EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
1. We list in summary form below some of the most
important conclusions and recommendations of the Committee arising
out of its inquiry into the renegotiation of the Lomé Convention.
A full summary is included at the end of the Report.
A. We consider the renegotiation of the Lomé
Convention to be an opportunity for the EU to re-examine its development
priorities not only for the ACP but for the whole of the developing
world.
B. Ten per cent of DFID's expenditure in 1998-99
will be through the Lomé Convention. DFID therefore has
an obligation to British taxpayers to ensure that such a considerable
proportion of its aid budget is spent effectively and in ways
consistent with its anti-poverty development strategy.
Aid
C. There needs to be an unequivocal focus in
the Convention on the elimination of poverty. We make the following
recommendations:
(i) Greater differentiation amongst ACP
countries in the allocation of aid on the basis of levels of poverty
(ii) More flexible procedures for the allocation
of aid. This will mean that aid is spent on countries with an
effective anti-poverty programme.
(iii) It is clear that Stabex and Sysmin cannot
remain in their current form. We strongly recommend, however,
that additional and equivalent budgetary support, targeted to
social sectors and to the diversification of the economy, be provided
in cases where commodity price fluctuation merits intervention.
(iv) The incorporation of the DAC international
development targets into the next Convention.
(v) Greater account being taken of gender issues
in the planning and evaluation of development work.
D. Evidence and various evaluations of EU aid
have criticised the management structures within the Commission.
A successful anti-poverty strategy involves participatory approaches
and an understanding of the local context. The overly centralised
management structures of Brussels are particularly ill-suited
to their task. Reforms must include:
(i) Greater decentralisation of decision-making
to the EU delegations in the ACP countries.
(ii) A concerted initiative to address the problem
of a lack of suitably qualified staff for poverty- and gender-related
work and the small numbers of locally employed staff.
(iii) Effective coordination between the EU and
member states on the one hand, and the ACP country on the other,
in the agreement of the country strategy.
(iv) An improvement to the preparation, targeting,
monitoring and evaluation of programmes.
Trade
E. We accept the criticisms made in evidence
of the Commission's proposal to introduce reciprocal liberalisation
of markets with ACP regions and thus move towards a Free Trade
Areas (FTAs). The criticisms were as follows:
(i) that the economies of the ACP were not
sufficiently developed to withstand the arrival of duty-free imports
from the EU
(ii) that the EU would not be willing to open
up its market to ACP products, in particular those 'sensitive'
products currently protected by the Common Agricultural Policy
(CAP)
(iii) that the timetable for the agreement of
regional economic partnership agreements (five years from 2000
to 2005) was impossible to achieve and that the ACP countries
lacked the capacity to enter into such negotiations
(iv) that there was at present inadequate regional
integration amongst ACP countries and thus no basis for the proposed
regional economic partnership agreements (particular mention was
made of the problem of the presence in a sub-region of countries
at different stages of development)
(vi) that there was a danger of trade diversion
resulting from the establishment of such FTAs which would hinder
the process of global trade liberalisation.
(vii) that those non-Least Developed ACP countries
which failed to join an economic partnership agreement would be
faced with the alternative of the inferior preferences of the
GSP.
F. The proposal of the Commission to establish
Free Trade Areas with the ACP is unrealistic and unacceptable
in its current form. More emphasis should be placed on a significant
improvement to the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) for
those ACP countries which will lose their current Lomé
preferences.
G. We criticise the Commission for failing to
consider properly the implications for developing countries of
CAP reform. The Commission must conduct impact assessments of
CAP reform proposals for developing countries and the ACP in particular.
Further assistance should be given to developing countries particularly
vulnerable to any adverse effects of CAP reform.
H. Any WTO waiver for Lomé preferences
after the year 2000 should last at least five years, depending
on the degree of improvement to the GSP.
I. We support efforts being made to agree a Banana
Protocol which will ensure that it remains possible and profitable
for ACP banana producers to import their bananas into the EU market.
Political Cooperation
J. Conflict prevention and post-conflict reconstruction
should be an integral part of the EU's development policy under
the new Convention.
K. There should be an Annual Report on the operation
of the Convention which can be debated in the ACP-EU Council of
Ministers, the Joint Assembly and member state parliaments.
L. There should be a complaints procedure established
for those persons or bodies who consider that the principles and
terms of the Lomé Convention have been breached.
M. We believe that DFID is better placed than
the FCO to be the lead department in Whitehall on the renegotiation
of the Lomé Convention and recommend accordingly.
