More help for developing countries, September 2002

Developing countries should benefit more from trade under a Commission plan announced on 18 September 2002. The initiative focuses primarily on 'capacity-building' - helping developing countries to develop their own knowledge and skills, the idea being that those countries - especially the least developed ones - would then be better equipped to participate in international trade.

The Commission's Communication, 'Trade and Development: assisting developing countries to benefit from trade', highlights the important relationship between development, trade and the integration of developing countries into the world economy. It also suggests practical support which the European Union can give developing countries to help them get more out of the international trading system.

Activities which the Commission would be willing to support financially could include:

• developing products other countries want to import
• meeting international technical and phytosanitary standards
• dealing with certification, customs administration and processes
• protecting intellectual property rights

Although the Commission is keen to help developing countries to provide officials and negotiators with appropriate knowledge and skills, it also wants to see those countries improving the investment climate for businesses and trying to ensure that their poorer citizens can fully benefit from trade.

The EU's Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, Poul Nielson, emphasised the need to help countries help themselves: 'To support their fight against poverty, it is absolutely essential that we help developing countries get a fair share of the action. This will only work in the poorer countries with a permanent transfer of knowledge and capacity-building.'

This initiative is the latest of a number introduced by the EU in recent years to help developing countries. They include the Cotonou Agreement with the ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific states), 'Everything But Arms', and the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, under which debts can be cancelled provided certain conditions are met.

The 20-year Cotonou Agreement, signed in June 2000, covers politics, trade and development and amongst other things seeks to improve the policy framework for trade and investment development and to enhance cooperation in all areas important to trade. In the framework of the Cotonou Agreement, negotiations will start in September 2002 on Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the ACP countries, with the aim of improving the production, supply and trading capacity of ACP states, and their capacity to attract investment by gradually removing all the barriers to trade between them and the EU.

Under the February 2001 Everything But Arms (EBA) initiative, the least developed countries (LDCs) should gain free access to EU markets for most of their products by 2005. EBA was a response to concerns raised at the 1999 Millennium Round of trade talks, that developing countries were excluded from the benefits of trade liberalisation.

The Commission's latest announcement is also linked to WTO trade talks and other international concerns. The Doha Ministerial Meeting in November 2001 agreed a new WTO agenda which includes a commitment to helping developing countries and to address 'the particular vulnerability of least developed countries and the special structural difficulties they face in the global economy.' The EU aims to make significant progress on the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) before the 2003 WTO Ministerial Meeting in Cancun, Mexico.

The World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg also highlighted the need to support developing countries in their efforts to integrate effectively into the global trading system.

Speaking about the Commission's Communication, EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy said: '[last] year, the whole world community made some bold pledges about integrating all developing countries into the world economy when we launched the WTO Doha Development Agenda. Today's plan shows the EU is ready to make both Everything But Arms and the DDA a reality with a programme of trade-related technical assistance to help all developing countries gain effective access to global markets.'

Links:

European Commission:
	18.09.02: Commission agrees plan to boost developing countries' capacity to benefit from trade [IP/02/1324]

European Sources Online
	Topic Guide: EU-ACP relations
	Topic Guide: The external trade policy of the European Union
	In Focus: EU-ACP countries sign new Partnership Agreement ('Cotonou Agreement'), Benin, 23.6.00
	In Focus: EU to negotiate Economic Partnership Agreements with ACP countries
	In Focus: World Trade Organisation Fourth Ministerial Conference, Doha, Qatar, 9-13 November 2001

Eric Davies
KnowEurope Researcher
Compiled: Thursday, 19 September 2002

The European Commission adopted a Communication on 18 September 2002 entitled, 'Trade and Development: assisting developing countries to benefit from trade', which highlights the important relationship between development, trade and the integration of developing countries into the world economy.