible, make greater use of the mutual recognition of national rules and of the country of origin principle. This will allow service providers and, in particular, small and medium-sized undertakings, to offer their services all over the EU more easily and on a more cost-effective basis. The harmonisation of national rules, on the other hand, should be limited to what is strictly necessary to ensure the free movement of services and the freedom of establishment.

On behalf of the Legal Affairs Committee Hans-Peter MAYER (EPP-ED, D) will be reporting on a Commission working paper on the exhaustion of trademark rights. At issue is whether the EU should stick to the current regime of EU-wide exhaustion or change to a system of international exhaustion of trademark rights, thus allowing "parallel imports" (i.e. imports from third countries into the EU of trademarked products at supposedly much lower prices then those paid by EU consumers for the same products).

Parallel imports are, because of their far-reaching economic and social consequences, a highly controversial issue among both experts and MEPs. Those in favour claim that parallel imports will stimulate competition and lead to substantial price reductions for consumers (estimated at between 30% and 70% depending on the product).

Those, on the other hand, who support the current system of Community-wide exhaustion argue, referring to a Commission-sponsored study, that while the benefits for EU consumers would be minimal (an estimated 2% price fall on average), the adverse effects of parallel imports for European industry and in particular employment would be enormous, as production units and hence jobs would be shifted to low-wage non-EU countries. In addition, piracy would flourish.

The compromise being tabled calls on the Commission:

• to produce a detailed study of the implications of a possible transition to the principle of international exhaustion for European manufactures and consumers as well as for jobs;
• to produce a report on cases of abuse of trademark rights notified to the Commission;
• to examine the legal situation with regard to the exhaustion of trade mark rights in the most important trading nations;
• to ascertain the prospects for the conclusion of an international agreement on harmonized rules on exhaustion of trade mark rights under the WTO or WIPO;
• in the light of the most recent rulings by the Court of Justice, to examine the need for clarification of the 1988 trademark directive, and in particular Article 7 thereof;
• to examine whether clarification of trade mark law in respect of non commercial imports of goods purchased by consumers via the Internet is needed;
• to submit to Parliament, by 31 December 2002, a report on these points, containing detailed proposals.

Eryl McNALLY (PES, Eastern) is proposing one amendment to a Council Common Position on a voluntary labelling scheme to promote energy efficiency in PCs, monitors, faxes, scanners, copiers and printers. The idea is to sign up to the ”Energy Star programme”, an American initiative.

Council accepted the thrust of some 14 amendments approved by Parliament at first reading but the amendment now being tabled seeks to ensure that inefficient equipment is taken off the market either voluntarily or if necessary through legislation.

Malcolm HARBOUR (EPP-ED, West Midlands) for the Industry Committee will be recommending that the House gives its assent to legislation on proposed standards for replacement equipment for airbags and steering wheels with an airbag equipment for motor vehicles.

The introduction of these proposals results from the European Community's accession in 1998 to the 1958 Revised Agreement of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/EC). The Agreement involves harmonising technical standards for motor vehicles throughout Europe and reciprocal recognition of type-approvals. It aims to prevent the plethora of technical standards for motor vehicles from constituting technical barriers to trade, whilst ensuring a high level of safety and environmental protection.

Reporting for the Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy, Roberto Paul RÜBIG (EPP-ED, A) is backing a Commission initiative to promote innovation as an important aspect of the Lisbon Summit aim to make Europe ”the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world”. The draft resolution calls for European and national actions to promote ”benchmarking” and the adoption of best practices. It also emphasises the need for high quality education and training. Encouraging the wide provisions of e-learning systems and more mobility between teachers and researchers can also help. In addition the committee is calling on the Commission and the Member States to take measures to improve patent protection and facilitate access to venture capital. Easier bureaucratic regulations on small firms is another way to assist new developments.

The Environment Committee is holding out in its drive to establish an EU policy to reduce the high levels of noise. It is repeating Parliament's demand, made at first reading in December but rejected by the Council, for the draft directive on noise to be beefed up into a Noise Framework Directive, to be followed by specific, binding limits on different types of noise. It also wants to stop Council from delaying the entry into force of the Commission's original proposals for assessing and managing environmental noise.

