(from the ICSA news listserve)
From: 2000 PAF PROACTIVE FILE Regular News Update From Eurostep No. 207, 1 December 2000 Contact: Guggi Laryea, glaryea@eurostep.org
The European Commission's proposal to grant Least Developed Countries (LDCs) immediate duty and quota free access to EU markets is facing increasing opposition from organisations representing EU agricultural producers and a number of EU Member State governments.
While most EU Non-Governmental Development Organisations, including Eurostep, have welcomed the Commission's proposal as a necessary, albeit insufficient, step to allow LDCs to benefit from international trade, many EU farmers' organisations have waged an intense campaign against it. They have argued that the proposal could flood European markets with products from LDCs.
At a meeting with representatives from the UK government, this week, the Eurostep secretariat was informed that several EU governments including the UK, France, Italy and Germany were facing increasing pressure from organisations calling for the proposal to be dropped. In contrast there has been very little campaigning in support for the proposal. Most importantly LDC governments and civil society have not been very vocal in their support of the Commission proposal. This is perhaps due to a lack of information about the proposal and the state of play regarding its acceptance. According to the UK government representatives, there is a great danger that the proposal may now be rejected.
The European Commission and some EU Member States had hoped to reach a decision on the issue by the end of the year, but this now seems unlikely. To further complicate matters EU Member State representatives postponed a crucial meeting on the matter this week, following the Commission's failure to prepare impact studies on how the market access proposal will affect the EU and developing countries. According to the UK government officials the matter may only now be decided at the UN LDC III Conference in Brussels in May 2001.
Eurostep would like to encourage all civil society organisations that favour the proposal to carry out campaigns in support of it. Eurostep has sent a letter to EU Member State representatives calling on them to agree to the Commission proposal as soon as possible. For more information you can contact the Eurostep secretariat (Guggi Laryea at email glaryea@eurostep.org).:
