WRITTEN QUESTION E-2213/02 by Karin Junker (PSE) to the Commission. Support for Oxfam's Make Trade Fair campaign.
Date: 2002-07-22
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: ACP countries, World Trade Organisation, common commercial policy, common tariff policy, cooperation policy, developing countries, fair trade, intellectual property, medicinal product, pharmaceutical industry, right to health, tariff negotiations

C 242 E/12

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

9.10.2003

(2003/C 242 E/017)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2213/02

by Karin Junker (PSE) to the Commission

(22 July 2002)

Subject: Support for Oxfam’s ‘Make Trade Fair’ campaign

On 11 April 2002 Oxfam launched its ‘Make Trade Fair’ campaign. This is a campaign by which Oxfam is
seeking to facilitate access to European markets for poorer countries.

One of its demands is for the foundation of a new institution which will promote distribution and prevent
oversupply,
in order to boost prices to a fair level and ensure that this pricing is not subverted by
agreements.

This should be accompanied by guaranteed access to new technology, and in particular to basic medicines,
partly through the democratisation of the WTO.

Hitherto the Commission has given Fair Trade activities a rather low priority.

I should therefore like to ask the Commission whether, and if so in what form, it is supporting or intends
to support Oxfam’s ‘Make Trade Fair’ campaign, particularly in the context of ACP cooperation.

Answer given by Mr Lamy on behalf of the Commission

(8 October 2002)

The Union was at the forefront of the promotion of a new trade round, which was successfully launched
last November 2001 in Doha. The declared scope of this round is to foster the integration of developing
countries in the world economy. Following the launch of the round, negotiations are ongoing in Geneva to
reach that result and the outcome of these negotiations will certainly improve the access of developing
countries’ products to the European market. To this end, however, it should be noted that the Union did
not wait for the new round in order to facilitate such access: the ‘Everything but arms’ initiative that was
launched beforehand basically opened the doors of the Union’s market to all the products originating in
the least developed countries.

While further access to the European and, possibly, other markets will be beneficial for the economies of
most developing countries, this may not be sufficient for those countries that mainly export commodities
as Oxfam rightly noted. The Commission is currently studying possible answers to this problem.

In the context of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations, the Commission also intends to
address the problems linked with access to new technologies including medicines and it has already
submitted its proposals in Geneva to this end.

With reference to improved access to medicines WTO Members agreed on a Declaration on the relation
between health issues and the Trade related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPs) Agreement in
Doha in November 2001: with regard to paragraph 6 in the Declaration the Community has proposed an
amendment to article 31 of the TRIPs Agreement.

At the same time the Commission will continue to act to foster the transparency of the WTO as showed
by the recently adopted decision of the WTO to facilitate the de-restriction of its documents.

In addition, the Commission intends to further the integration of developing countries in the world
economy also at the bilateral and regional levels including especially at the African, Caribbean and Pacific
States (ACP) level where, in compliance with the Cotonou Agreement, the Community and the ACP are
about to launch the negotiations of Economic Partnership Agreements.

As far as Fair trade activities are concerned, which private companies carry out, the Commission does and
will continue to support them while assuring the respect of its international obligations. Furthermore, the
Community is already actively engaged in international efforts to ensure that international commodity
markets operate more transparently and efficiently.

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Official Journal of the European Union

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Finally, since the launch of the campaign the Commission has been in regular contact with Oxfam through
meetings and seminars and has been studying their proposals. This dialogue has been constructive and
useful and will certainly continue throughout
the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) negotiations,
the Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations and beyond.

(2003/C 242 E/018)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2226/02

by Nuala Ahern (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(23 July 2002)

Subject: Grant for 2001 under Item B7-6200, Forests and Environment

Can the Commission confirm that it could not commit the entire appropriation for 2001 from Item
B7-6200, Forests and Environment, because of delays resulting from poor communication between DG
Development, DG Environment and the EuropeAid Cooperation Office services, with the result that the
resources allocated for sustainable management of
the forest ecosystems in Central Africa were
significantly reduced?

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(25 October 2002)

The Commission regrets that part of the 2001 appropriation for budget line B7-6200 could not be
committed. In fact, given the importance of the subject and the fact that certain proposals had almost
completed the approval procedure,
the services agreed the exceptional measure of carrying over
EUR 7 million of the allocated amount, which would otherwise have been lost to the programme.

The Commission fully recognises the importance of the ecosystems in Central Africa and continues to
support the conservation and sustainable management of the forests in the Congo Basin. In fact, the two
proposals for forest ecosystems in the Congo Basin which were not approved in 2001 have subsequently
been adopted, so the resources allocated to this region have not been significantly reduced.

(2003/C 242 E/019)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2246/02

by Glenys Kinnock (PSE) to the Commission

(23 July 2002)

Subject: Sudan

In view of the International Crisis Group’s latest report on Sudan, would the Commission agree that there
are a number of reasons for concern about recent developments in that country?

Are these concerns being raised with the Government of Sudan, and if so would the Commission clarify
exactly what issues are being raised and what the response has been?

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(22 August 2002)

The Commission is aware of the developments in Sudan and is particularly concerned about the escalation
of the fighting during the first half (dry season) of this year -which is partly due to the acquisition of new
weaponry by both sides (cid:1) and possibly the restriction of humanitarian access, as described in the
International Crisis Group (ICG) report of 27 June 2002.