The committee is also seeking to stop Council from giving the Member States too much flexibility over the noise measurement standards to be used. It is also reinstating the Commission's original timetables for the strategic noise maps and the noise action plans to be drawn up by the Member States. The Council wants to delay them by up to two years. The Environment Committee also wants the directive transposed into national law by 30 June 2003 at the latest instead of the earliest possible date of December 2003 set by the Council.

Bernd LANGE (PES, D), reporting for the Environment Committee is recommending approval of a Commission proposal to reduce pollution from petrol engines used in machines such as lawnmowers and other garden equipment, together with a number of amendments.

The intention is to bring the EU into line with US standards on hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxide emissions with a view to an international approach to the industry. The amendments relate to the timetable, exemptions and ”averaging” of limits. The Committee is seeking to delete the Commission’s provisions allowing the ‘averaging” of emission limits which would allow the production of engines with higher emissions. Another amendments seeks to reduce limit values for generators and pumps while perhaps controversially Mr Lange wants to reduce the figure for exemption for small firms from 25,000 units of productions to 10,000. Opponents argue this is not a viable figure.

Anneli HULTHEN (PES, S) for the Environment Committee will be recommending that the House approves the 1999 Beijing Amendment to the 1987 Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer. The House is being consulted on this issue and its decision is non-binding on Council.

Mrs Hulthen believes that the Beijing Amendment will improve the protection of the ozone layer since it provides a higher degree of control of trade in ozone depleting substances. It includes such elements as a freeze on production of Hydrochlororfluorcarbons (HCFCs) in developed countries by 2004 and a freeze on their production in developing countries by 2016.

Laura GONZÁLEZ ÁLVAREZ (EUL/NGL, E) will be recommending approval of a conciliation agreement reached on the question of product safety. The aim of the legislation is to ensure high standards of consumer safety through strict monitoring of the market, clearly defined responsibility of manufacturers and distributors and close cooperation between national authorities.

Reporting for the Transport Committee, Brigitte LANGENHAGEN (EPP-ED, D) is backing the Galileo satellite system designed to give Europeans an independent technology applicable to a wide range of activities including transport, medicine, law enforcement and agriculture, albeit on the understanding that there is a clear budgetary structure. The project has aroused controversy over costs and the opposition of some Member States who rely on the alternative US GPS System.

Mrs Langenhagen, however, takes the view that GPS does not guarantee accuracy or continuing free access vital for commercial operations and that the European system should be supported on the grounds that it offers the possibility of creating some 20,000 jobs in the first instance and 100,000 by 2008 in a global market estimated to be worth some €40bn by 2005. But it is the overall costs of the programme that is causing the headache. According to the Commission, this would amount to some €3.2bn over the 2005-2007 period with some €1.7bn provided by the public sector. In April of this year EU transport ministers agreed that the system should be operational by 2008 and an initial budget of some €100m for 2001 but put off taking a decision on a further €450m until December 2001. Parliament’s Budgets Committee has expressed doubts about the economic feasibility of the project and is concerned that the private sector will not come up with matching funds. In order to ensure that any overshoot will not have extra implications for the EU’s budget, the draft resolution therefore urges the Commission to present a financial statement based on realistic funding and emphasises that Parliament should be consulted if there is considered a need to increase the EU contribution.

Bill MILLER (PES, Scotland) will be recommending approval of an internal market conciliation agreement reached with Council concerning technical specifications for buses carrying more than eight passengers. Agreement has been reached on provisions to provide for disabled access.

The 1997 directive on ”Television across Frontiers” was intended to provide a free market for television channels across Europe in the new digital age with a minimal amount of regulation. But as Ruth HIERONYMI (EPP-ED, D), reporting for the Committee on Culture, Youth, Education, the Media and Sport, reports, there are still a number of problems facing the audiovisual industry which remain to be tackled.

For a start Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands have still not implemented the legislation and now face a legal challenge from the Commission for failure to do so. Belgium also faces legal proceedings for its attempt to block the showing of channel VT4 while the Netherlands appears to be infringing the legislation with its ban on two other channels RTL4 and RTL5. The British authorities have also taken measures to deprive Danish viewers of access to programmes of interest to Denmark.

The rule relating to advertising and the protection of young people from pornography and other unacceptable programmes have also given rise to legal disputes. And looking towards next year’s World Cup the definition of ”events of major importance for society” to be available on free terrestrial channels is also proving controverisal.

