26-27 February General Affairs Council

Date: 29/02/1996

SOUTH Africans will have to continue waiting for the start of trade negotiations with the EU after foreign ministers refused to give the Commission permission to open talks with Pretoria on a free trade agreement. Ministers said the Commission had not proven whether the agreement would respect the rules of the World Trading Organisation (WTO). But diplomats said they wanted to begin negotiations on stepping up ties with South Africa soon and expressed the hope that the Commission would provide enough details to allow foreign ministers to agree to negotiations when they next meet on 25 March.

MINISTERS also refused permission for External Relations Commissioner Manuel Marín to begin negotiating a trade pact with Mexico, citing the same fears about the compatibility of such a free trade area with world trading rules and EU policies. In addition, Union governments are divided over whether to attempt to open a free trade area or settle for tariff cuts on a wide range of products. Mexico is already part of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the US and Canada. The EU is deepening its links with both of the larger countries to enhance transatlantic trade and, while a free trade zone with them is not on the cards in the near future, talk of a Transatlantic Free Trade Area (TAFTA) has not died completely.

MONTHS of enmity between Morocco and the EU ended formally on Monday when Prime Minister Abdelatif Filali signed a trade and cooperation agreement with Italian Foreign Minister Susanna Agnelli. The two also signed a fisheries accord. Both accords were initialled in November, after tense negotiations on EU import levels for tomatoes, canned sardines and cut flowers which marred relations between the two sides for several months. In addition, failure to agree on access for Spanish and Portuguese fishing boats in Moroccan waters had kept those boats idle from the end of last March until mid-November. The trade and cooperation accord, part of an EU strategy to create a free trade zone with the southern and eastern banks of the Mediterranean, is similar to those already struck with Tunisia and Israel and those being negotiated for Egypt and Jordan.

OFF to Bangkok this weekend to accompany their heads of government to the Asia-Europe summit, the ministers took only a superficial look at the summit agenda and the draft declaration to be issued on 2 March by the 15 EU member states and 10 Asian nations. Both sides want to increase their presence in the other's markets, so trade will top the agenda. A host of subjects are covered in the declaration, the draft of which promises that both sides will work together towards peace and stability, economic and social development, arms control and a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty. But it skirts sensitive issues that the Asians want to avoid, such as human rights, child labour, democratic reforms, and Indonesia's occupation of East Timor.

FOREIGN ministers agreed to spend 5 million ecu helping North Korea convert its nuclear programme from military to peaceful uses and to clean up dirty nuclear facilities. The money is part of an international effort called KEDO, the North Korean Peninsular Energy Development Organisation, which includes the US, Japan and South Korea. France wants the money tied to a promise from North Korea to buy “clean” technology from Europe, particularly from France. Italy and Germany want the money linked to efforts towards disarmament and nuclear safety. The ministers' decision should be formalised at the Asia-Europe summit this weekend.

EU governments have issued a condemnation of last Sunday's bomb attacks in Jerusalem and Ashqelon, for which the Islamic extremist group Hamas claimed responsibility. The Union called on the Palestinian Authority and its leader Yasser Arafat to step up their efforts to fight terrorism.

THE EU has also condemned Fidel Castro's air force for shooting down two light aircraft belonging to a Cuban exile organisation. It called for an immediate investigation into the shooting which led to four deaths, and said “irrespective of the circumstances, there can be no excuse for not respecting international law and human rights norms”.