The EU throws down the gauntlet
Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, wrote today in The Wall Street Journal: "We know we shouldn't, but most of us can't resist clinging to a few comforting illusions that reinforce our view of the world. Here's one: The EU is a bureaucratic monster whose protectionist policies and cosseted agricultural sector do great harm to developing countries. I have a surprise for you: In fact, the opposite is true. Today the EU is the most open market in the world for the poorest countries, and their largest trading partner. Our trade preferences for developing countries are used more widely than any others. Imports under these specially reduced tariffs are higher than those under the equivalent American, Japanese and Canadian trade preferences combined. (...) This is good news for developing countries. The EU now buys 85% of Africa`s agricultural exports. In fact, it imports more goods from Africa than all the other G-8 countries combined (...). But don`t take my word for it. Look at the joint World Bank and IMF 2004 Global Monitoring Report, which judged the EU to be both the most open major market for exports from developing countries and the trading partner which has made the greatest efforts to reduce its average protection levels in their favor.
"Why this emphasis on trade? Simple. There is a growing consensus that trade is an engine for sustainable development. As I saw in China and India last week, trade has lifted millions of Asians out of poverty. It can do the same for Africa. (...) And yet the world has sat back and watched as sub-Saharan Africa`s share of world trade shriveled from 3% in 1950 to less than 1% today. We have to change this. Market access is part of the solution. But the poorest countries need help in turning this access into reality. (...) Of course, sufficient, well-targeted aid continues to be vital if we are to meet the key Millennium Development Goal of halving extreme poverty by 2015. The EU already accounts for 55% of all official development aid spent worldwide (...). And this summer, when the G-8 announced a $50b annual increase in official development aid by the 'G-8 and other donors,' some may have missed the fact that 80% of this increase will come from the EU and its member states. (...)
"This week's UN Summit is the perfect moment to demonstrate that political will. To demonstrate, by pledging more and better aid, and by supporting developing countries` integration into the global trading system, that we do not accept death by poverty in a world of plenty. The EU is already bringing much to the table; it is now time for others to follow our lead. So let me throw down the gauntlet -- to the U.S., to the rest of the developed world, even to richer developing countries: to match our 'Everything But Arms' initiative, which allows all goods imported from the world`s least developed countries except munitions to enter the EU completely free of duties or quotas; to match our readiness to abolish agricultural export subsidies; to match the ambition Europe has shown in agreeing to double aid between 2004 and 2010. The challenge is clear, but so is the EU`s resolve. Events in New York this week will show whether other countries share that resolve."
"Why this emphasis on trade? Simple. There is a growing consensus that trade is an engine for sustainable development. As I saw in China and India last week, trade has lifted millions of Asians out of poverty. It can do the same for Africa. (...) And yet the world has sat back and watched as sub-Saharan Africa`s share of world trade shriveled from 3% in 1950 to less than 1% today. We have to change this. Market access is part of the solution. But the poorest countries need help in turning this access into reality. (...) Of course, sufficient, well-targeted aid continues to be vital if we are to meet the key Millennium Development Goal of halving extreme poverty by 2015. The EU already accounts for 55% of all official development aid spent worldwide (...). And this summer, when the G-8 announced a $50b annual increase in official development aid by the 'G-8 and other donors,' some may have missed the fact that 80% of this increase will come from the EU and its member states. (...)
"This week's UN Summit is the perfect moment to demonstrate that political will. To demonstrate, by pledging more and better aid, and by supporting developing countries` integration into the global trading system, that we do not accept death by poverty in a world of plenty. The EU is already bringing much to the table; it is now time for others to follow our lead. So let me throw down the gauntlet -- to the U.S., to the rest of the developed world, even to richer developing countries: to match our 'Everything But Arms' initiative, which allows all goods imported from the world`s least developed countries except munitions to enter the EU completely free of duties or quotas; to match our readiness to abolish agricultural export subsidies; to match the ambition Europe has shown in agreeing to double aid between 2004 and 2010. The challenge is clear, but so is the EU`s resolve. Events in New York this week will show whether other countries share that resolve."
Ummæli