The Commission is due to present proposals for a revision of the legislation in June 2002 and with this in mind Mrs Hieronymi is setting forward a number of guidelines to take account of the new television environment and the development of features such as video on demand and film channels. In the interest of consistency, she is emphasising the need for the new legislation to be in line with the electronic commerce directive and to cover such questions as decoders and Internet access. She also takes the view that the morality issue affecting children should not be used as an excuse for national restrictions. The situation in the applicant Member States should also be taken into account.

Jean-Claude FRUTEAU (PES, F) will be tabling a draft resolution for the Development Committee on Commission proposals to improve the EU's association with the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs).

There are 20 OCTs, linked to four Member States - the United Kingdom, France, Denmark and the Netherlands - and which have associate status with the EU. The British OCTs include a number of Caribbean islands, the Falkland Islands and other territories in the Atlantic, and British Antarctic Territory. Their distance from the European continent and their generally small area all cause economic difficulties. The combined population of all 20 OCTs is slightly over one million. Only three OCTs have more than 150,000 inhabitants and most have only about 10,000. There is a very wide range of per capita GNP.

Last November the Commission proposed measures to implement the objectives laid down in "Declaration No 36 on the OCTs", which is annexed to the Amsterdam Treaty. These objectives seek to promote the economic and social development of the OCTs and to develop relations with the EU. In its proposal the Commission aims to develop the structured political partnership on a trilateral basis (Commission/Member State/OCT) by setting up an annual forum. On the economic and financial front, it advocates a strategy that is differentiated for each OCT. Mr Fruteau is calling for the establishment by 2007 of a development fund specifically for OCTs and that is separate from the European Development Fund.

The OCTs have non-reciprocal preferential access to the Community market but they account for a very small proportion of Community trade. In 1998, EC imports from the OCTs accounted for 0.21% of total Community imports, while exports to the OCTs represented 0.43% of all EC exports to third countries. Whilst there is theoretically free access for products originating in the OCTs, the number of commercial restrictions is increasing, including the introduction of annual quotas for rice or sugar.

Mr Fruteau is critical of what he sees as the Commission's cautious attitude towards the OCTs. He proposes that, in the context of the ACP/EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, the OCTs should take part more in debates and not simply be informed of their outcome. He also calls for the OCTs to be given permanent observer status at plenary sessions.

The committee also deplores the reduction in the overall budget for regional cooperation and questions the appropriateness of setting reserve C at an 'exaggeratedly high level' (EUR 35m). Reserve C is intended to finance humanitarian and emergency aid for all the OCTs and, if necessary, additional support in the event of fluctuations in export earnings. The committee would like to release additional funds for the development of the OCTs, while adjusting this aid to the special needs of these countries. Lastly, the draft resolution criticises the fact that tariff quotas have been imposed in respect of a number of products.

Communicable diseases - especially three major ones, HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis - kill around 10,000 people a day in Africa alone, not only causing untold misery to the victims and their families but also severely handicapping whole communities by removing large swathes of the younger generation, thereby severely hampering economic development.

In two consultation papers, the Commission is proposing a policy framework fleshed out by a Programme for Action (for the period 2001-2006) to address these problems. Its proposals focus on three areas. Firstly, better deployment of existing resources, e.g. redirecting unspent funds and speeding up the release of such funding. Secondly, efforts to increase the affordability to people in poorer countries of key pharmaceuticals by looking at taxes and tariffs on such drugs and in particular the TRIPS agreement (the need here being to balance the protection of patents with the need for access to affordable treatment). Thirdly, by supporting more research and development into the three major communicable diseases.

The draft resolution by Bashir KHANBHAI (EPP-ED, Eastern) for the Development Committee, while backing the Commission's proposals, suggests a number of additional points. It points out that tackling these diseases should be seen as a "global public good". It calls for the EU to devote 10% of its development aid to combating the main communicable diseases and providing support for health systems. Particular attention, it argues, should be devoted to preventing HIV infection in the 15-24 age group and also to the situation of women and young girls. A global fund for infectious diseases should be set up with support from the EU, G8, World Bank and IMF and an EU research agency created for distributing new vaccines and treatments. The draft resolution also calls on the Commission to bring forward a proposal on "neglected diseases" such as bilharzia and ebola.

Political groups in the European Parliament
as at 25.10.2001

Political groups