WEED fordert Umkehr beim EU-Kurs in der WTO

31.10.2003: Über 100 europäische NGOs machen Druck in der Frage der Singapur-Themen

Nach dem Scheitern der WTO-Ministerkonferenz in Cancún bekräftigt WEED gemeinsam mit über 100 europäischen NGOs die Forderung nach der Rücknahme der Singapur-Themen in den WTO-Verhandlungen. Sie fordern die Regierungen der EU-Mitgliedsstaaten und die EU-Kommission erneut auf, die vier Singapur Themen (Investionen, Wettbewerb, Transparenz im öffentlichen Beschaffungswesen und Handelserleichterungen) endgültig von ihrer Agenda zu streichen. Trotz des Widerstands zahlreicher Entwicklungsländer in Cancún drängt EU-Handelskommissar Pascal Lamy noch immer auf die Aufnahme der Verhandlungen aller vier Singapur-Themen.

Den folgenden Text überreichten die Unterzeichner an die EU-Kommission sowie die Regierungen der EU-Mitgliedsstaaten:

Appeal to EU Member States and the European Commission

After Cancun: Drop the demand to start WTO negotiations on the Singapore Issues once and for all from the EU trade agenda !

The European Union has been unsuccessful in its strategy to convince WTO member states to start formal negotiations on a set of new rules on investment, competition, transparency in government procurement, and trade facilitation. During the 5th Ministerial of the WTO in Cancun, 10-14 September 2003, a majority of WTO members clearly stated that negotiations on these so-called Singapore Issues should not be launched, as the WTO is not the appropriate forum to address these issues.

The negotiating strategy employed by the European Union must be regarded as one of the main reasons for the failure of this Conference. While the final hour offer on the 14 September by the Art. 133 Committee and Commissioner Lamy to drop two of the four issues from the negotiating (investment and competition) may be regarded as a step in the right direction, it was too little, too late. Furthermore, this was considered to a be a tactical response and not a meaningful reaction to the well argued demands of the majority of developing countries not to proceed on any of the Singapore Issues.

In the run up to Cancun, more then 100 civil society groups throughout the European Union had issued a call to the EU Trade Council in Palermo, 6 July 2003, demanding a withdrawal of the EU demands for WTO expansion in Cancun. It was calling on EU Member States to:

• withdraw support for the start of negotiations on the so-called “new issues” in Cancun
• stop engaging in misleading trade off and arm twisting strategies, and instead implement previously agreed commitments, before asking for any further concessions from developing counties in return
• review thoroughly, and then fundamentally reform, the existing trade rules, in order to shift in focus from trade and investment liberalisation as an end goal, to the promotion of sustainable development and poverty eradication.
• promote a fair and balanced international framework for investment, preferably located in the UN, and based on a set of rules which would support sustainable development and make corporations responsible for their practices
• revise accordingly the negotiating mandate of Commissioner Lamy.

We reiterate our demands and invite you to take them into your most serious consideration in the run up of the next General Council of the WTO, scheduled for 15 December 2003. We urge you to make sure that the EU will drop, once and for all, the Singapore Issues from the EU agenda for negotiations in the WTO.

This decision will give a positive signal to developing countries that the EU draws the right conclusions from the failure of Cancun, and is prepared to respect the will of the majority of WTO member states.

Signatories:

1. ActionAid Alliance, Belgium
2. ActionAid UK
3. Africa-Europe Faith and Justice Network , Belgium
4. Africa Groups of Sweden
5. Agir Ici, France
6. Alert! Groningen, the Netherlands
7. Amigos de la Tierra, Spain
8. Associazione Ricreativa Culturale Italiana (ARCI),Italy
9. Associazione Rurale Italiana - ARI, Italy
10. Attac Austria
11. Attac Finland
12. Attac Flanders
13. Attac France
14. Attac Denmark
15. Attac Hungary
16. Attac London
17. Attac Spain
18. Attac Sweden
19. Azione Aiuto, Italy
20. Berne Declaration, Switzerland
21. Biodiversity Conservation Center, Russia
22. Both ENDS, the Netherlands
23. Buendnis fuer Eine Welt / OeIE, Austria
24. Bureau Verantwoord, Tilburg, the Netherlands
25. Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz/Friends of the Earth Germany
26. Campaign for the Welfare State (For velferdsstaten), Norway
27. Campaign to Reform the World Bank, Italy
28. Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN)
29. CCOMC, France
30. Center for Encounter and Active Non-Violence, Austria
31. Center for Environmental Public Advocacy, Slovak Republic
32. Center for International Environmental Law - Europe, Geneva, Switzerland
33. Central Euro-Asian Studies (CEAS), Sweden
34. Centro Internazionale CROCEVIA, Italy
35. Christian Aid, UK
36. Cipsi, Italy
37. Coalition of the Flemish North-South Movement-11.11.11
38. Cocis (a federation of NGO's), Italy
39. Coordination Paysanne Européenne / European Farmers Coordination, Belgium
40. Corporate Europe Observatory, the Netherlands
41. Circolo Culturale Palazzo Cattaneo, Italy
42. Dachverband entwicklungspolitischer Organisationen in Kärnten, Austria
43. DeA - Donne e Anbiente, Italy
44. Deutsche Kommission Justitia et Pax, Germany
45. Dreikönigsaktion der Kath. Jungschar, Austria
46. Ecologistas en Acción, Spain
47. Estonian Green Movement-FoE, Estonia
48. Evangelischer Arbeitskreis für Weltmission (EAWM), Austria
49. Fédération Syndicale Unitaire, France
50. Framtiden i Våra Händer / The Future in our Hands, Sweden
51. Friends of the Earth Europe, Belgium
52. Friends of the Earth, France
53. Friends of the Earth, Cyprus
54. Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland
55. Friends of the Earth, Scotland
56. Friends of the Earth, Slovakia
57. German NGO Forum on Environment and Development - Working Group on Trade
58. Germanwatch, Germany
59. Greenpeace European Union Unit
60. Hnuti DUHA/Friends of the Earth Czech Republic
61. Initiative Colibri, GN3 Germany
62. Initiative Netzwerk Dreigliederung, Stuttgart, Germany
63. Informationsgruppe Lateinamerika (IGLA), Vienna, Austria
64. International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
65. INTI WAWA, Morarp, Sweden
66. Institut de Recherches de la FSU (IRHESC), Paris, France
67. Institut pour la Relocalisation de l'Economie (IRE), France
68. International Coalition for Development Action (ICDA), Brussels, Belgium
69. Kirchliche Arbeitsstelle Südliches Afrika (KASA), Germany
70. K.U.L.U.-Women and Development, Denmark
71. Le Monde selon les femmes, Belgium
72. Lila Cedius, Italy
73. Maan ystävät ry (Friends of the Earth Finland)
74. Maailmankauppojen liitto ry (The Finnish Association of World Shops)
75. Mani Tese, Italy
76. Merkur GN3, Sweden
77. Network of European World Shops (NEWS), Brussels, Belgium
78. Network Women in Development Europe (WIDE), Belgium
79. NOAH - Fiends of the Earth Denmark
80. NOVIB/Oxfam Netherlands
81. One World Action, UK
82. Oxfam Germany
83. Oxfam Great Britain
84. Oxfam Intermon, Spain
85. Oxfam International
86. Oxfam Ireland
87. Oxfam Solidarité, Belgium
88. People and Planet, UK
89. Rete Lilliput, Italy
90. ROBA dell'Altro Mondo (a fair trade Organisation), Italy
91. Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), UK
92. Social Development Group, Norway
93. SydAfrika Kontakt - Southern Africa Contact, Denmark
94. The Service Centre for Development Co-operation (Kepa), Finland
95. Traidcraft, UK
96. Transnational Institute (TNI), the Netherlands
97. Tresam, Goteborg, Sweden
98. Unione degli Studenti, Italy
99. Unione degli Universitari, Italy
100. URFIG, Belgium/France
101. Urgewald, Germany
102. Weltumspannend Arbeiten, Austria
103. Wemos Foundation, The Netherlands
104. World Development Movement, UK
105. World Economy, Ecology & Development (WEED), Germany
106. World Information Service on Energy (WISE) Amsterdam, the Netherlands
107. WWF-European Policy Office, Brussels, Belgium
108. XminusY Solidarity Fund, the Netherlands
109. Zartonk-89, Armenia

Diesen Text und Statement zum selben Thema vor Cancún hier als PDF-Datei erhältlich: