Source: EURLEX
Language: en
Format: md

C 96/10 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 30.3.98

**MINUTES OF THE SITTING OF THURSDAY, 30 OCTOBER 1997**

(98/C 96/04)

IN THE CHAIR: Lord PLUMB

_Co-President_

_(The sitting opened at 9.13 a.m.)_

1. **Substitutes** IN THE CHAIR: Sir John KAPUTIN

_Co-President_
Lord Plumb, Co-President, announced the following
substitutes:
4. **Situation in certain countries or regions (continu-**
**ation)**
Mr Colom i Naval (for Mrs Sauquillo Pérez del Arco)

Mr Happart (for Mrs Dury) _Nigeria_

Mr Rocard (for Mrs Darras) The Representative of Nigeria introduced the debate.

Mr Bébéar (for Mrs Mouskouri)
The following spoke: Kinnock, the Representative of
Mrs Larive (for Mrs Neyts-Uyttebroeck) Niger, Maij-Weggen, the Representative of Ghana,
Bertens, the Representative of Benin, Cunningham, the
Mr Wiebenga (for Mr Nordmann) Representative of Sudan, Caccavale, the Representative
of Liberia, McGowan, the Representative of Chad,
Mrs Schörling (for Mr Telkämper)
Aelvoet, the Representative of Côte d’Ivoire, Sir John
Kaputin, Co-President and the Representative of NigMr Hory (for Mr Castagnède)
eria.
Mr Scarbonchi (for Mrs Kokkola)
Mr Robles Piquer spoke on a point of order.
Mr Fabre-Aubrespy (for Mr Andrews)

5. **Action taken by the Commission on the resolution**
**on infrastructure in ACP-EU cooperation, adopted**
2. **Working Group on the Future of ACP-EU relations** **on 28 September 1995 in Brussels.**
**— Statement on progress** **— General Rapporteur: Mrs Maij-Weggen**

After an introduction by Mr Theodorakis, Commission
The rapporteur of the working group, Mrs Kinnock, representative, the following spoke: Maij-Weggen and
made a statement. the Representative of Dominica.

Mr Theodorakis replied to the debate.
Mr Theodorakis, Commission Representative, spoke.

6. **Action taken on resolutions adopted by the Joint**
**Assembly at its 24th session (Brussels, 17-20 March**
3. **Action taken by the Commission on the resolution** **1997)**
**on the situation of refugees in ACP countries in the**
**context of humanitarian aid policy, adopted on**
A Commission document setting out the action taken
**20 March 1996 in Windhoek (Namibia)**
by the Commission on the resolutions adopted in

**[Chairman: Mr Kawonga (Malawi); Rapporteur:** Brussels was distributed to members.
**Mr Vecchi]**
Mr Theodorakis, Commission representative, made an
introductory statement.
The rapporteur, Mr Vecchi, introduced this item.
The following spoke: the Representative of Papua New
Guinea and the Representative of Niger.
The following spoke: Robles Piquer, Wiebenga and
Theodorakis, Commission representative. Mr Theodorakis replied to questions.

30.3.98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 96/11

7. **Preparation of the 22nd meeting with the representa-** AP/2274/COMP, replacing resolutions AP/2208,
**tives of the economic and social partners** AP/2221, AP/2244, AP/2248, AP/2250 and AP/2202, on
theinternationalUNmissiontotheDemocraticRepublic
of Congo. Following a request for a separate vote by
Mr Cissoko presented the results of the study carried
each group of representatives and by secret ballot, the
out by the economic and social partners on the dumping
ACPmembersrejected thecompromise resolution,while
of agricultural products in the ACP countries.
the EP members accepted it. The compromise resolution
was therefore rejected. Result of the secret ballot: ACP:
Mr Baeza, of the Economic and Social Committee,
4 for, 31 against and 3 abstentions (2 invalid votes); EP:
presented the joint declaration on integration of the
36 for, 1 against and 1 abstention (1 invalid vote).
ACP States into international trade adopted by the
economicandsocialpartnersattheir21stannualmeeting
(Brussels, 13-15 October). AP/2271/COMP, replacing resolutions AP/2214,
AP/2217, AP/2230 and AP/2256, on Nigeria. Following
Mr de Paul de Barchifontaine, of the Economic and a request for a separate vote by each group of representaSocial Committee, spoke. tives and by secret ballot, the ACP members rejected the
compromise resolution, while the EP members accepted
it. The compromise resolution was therefore rejected.
8. **Appointment of General Rapporteur for 1998** Result of the secret ballot: ACP: 15 for, 21 against and
2 abstentions (1 invalid vote); EP: 35 for and 3 against
Mr Weldegiorgis (Eritrea), Vice-President, was appoint- (1 invalid vote).
ed General Rapporteur.

AP/2267/COMP, replacing resolutions AP/2216 and
_(The_ _sitting_ _adjourned_ _at_ _1_ _p.m._ _and_ _resumed_ AP/2246, on the situation in Sierra Leone. The compromise resolution was adopted.
_at 3.10 p.m.)_

IN THE CHAIR: Lord PLUMB AP/2268/COMP, replacing resolution AP/2226, on
Mali. A request was made for a separate vote by each
_Co-President_ group of representatives. The following spoke: the
Representative of Mali, Fassa, and Chanterie. The
compromise resolution was adopted with one amend
ment.
9. **Consideration and vote on individual motions for**
**resolutions**
AP/2235 on the political situation in Equatorial Guinea.
AP/2273/COMP, replacing resolutions AP/2203, The following spoke: McGowan, Chanterie, Junker,
AP/2218, AP/2228 and AP/2253, on the situation in Cunningham, and Gröner. The adoption of the motion
Angola. A request was made for a separate vote by each for a resolution was held over.
group of representatives. The compromise resolution
was adopted with three amendments. AP/2236 on the situation in Cameroon. Following a
request for a separate vote by each group of representaAP/2277/COMP, replacing resolutions AP/2204, tives and by secret ballot, the ACP members rejected the
AP/2222, AP/2234, AP/2241, AP/2247, AP/2259 and compromise resolution, while the EP members accepted
AP/2261, on the situation in Congo-Brazzaville. The it. The motion for a resolution was therefore rejected.
compromise resolution was adopted with one amend
ment.
AP/2255 on South Africa. The motion for a resolution
AP/2275/COMP, replacing resolutions AP/2205, was adopted with six amendments.
AP/2232 and AP/2257, on Sudan. A request was made
for a separate vote by each group of representatives and AP/2264on southern Africa. The motionfor a resolution
by secret ballot. The following spoke: the Representative
was adopted.
of Sudan, McGowan, and Kinnock. The compromise
resolution was adopted with six amendments. Result of
the secret ballot: ACP: 23 for, 13 against and 1 abstention AP/2278/COMP, replacing resolutions AP/2211,
(1 invalid vote); EP: 35 for and 3 against (1 invalid vote). AP/2239, AP/2220 and AP/2251, on bananas. The
following spoke: the Representative of Dominica and
AP/2269/COMP, replacing resolutions AP/2206, Lannoye. The compromise resolution was adopted with
AP/2219 and AP/2260, on the situation in Togo. The three amendments.
Representative of Togo spoke. Following a request for
a separate vote by each group of representatives and by
AP/2262 on sugar. Mrs Maij-Weggen spoke. Following
secret ballot, the ACP members rejected the compromise
a request for a separate vote on recital H, the motion
resolution, while the EP members accepted it. The
for a resolution was adopted without that recital.
compromise resolution was therefore rejected. Result of
the secret ballot: ACP: 9 for, 27 against and 1 abstention
(1 invalid vote); EP: 26 for, 8 against and 1 abstention AP/2263 on rice. The motion for a resolution was
(1 invalid vote) adopted.

C 96/12 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 30.3.98

AP/2210 on measures to alleviate economic instability. Dominica
The following spoke: the Representative of Mauritius, Ethiopia
Chanterie, and Junker. The motion for a resolution was
Fiji
adopted with three amendments.
Liberia

AP/2270/COMP, replacing resolutions AP/2201, Mali
AP/2212, AP/2231, AP/2233, AP/2252 and AP/2265, on Solomon Islands
peace management and conflict resolution, including Tanzania
measures to ban anti-personnel mines. The following
Zimbabwe.
spoke: Chanterie and Happart. The compromise resolution was adopted with eight amendments.
11. **Other business**

AP/2272/COMP, replacing resolutions AP/2207,
The Representative of Côte d’Ivoire spoke requesting
AP/2209, AP/2223 and AP/2254, on Article 5 of the
an explanation.
Lomé Convention — its implementation, support for
human rights, democratic principles and good govern- MrCunninghamspokeonthequestionoftheratification
ance. The following spoke: Aldo and Junker. The of the accession of South Africa to the Convention.
compromise resolution was adopted with four amendments. Mr Davies, the Representative of South Africa
(observer), spoke.
AP/2258 on the organization of free and fair elections
Lord Plumb and Mr Bjornekaer, for the Council, said
in the ACP countries. The motion for a resolution was
that South Africa would become a full member of the
adopted with one amendment.
Joint Assembly as soon as the revised Lomé IV came
into force. It had been decided that the Co-Presidents
AP/2276/COMP, replacing resolutions AP/2213, would write to the President-in-Office of the Council to
AP/2227 and AP/2237, on population policy, reproask him to press the Member States which had not yet
ductivehealth,theHIVvirusandAIDS.Thecompromise
ratified the revised Convention to do so as soon as
resolution was adopted with six amendments.
possible.

AP/2266/COMP, replacing resolutions AP/2215,
12. **Date and place of next meeting**
AP/2224, AP/2225, AP/2229, AP/2245 and AP/2249, on
the implementation of the Rio Summit. The compromise The chairman announced that the next session of the
resolution was adopted with two amendments. Joint Assembly would be held from16 to 20 March 1998
in Mauritius.

10. **Membership of the Bureau of the Joint Assembly**
13. **Closure of meeting**

The ACP Group communicated the composition of its Lord Plumb, Co-President, thanked those responsible
new representation on the Bureau of the Joint Assembly: for the excellent organization of the session, as well as
all the staff who had contributed to the success of the
ACP Co-President: conference. He also thanked, on his behalf and that of
Hon. T.D. MOGAMI (Botswana). Sir John Kaputin, Co-President, the Government of
Togo for its hospitality, as well as the Government of
Mauritius for its offer to host the 26th session of the
ACP Vice-Presidents:
ACP-EU Joint Assembly.
Bahamas
Botswana Lord Plumb, Co-President, also thanked Sir John Kaputin, who was now standing down as Co-President, for
Cameroon his cooperation and his contribution throughout his
Chad term of office.

_(The session closed at 6.15 p.m.)_

Sir John KAPUTIN and Lord PLUMB N. P. MAGANDE and J. PRIESTLEY

_Co-Presidents_ _Co-Secretaries-General_

30.3.98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 96/13

_ANNEX I_

**ALPHABETICAL LIST OF MEMBERS OF THE ACP-EU JOINT ASSEMBLY**

**ACP representatives** **European Parliament**

ANGOLA AELVOET
ANTIGUA and BARBUDA ALDO

BAHAMAS AMADEO
BARBADOS ANDRÉ-LÉONARD

BELIZE ANDREWS

BENIN ANTONY

BOTSWANA BALDARELLI

BURKINA FASO BALDI

BURUNDI BALDINI

CAMEROON BEREND

CAPE VERDE BERTENS

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC BONTEMPI

CHAD CACCAVALE

COMOROS CARLOTTI
CONGO CARNERO GONZA [´ ] LEZ
CONGO DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC CASINI, Carlo
CO [ˆ ] TE D’IVOIRE CASTAGNÈDE
DJIBOUTI CHANTERIE
DOMINICA CORRIE

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC CUNHA
EQUATORIAL GUINEA CUNNINGHAM
ERITREA DARRAS

ETHIOPIA DURY
FIJI ESCUDERO
GABON FASSA
GAMBIA, THE FERNA [´ ] NDEZ MARTI [´] N
GHANA GARCI [´] A ARIAS

GRENADA GHILARDOTTI

GUINEA GILLIS
GUINEA-BISSAU GIRA [˜ ] O PEREIRA

GUYANA GLASE

HAITI GROENER
JAMAICA HUME
KENYA JUNKER
KIRIBATI KINNOCK

LESOTHO KOKKOLA

LIBERIA KUHN

MADAGASCAR LANNOYE

MALAWI MACARTNEY

MALI McGOWAN
MAURITIUS MAIJ-WEGGEN
MAURITANIA MIRANDA
MOZAMBIQUE MORRIS
NAMIBIA MOUSKOURI

NIGER NEYTS-UYTTEBROECK

NIGERIA NORDMANN

PAPUA NEW GUINEA PAASIO

RWANDA PETTINARI
ST KITTS and NEVIS Lord PLUMB

ST LUCIA PONS GRAU
ST VINCENT and THE GRENADINES van PUTTEN
SA [˜ ] O TOMÉ and PRI [´] NCIPE RACK

SENEGAL RASCHHOFER
SEYCHELLES ROBLES PIQUER
SIERRA LEONE SANDBÆK
SOLOMON ISLANDS SAUQUILLO PÉREZ DEL ARCO
SOMALIA SCHIEDERMEIER

SUDAN SCHMIDBAUER

SURINAME SCHWAIGER

SWAZILAND SOUCHET

TANZANIA STASI

C 96/14 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 30.3.98

TOGO TELKA [¨ ] MPER

TONGA THOMAS
TRINIDAD and TOBAGO TORRES COUTO

TUVALU VANHECKE

UGANDA VECCHI

VANUATU VERWAERDE

WESTERN SAMOA VIOLA

ZAMBIA WIELAND

ZIMBABWE WURTZ

_ANNEX II_

**RECORD OF ATTENDANCE**

KAPUTIN, Co-President (Papua New Guinea) Lord PLUMB, Co-President

MILONGO (Congo), VP KINNOCK, VP
SAFARI (Rwanda), VP VERWAERDE, VP
WELDEGIORGIS (Eritrea), VP JUNKER, VP
SHIDDO (Sudan), VP GILLIS, VP( [1] )( [2] )( [3] )
BAAH-DANGUAH (Ghana), VP PONS GRAU, VP
SOMPARE (Guinea), VP VECCHI, VP
LAURENT (Antigua and Barbuda), VP ROBLES PIQUER, VP
FADUL (Dominican Republic), VP
MPONDA (Zambia), VP AELVOET( [2] )( [3] )( [4] )
MANHOMBO (Zimbabwe), VP ALDO( [2] )( [3] )( [4] )
SISILO (Solomon Islands), VP ANDRÉ-LÉONARD
PEPSON (Papua New Guinea), VP BALDI
BÉBÉAR (for Mouskouri)( [2] )( [3] )
BORNITO DE SOUSA (Angola) BEREND( [3] )( [4] )
CHELTENHAM (Barbados) BERTENS( [3] )( [4] )
AMOUSSON (Benin) CACCAVALE( [3] )( [4] )
MOGAMI (Botswana) CARLOTTI( [2] )( [3] )
TRAORE (Burkina Faso) CASINI, Carlo( [3] )( [4] )
AMBASSA (Cameroon) CHANTERIE
KOSSI BELLA (Central African Republic) COLOM I NAVAL (for Sauquillo)( [3] )( [4] )
KASHAMURA (Congo Democratic Republic) CORRIE
AMOIKON (Côte d’Ivoire) CUNHA( [2] )( [3] )( [4] )
NORRIS (Dominica) ESCUDERO( [3] )( [4] )
FADUL (Dominican Republic) FABRE-AUBRESPY (for Andrews)( [3] )( [4] )
WELDEGIORGIS (Eritrea) FASSA( [3] )( [4] )
DAWIT (Ethiopia) GARCI [´] A ARIAS
BERENADO (Fiji) GHILARDOTTI
RAWIRI (Gabon) GRO [¨ ] NER
LEESAY (The Gambia) HAPPART (for Dury)( [2] )( [3] )( [4] )
BAAH-DANQUAH (Ghana) HORY (fo¨r Castagnède)
ALMADA CABRAL (Guinea-Bissau) KUHN
BERNARDIN (Haiti) LANNOYE
RAMTALLIE (Jamaica) LARIVE (for Neyts-Uyttebroeck)

( [1] ) Present on 27.10. 1997.
( [2] ) Present on 28.10.1997.
( [3] ) Present on 29.10.1997.
( [4] ) Present on 30.10.1997.

30.3.98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 96/15

MWANZIA (Kenya) MACARTNEY
MALIE (Lesotho) MCGOWAN
HOWARD (Liberia) MAIJ-WEGGEN( [1] )( [2] )
DIALLO (Mali) MORRIS
VALL (Mauritania) PAASIO( [3] )( [1] )( [2] )
PARFAIT (Mauritius) ROCARD (for Darras)( [3] )( [1] )( [2] )
DOS MUCHANGOS (Mozambique) SANDBÆK
MATJILA (Namibia) SCARBONCHI (for Kokkola)
KANE (Niger) SCHIEDERMEIER( [4] )( [3] )( [1] )
ADEGBAYO (Nigeria) SCHMIDBAUER
KARANI (Papua New Guinea) SCHO [¨ ] RLING (for Telka¨mper)
MUHONGAYIRE (Rwanda) SOUCHET
SITAI (Solomon Islands) STASI( [3] )( [1] )( [2] )
DIAGNE (Senegal) TORRES COUTO
SHIDDO (Sudan) VIOLA( [1] )( [2] )
van RITTER (Suriname) WIEBENGA (for Nordmann)
DLAMINI (Swaziland) WURTZ( [4] )( [3] )
MAGANI (Tanzania)
ABAKAKA (Chad)
PÉRÉ (Togo)
GORDON (Trinidad and Tobago)
NTAMBI (Uganda)
MPONDA (Zambia)
MUKWEKWEZEKE (Zimbabwe)

**Observers:**

_South Africa:_

DAVIES, GRAAF, MBUYAZI, SETLHAPELO, JACOBS

**Apologies:**

_European Parliament:_

AMADEO, ANTONY, BALDARELLI, BALDINI, BONTEMPI, CARNERO GONZA [´ ] LEZ, CUNNINGHAM,FERNA [´ ] NDEZMARTI [´] N,GIRA [˜ ] OPEREIRA,GLASE,HUME,MIRANDA,PETTINARI, van PUTTEN, RACK, RASCHHOFER, SCHWAIGER, THOMAS, VANHECKE, WIELAND

_ACP States:_

ANTIGUA and BARBUDA, BAHAMAS, BELIZE, CAPE VERDE, COMOROS, EQUATORIAL
GUINEA, GRENADA, GUYANA, KIRIBATI, MADAGASCAR, MALAWI, SA [˜ ] O TOMÉ and
PRI [´] NCIPE, SEYCHELLES, SIERRA LEONE, SOMALIA, TONGA, TUVALU, VANUATU,
WESTERN SAMOA

( [1] ) Present on 29.10.1997.
( [2] ) Present on 30.10.1997.
( [3] ) Present on 28.10.1997.
( [4] ) Present on 27.10. 1997.

C 96/16 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 30.3.98

Also present:

ACP:

**ANGOLA** **GABON** **MALI**

JOA [˜ ] O MANUEL BARRADA MARTIN REKANGALT MAMADOU GAKOU
DOMINGOS TUNGA MARCELLIN MVE-EVANG MAMADOU SANTARA
MARCELINA JOA [˜ ] O ZANGUI CAPITAINE RANDZINAULT ISSA DIALLO
JOSÉ GUERREIRO ALVES ADRIEN MBUMBE-KING ASSARIK AG IMBARCA
PRIMO PAUL BIYOGHEMBA

BRITO SOZINHO MBOU-YEMBI **MAURITANIA**

MANUEL GOMES DOS SANTOS NGOYE MALOUMBI
SY HAMATH
ALVARO CAPINGANA
CAMBIRE **GAMBIA, THE**
ALBERTO CABONGO **MAURITIUS**
KAUSA GIBBA
PARRWIZ CASSIM HOSSEN
**ETHIOPIA** HASSAN JALLOW A.S. PAUL EYNAUD
GÉO GOVINDEN
DENBERN ALEMU **GHANA**
S. GUNESSEE
PETER G. ROBLEH
SIMON K. KUTSOATI

NOVISI ABAIDOO **NAMIBIA**
**BENIN**
GENEVIEVE ADIH
S. WOHLER
SALIOU ABOUDOU D. ANAGLATE
CHINCOUN ALBERT
**NIGER**
SANSUAMON ALBERT **GUINEA**
ASSOUMA NOUHOAM MOUMOUN I ADAMOU
SOGLO GUY SAYA KEITA DJERMAKOYE
GNONLONFOUN ISIDORE B. KOUMBIA DIALLO ISSAKA SOUMAILA
SABI SARÉ OUMAR DIARTO KARANTA

HOUSSEINI ABDOU-SALEYE
**BOTSWANA** **GUINEA BISSAU** MAMADOU MAMANE

M.T. MOAGI RUI MENDES
**NIGERIA**
T.G. RAMODIMOOSI

A.B. GAOBOTSE **HAITI** S.A.D. OLISA

E.A. OMIOSO
PAUL DENIS
**BURKINA FASO** V.S. OKOBI
ERNST PEDRO CASSEUS
D.N. SHEMI
KANIDOUA NABOHO JULES REYNOLD
J.O. OUVMLEYE
XAVIER NIODOGO YOLETTE AZOR-CHARLES
D.A. DAMA
BENOIT LOUIS KAMBIRE
J.J. MAGEKODUNUMI
BOUBACAR KOTE **JAMAICA** O.M. ONI
KASSOUM COULISALLY
CLAUDIA BARNES MUNIR HOHAMMED
OUEDRAOGO
H. MBA
**CO** **[ˆ ]** **TE D’IVOIRE** **CAMEROON** A. SARKIR

BAH OUMAROU
BRAKANON **PAPUA NEW GUINEA**
MAMADOU BAMBA
BLÉDOU KONAN **CONGO** LAHUI AKO
ANDREW TUMBU
E. THIEMELE DELPHIN BANZA H.
BOUABRÉ MADI MUKEYA KYAMWIMBI
OURAGA KAKO KABEYA-TSHIPATA **RWANDA**
ALEXIS AMICHIA BALUMUENE STANLEY SAFARI
ANET NZI SAIDI NYAMANGA ALPHONSE FURUMA
AKA KOUADIO BALUMWENE NKUNA DEUS KAGIRANEZA

KANIKI TSHIAKATUMBA
**DOMINICA** **SENEGAL**
CHARLES NORRIS **LESOTHO** DABY DIAGNE

MOHASOANE P. IBA DER THIAM
**DOMINICAN REPUBLIC** MASENYETSE M. PAPE SEMON NIONG

ANTONIO ABREU N. MAEMA NOURON DIABAKHAL
P. NZIMA NTSEKHE JABRUM KANDE
**FIJI**
**LIBERIA** **SUDAN**
AHMED ALI

KALIOPATE TAVOLA ROLAND C. KAINE ADI SEVERINO AMBROSE
ROSS LIGAIRI J.C.N. HOWARD ABDEL WAHAB ELSAWI
K.M. NAILATIKAU JAMES KABBA KHALAFALLA KHALID

30.3.98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 96/17

**SURINAME** TESSIL BONTCHI JMC MUSENGE
MOUMOUNI AGOUDA
RAMDIEN SARDJOE
FAMBARÉ NATCHARA
SHRIDHAR D. RAMKHELA- **ZIMBABWE**
KURAWU AIDAM
WAN
YAWOUI GBONE
S. MUMBENGEGWI
**SWAZILAND** KATANGA TCHA T. CHIRINDA
KAFIM KPEGBA-DZOTSI J.T. MTHETHWA
THEMBAYENA DLAMINI DAMA DRAMANI
H. MAGUMISE
CLEMENT MABUZA ATCHO ELIOT LAWSON
C. KURUNERI

GIFT KAMUSEWO
**TANZANIA** **CHAD**
NATHAN M. SHAMUYWILLBROAD SLAA OUSMAN MAHAMAT ARIRA
ALI A. KARUME BOUKAR
BEN M. KAIJAGE MALA N’DAHA DJONE
**CENTRAL AFRICAN**
**TOGO** **ZAMBIA** **REPUBLIC**

JOSEPH KOFFIGOH I.Z. CHABALA DJIM ANEM MAITART

**ACP-EU COUNCIL OF MINISTERS**

Mr WOHLFART President-in-Office of the Council of the European Union
Mr SHAMUYARIRA President-in-Office of the ACP Council of Ministers

**EUROPEAN COMMISSION**

Mr PINHEIRO Commissioner responsible for External Relations — ACP, South Africa
and Lomé

**ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE**

Mr Danny MEYER Chairman, ACP Conference of National Chambers of Commerce and
Other Economic Operators (Zimbabwe)
Mr Kertist AUGUSTUS Secretary-General, Caribbean Labour Congress
Mr Mamadou CISSOKHO National Coordinator, National Rural Conciliation Committee
(Senegal)
Mr Ramon BAEZA Coordinator, Community Policy Department, Workers’ Commissions
Trade Union Confederation (CC.OO) (Spain)
Mr Etienne de PAUL
de BARCHIFONTAINE Secretary-General, Belgian Farmers’ Alliance

**TECHNICAL CENTRE FOR AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT AND COOPERATION (TCA)**

BURGUET

FONSECA

**ORGANIZATION OF AFRICAN UNITY (OAU)**

LEBA WAWA OSSAY Director, Brussels Office

C 96/18 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 30.3.98

_ANNEX III_

**RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED**

Page

— on the importance of the UN World Conferences of 1990 to 1996 for cooperation between the
EuropeanUnionandthe ACPStates inthe contextof the LoméConvention(ACP-EU/2197/fin.) 19

— on ACP-EU cooperation on climate change and the Third Conference of the Parties to the
Framework Convention on Climate Change (Kyoto, December 1997) (ACP-EU 2190/97/fin.) 30

— on ACP-EU cooperation in the fisheries sector beyond the year 2000 (ACP-EU 2187/97/fin.) 32

— on the situation in Angola (ACP-EU/2273/97/fin.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

— on the situation in Congo-Brazzaville (ACP-EU 2277/97/fin.) . . . . . . . . . . . 38

— on Sudan (ACP-EU 2275/97/fin.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

— on the situation in Sierra Leone (ACP-EU 2267/97/fin.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

— on Mali (ACP-EU 2268/97/fin.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

— on South Africa (ACP-EU 2255/97/fin.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

— on Southern Africa (ACP-EU 2264/97/fin.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

— on bananas (ACP-EU 2278/97/fin.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

— on Sugar (ACP-EU 2262/97/fin.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

— on rice (ACP-EU 2263/97/fin.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

— on measures to alleviate economic instability (ACP-EU 2210/97/fin.) . . . . . . . . 53

— on peace management and conflict resolution, including measures to ban anti-personnel mines
(ACP-EU 2270/97/fin.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

— on Article 5 of Lomé IV — its implementation, support for human rights, democratic principles
and good governance (ACP-EU 2272/97/fin.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

— on the organization of free and transparent elections in the ACP countries (ACP-EU
2258/97/fin.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

— on demographic policy, reproductive health and HIV/AIDS (ACP-EU 2276/97/fin.) . . . 60

— on the follow-up to the Rio Earth Summit (ACP-EU 2266/97/fin.) . . . . . . . . . 64

30.3.98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 96/19

**RESOLUTION(** [1] )

**on the importance of the UN World Conferences of 1990 to 1996 for cooperation between the**
**European Union and the ACP States in the context of the Lomé Convention**

_The ACP-EU Joint Assembly,_

— meeting in Lomé from 27 to 31 October 1997,

— having regard to the general report on the importance of the UN World Conferences of 1990 to
1996 for cooperation between the European Union and the ACP States in the context of the
Lomé Convention (ACP-EU/2197/97/A/fin.),

— having regard to its resolution of 22 March 1990 on the World Conference on compulsory
schooling for all (Jomtien/Thailand),

— having regard to the resolution of 20 February 1992 on the consequences for the ACP-EU States
of the UN Conference on the environment and development,

— having regard to the resolutions of 1 October 1992 on the results of the Rio Conference and on
the environment and development,

— having regard to the resolution of 2 February 1995 on the results of the International Conference
on population and development held in Cairo,

— having regard to the resolutions of 2 February 1995 on the World Summit on social development
in Copenhagen (March 1995),

— having regard to the resolution of 28 September 1995 on the results of the social summit held
in Copenhagen,

— having regard to the resolution of 1 April 1993 on the contribution of the ACP-EU Joint
Assembly to the United Nations World Conference on Women,

— having regard to the resolutions of 2 February and 28 September 1995 on the Fourth World
Conference on Women held in Beijing,

— having regard to the resolution of 20 March 1996 on the actions to be taken in respect of the
platform of the UN World Conference on Women (Beijing, September 1995),

— having regard to its resolutions of 22 March 1990 on the protection of the tropical rainforests
and the environment,

— having regard to its resolutions of 28 February 1991, 20 February 1992 and 2 February 1995 on
the debt burden of ACP States and on the connection between development, indebtedness,
poverty and disarmament of 20 February 1992,

— having regard to its resolutions of 1 October 1992 and 2 February 1995 on desert encroachment,

— having regard to its resolution of 1 October 1992 on the greenhouse effect,

— having regard to its resolution of 30 March 1993 on democracy, human rights and development
in the ACP States,

— having regard to its resolution of 17 February 1994 on sustainable development,

— having regard to the resolution of 2 February 1995 on the first conference of the signatories to
the framework convention on climatic change (Berlin, 28 March to 7 April 1995),

— having regard to the resolution of 28 September 1995 on ACP-EU cooperation in the field of
the infrastructure,

— having regard to its resolution of 20 March 1996 on industrial development in the ACP
countries,

— having regard to the resolution of 20 March 1996 on the specific role of women in development
cooperation and on the trade in women,

( [1] ) Adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Assembly on 29 October 1997 in Lomé (Togo).

C 96/20 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 30.3.98

— having regard to its resolutions of 28 September 1995 and 20 March and 26 September 1996 on
the small island states of the ACP — climatic change and the environment,

— having regard to its resolution of 20 March 1997 on urban development in the ACP countries,

A. having regard to the results of the World Conference on Education for All held in
Jomtien/Thailand and the World Summit on Children held in New York in 1990,

— having regard to the objective of creating the basic preconditions for the education of
everyone by the Year 2000, which should allow 80 % of all children to enjoy primary
education,

— having regard to the continuing disadvantages suffered by women and girls as regards access
to education in the ACP countries,

— having regard to the fact that the survival of millions of children is jeopardized by hunger,
disease, violent conflict, social exclusion and environmental disaster and that, even in the
1990s, over one million children are still dying of easily preventable diseases each month
and whereas the World Summit on Children formulated standards for a fundamental
improvement in the living conditions of children which have, however, only been
implemented to a limited degree,

B. having regard to the results of the UN Conference for the Environment and Development held
in Rio in 1992, and in particular the Agenda 21 adopted at this conference and the declaration
on the principles of the environment and development, the UN framework convention on
climatic change, the statement of principles on forests and the convention on the preservation
of the diversity of species and also the first follow-up conference on sustainable development
among the small developing island states held in Barbados in 1994,

— whereas the most important sectoral and supra-sectoral areas for development cooperation
have been set out in Agenda 21, and those include notably selfhelp oriented measures to
address poverty, education, family planning and the protection ofthe environment, resources
and the promotion of tropical forests,

— having regard to the progressive ecological burden on ACP and EU States which is increasing
in the ACP States, inter alia, owing to the continuing population growth and the strain this
imposes on the environment and on infrastructures,

— having regard to the signature by the EU and the ACP countries of the Convention on
Biodiversity; whereas most of the planet’s biodiversity is concentrated in the countries of
the South, especially the ACP countries,

— having regard to the hole in the ozone layer which is becoming larger by the year and which
poses an increasing threat to both the local population and nature in the southern and
northern regions of the world,

— having regard to the phenomenon of global warming which is changing the climate,
promoting desert encroachment, causing the sea level to rise and triggering natural disasters
in various parts of the world,

— having regard to the specific situation of island states whose very existence is threatened by
global warming,

C. having regard to the results of the Human Rights Conference held in Vienna in 1993, and in
particular the adoption of the principle of the universality of human rights and the principle
that women’s rights are human rights,

— stressing the principle that restrictions on individual freedoms cannot be justified by the
demands made by the development process,

— recognizing that citizens have rights, as well as duties, vis-a-vis their community and state,

— endorsing the principle that the right to development is also a human right,

— expecting that ethnic, religious, cultural, traditional, gender-specific and political differences
will not be used as a pretext for repression and discrimination,

30.3.98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 96/21

— having regard to the continuing massive human rights violations and the absence of
democratization in certain ACP States,

D. having regard to the results of the Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo in
1994, and in particular the action programme which provides a new basis for international
cooperation in the field of population and development,

— recognizing that sustainable development is only possible if the population growth slows
down,

— noting the above-average mother and child mortality in a large number of ACP countries,

— alarmed at the inadequate health care provided for pregnant women and babies and
overwhelming problems connected with reproductive health,

— having regard to the totally inadequate birth and family planning facilities in a large number
of ACP countries,

E. with regard to the millions of women in ACP States who would use contraceptives if information
and services were widely available,

F. having regard to the results of the World Summit for Social Development held in Copenhagen
in 1995 and the follow-up meeting of 1996 held in Oslo, and in particular the emphasis placed
on the fight against poverty as a focus for all development efforts, the 20:20 initiative and the
definition of basic social services,

— endorsing the definition agreed on in Oslo that basic social services include elementary
education, basic health services — including reproductive health and birth and family
planning — security of food and drinking water supplies, sewage disposal and the creation
of the necessary institutional facilities to achieve this objective, and that they thus constitute
the yardstick for measuring social development,

— recognizing the essential role played by women in all the above-mentioned areas and the
need to strengthen their possibility for playing this role fully,

— alarmed at the poor standard of these basic services in a number of ACP countries and the
concomitant level of poverty obtaining there,

— having regard to the burden of debt borne by ACP countries which hinders development,

— having regard to the dramatic consequences of corruption on the economic and political
situation in ACP countries,

G. having regard to the results of the World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995, and in
particular the recognition of the concept of sexual self-determination,

— recognizing the negotiating successes achieved in Beijing through the support of delegations
from the ACP countries, and notably from Africa,

— aware of the importance which the implementation of the Beijing action platform also
assumes for the ACP countries,

— acknowledging that without the equal participation of women in the development process
and without the strengthening of women’s rights no progress can be made in development,

— concerned, however, at the extent to which women are disadvantaged in society, the family,
the economy and in political life,

— concerned at the extent of violence against women and the restrictions on sexual
self-determination and the widespread practice of genital mutilation,

— acknowledging the importance of the economic contribution by women — especially in the
informal sector,

C 96/22 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 30.3.98

H. having regard to the results of the Habitat II Conference held in Istanbul in 1996, and in
particular the principle of sustainable urban development and the right to adequate housing as
a human right,

— awaiting the implementation of the Habitat Agenda with its global action plan and the
Istanbul Declaration on human settlements,

— recognizing specifically the particular role played by towns and municipalities and the
principles of communal self administration in successful urban development policies,

— convinced that the independent participation of municipal and regional authorities can
make an important contribution towards the positive development of civil society,

I. having regard to the results of the World Summit on Combating Hunger held in Rome in 1996,
and above all the action plan which is intended to help halve the number of starving people in
the world — which is currently set at 840 million — by the year 2015,

— aware that a stable political, economic and social climate is also conducive to safety of food
supplies,

— aware that existing food production could prevent hunger and malnutrition in the world,
but that owing to the uneven distribution of resources there exists a grotesque imbalance
between superfluity and scarcity,

— aware that the absence of development strategies for rural areas means that food supplies
are inadequate, as regards both the quantity and nutritional quality of the food produced,

— acknowledging the important role played by women in agriculture and as providers of food,

J. having regard to the right of communities to a healthy and sufficient diet, which must be
guaranteed via policies to encourage self-sufficiency in food on the basis of production aimed
primarily at the local and regional markets;

**General demands**

1. The Joint Assembly calls on the governments of ACP and EU States, the Commission and the
Council of Ministers carefully to examine the results of the UN World Conferences and to orient
their policies according to the demands set out therein; in particular efforts should be made to
implement the demands made in the action programmes and platforms in ACP-EU cooperation
and the necessary resources should also be made available for this purpose.

2. It calls for a policy to secure the future of the globe and the establishment of an efficient
coordination management system which takes into account the interests of all policy areas, with
the participation of state and non-state, national and international players alike.

3. Despite laudable beginnings, neither the EU nor the ACP have made much progress with the
‘homework’ issued at the UN conferences; as time goes by, the objectives are watered down,
postponed or discarded. The lack of coordination in individual policy areas makes it impossible to
achieve the necessary consistency. It is therefore indispensable, with a view to securing the
attainment of the conference objectives, to organize practical cooperation within the framework
of the Lomé Convention in such a way as to satisfy the pressure for implementation.
Non-governmental organizations, circles of experts and representatives of civil society should be
adequately involved.

4. Joint efforts should be made to draw up specific social regionally-differentiated and consistent
development plans which are staggered over a period of time and tailored to the particular level of
development and problems in each case: this is how Lomé cooperation should respond to the issues
raised by the UN conferences. This calls for development plans in the following areas:

— education for all;

— the protection of children and children’s rights;

— the environment and development;

— respect for human rights, democratic principles and good governance;

— population and development;

30.3.98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 96/23

— social development;

— the equality of women in political, economic and social life and in the family;

— the future of the cities;

— security of food supplies;

— jobs at a fair rate of pay.

There are many key concerns which go beyond individual topics — for example, combating poverty
must always remain central — and so all the individual plans must dovetail and be coordinated.

5. While the North has to a large extent forgotten how to live in balance with nature, poverty
is pushing the South in the same direction. There can be no sustainable development without peace
with nature. The driving forces behind ACP cooperation are therefore urged to come together and
embark on a learning process in order to develop and implement concepts by pooling experience
and findings so as to counter dangerous global trends, such as the destruction of the environment,
climatic change, population pressure, hunger and poverty, flows of refugees and civil wars and
ethnic conflicts with a strategy for sustainability. The North and the South are both, in their own
way, responsible for, and the victims of, those trends. Both sides must be prepared to learn in a
spirit of partnership in order to secure the future of the globe.

6. The funding programmes of all the donor countries can only prove effective and lead to
lasting development if adequate attention is paid to the social and ecological dimensions. All
measures to secure the future of the globe should therefore comprise a development compatibility
test to ensure that the requirement of sustainability and of consistency of the various EU policies is
satisfied, notably in order to avoid clashes between agricultural, financial, trade and development
policy.

7. The primacy of the sustainable development objective must be affirmed and transposed into
the statutes and policies of the international institutions and the agreements governing world trade.

8. Development policy has sofar neglectedcooperationwith the privatesector. Statedevelopment
policy and private entrepreneurial interests should complement, rather than oppose each other.
Private capital and management skills must be used for the benefit of development. Favourable
economic framework conditions depend, however, on the willingness of undertakings to guarantee
minimum ILO standards. The Commission is called on to draw up a draft business code of conduct
based on those minimum standards. Direct investments by the economy in the developing countries
can pay substantial development dividends: for example, the promotion of the local business
community, the creation and preservation of jobs, training and further training, infrastructure
developments, the diversification of economic structures, environmentally friendly consequences
through modernization and the use of new technologies. Efforts must therefore be taken to
encourage a greater commitment by undertakings in the ACP countries. In particular an
export offensive for environmentally-friendly technologies for wind and solar energy (including
photo-voltaic systems), the substitution of FHCs, small-scale hydro-electric plants and other
renewable sources of energy must be promoted.

9. The existing structures of ACP cooperation must be thoroughly scrutinized to ascertain
whether they can do justice to the implementation requirements with which they are faced following
the UN conferences. With a view to establishing permanent interdisciplinary dialogue with the
ACP States, the European institutions and private development cooperation bodies (all kinds of
non-governmental organization, churches, political and social foundations, associations and
societies) to devise ‘tailor-made’ plans for individual countries, sectors and regions should be
devised. Civil society must be widely involved in the practical implementation of these plans.

10. In particular in ordertoraise the funds tosecure basicservices and the necessary infrastructure
projects, including servicing, repair and maintenance work, provision must be made for budgetary
aid which should, however, not be reserved solely for central distribution, but also be distributed
at the responsibility of communal and regional authorities.

**Culture and science**

11. Access to elementary education should be treated as a priority objective of the national
policies of the ACP States and a priority element in ACP/EU cooperation; particular efforts must
be made to ensure education for girls and women.

C 96/24 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 30.3.98

12. The proportion of European Development Fund resources allocated to education must be
increased. Priority must be given to elementary education and steps taken to guarantee the
continuous funding of teaching staff and material in the long term.

13. In remote and sparsely-populated regions, particularly in the Sahel area and in sub-Saharan
Africa, regular elementary education must be provided everywhere by the use of mobile forms of
teaching and the extension of home schools.

14. The teaching of basic professional qualifications which can be developed later is also
important: attention should focus on the development of manual skills and intelligence training.
The notion of vocational education should be revalued as an essential and extremely worthwhile
element within general education. Girls and women must be involved to the same extent as young

men.

15. The Commission’s communication on research policy in the developing countries offers an
appropriate means of improving the status of research and technological development (RTD) in
the ACP countries and making them a key element in sustainable development. Efforts must be
stepped up to boost the scientific and technological potential in ACP countries and to encourage
closer coordination between economic and technical cooperation on the one hand and scientific
and technological cooperation, on the other in order thereby to reduce the deficit in economic,
social and political sciences and engineering and to put the ACP countries in a better position to
succeed in an increasingly global economy.

16. The EU institutions are urged to take into account development policy aspects in charting
out economic and technological cooperation in the framework research programme. The
Commission, in particular, is called on to submit a global report on the state of R&TD in the ACP
countries with a view to evaluating the problems to be dealt with in those countries and the
potential points of support for research in this field.

**Children’s rights**

17. Due importance should be accorded to the situation of children when the Lomé Convention
is revised: provision should be made for practical measures for basic care in the fields of education,
training, health care and nutrition and to combat child labour, since child labour takes its toll on
the physical and psychological health of children, prevents them enjoying education, thus blighting
their prospects for the future.

18. The governments of the ACP countries are urged to introduce or enforce compulsory
schooling and to develop suitable forms of teaching, for example mobile schools, for particularly
disadvantaged regions.

19. The share of European Development Fund resources allocated to health care must be
increased in favour of measures aimed in particular at reducing child mortality and improving
reproductive health: these include information campaigns on the very serious consequences of the
sexual mutilation of girls and women which leads to life-long suffering and even results in death in

many cases.

**The Environment**

20. The recommendations for action made at Rio must not be reduced merely to environmental
issues. Like the results of all the other major UN conferences, they also involve addressing social,
economic and ecological matters, since a multi-faceted problem calls for a multi-faceted solution.

21. One priority objective must be to identify and use alternative, renewable forms of energy in
order to reduce the wastage of energy, to cut back pollution and to save the forests. Both the EU
and the ACP countries are urged to do everything within their power to ensure that, at the climate
conference in Kyoto, the governments of the participating countries make a binding commitment
under international law drastically to reduce greenhouse gases, in accordance with the declaration
signed by 102 Nobel Prize winners.

22. The EU and the ACP countries are urged, jointly and with the participation of the political
class, civil society and non-governmental organizations, to set up regionally-specific environmental
development plans with a realistic time schedule and to monitor implementation thereof.

30.3.98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 96/25

23. The key problem facing many ACP countries in Africa is progressive desert encroachment
which calls for increased aid from the EU Member States and presupposes a willingness on the part
of the ACP countries to target hunger, poverty and the rural exodus, the main causes of the loss of
25 billion tonnes of fertile soil yearly throughout the world.

24. In undertaking the durable environmentally-friendly infrastructure planning that is needed,
alteration must be paid not only to economic efficiency, economic benefit and the protection of the
natural resources, but — above all — to matters of daily concern to people in the regions concerned,
who for example, need transport to the markets or schools or depend on the extension of social
infrastructures.

25. In implementing infrastructure measures in the ACP countries, attention must of course be
paid to environmental concerns, etc., but above all steps must be taken to ensure that the follow-up
costs are covered and that long-term provision is made to maintenance, servicing, repair and
controls. In the case of traffic infrastructure measures, special attention must be paid to questions
of traffic safety. In particular, the requirements of air safety must be satisfied by frankly
acknowledging current shortcomings and developing an air safety plan which can be realized with
EU resources and know-how as rapidly as possible.

26. The ACP countries are exhorted to develop socially acceptable tax and levy systems and to
use the revenue thereby generated to set up reserves for maintenance and servicing work etc, and a
reserve fund to provide aid in the case of natural or other disasters.

27. The Member States of the European Union are urged to follow the positive example set by
the Netherlands and to bind their bilateral cooperation with ACP countries to agreements which
involve a commitment both to sustained development policy measures in the developing countries
and to a more sparing use of raw materials in the Northern countries. The governments of all
partners to the Convention are urged to review their legal provisions and other measures in all
internal and external policy fields in the light of sustainability.

**Human Rights**

28. People have civil and political rights which are not influenced by the level of development,
and economic, social and cultural rights which are partly dependent on economic contingencies.
Basic civil rights and freedoms and social human rights complement each other and must pursue
the same objectives. Each person must be able to exercise his rights in his country of origin and
residence. Fundamental conclusions of the World Conferences such as the confirmation of the
universal validity of human rights in Vienna in 1993 and sexual and reproductive self-determination
of women in Beijing in 1995 must not be relativized. No country has the right to question
fundamental human rights in the light of temporary financial or economic difficulties.

29. The protection of minorities and respect for human rights which apply likewise to children,
women and men, without regard to gender, race, skin colour, religious belief, world view or sexual
orientation, must be the lodestar of ACP cooperation. They include equal rights and equal scope
for participation, within the meaning of the UN Conventions and the decisions taken at the UN
Conferences. ACP cooperation must provide a lively forum for an intercultural dialogue which can
contribute towards promoting tolerance and openness and eliminating misguided patterns of
behaviour.

30. All ACP and EU states are urged to sign, ratify and implement the most important protocols,
conventions charters and declarations of the United Nations, the IAO and the OAU in the field of
human rights. The European Union should support those ACP countries which have ratified
international conventions in the field of human rights in taking the necessary measures immediately
to implement these conventions.

31. As part of national and regional guideline programmes and the countervalue fund, generous
resources should be made available to provide feeding programmes in the field of human rights
and democracy for the authorities, the police, the army, the general public, journalists and human
rights organisations.

C 96/26 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 30.3.98

**Population and Development**

32. Any population policy which seeks exclusively to limit population growth is condemned to
failure, as sufficient examples prove. As the threshold countries show, trends in birth rates depend,
to a large extent, on general development factors. The best population policy is therefore a
development policy which embraces economic development, the strengthening of the position of
women, the spread of education — especially for girls —, the consolidation of domestic and
external peace and a stable political and social order based on justice. Within this framework, steps
must be taken to provide sex education and consultancy services —including for young people —
and health services, including generalized access to free contraceptives; these services must be
tailored to the particular regions, i.e. take the form of mobile services.

33. The ACP and EU countries are urged to document their activities so far in this field, including
present data, and, on the basis of the resultant findings, to present an action plan in keeping
with the Cairo resolutions containing practical implementation measures. The inclusion of
non-governmental organisations and the active involvement of civil society is indispensable in this
sphere.

34. ACP countries are encouraged to ensure that reproductive health care programmes do not
exclude the reproductive needs of under-served groups, such as refugees and displaced populations
ad adolescents. Programmes should also take into account the vulnerability of these groups to
sexual and gender-based violence.

**Social development**

35. ACP cooperation can be developed as a model for an international social order and
environmental policy to promote standards for international law, human rights, world trade and
an effective world monetary and financial order, including comprehensive debt relief for the poorest
developing countries, and to incorporate minimum social and ecological standards to a greater
extent in the WTO process.

36. In accordance with the proposal put forward by Jacques Delors, a world security council
for economic and social questions should be set up. Its task would consist, inter alia, in organizing
a regular political, social and economic dialogue with parliamentary monitoring controls and
involving non-governmental organizations. The actions of EU-ACP cooperation must also follow
these guidelines, notably by more intensive use of the work of the Economic and Social Committee.

37. Development policy must play a significantly stronger role within the framework of the EU’s
Common Foreign and Security Policy in order to contain and avert security risks; however, this
presupposes respecting the consistency requirement contained in the Maastricht Treaty. It is
indispensable to coordinate the EUs development policy with the development policies of the
Member States. To this end appropriate forms of cooperation must be developed between the EU
delegations, the representatives of the EU states and the non-governmental organizations in the
ACP states.

38. The Commission and the Member States are urged to prevail upon the international financial
organizations to ensure that the necessary structure adjustment measures do not lead to the
impoverishment and deprivation of broad sectors of the population, in particular women and
children.

39. Satisfactory social development is inconceivable without combating unemployment and
under-employment and extending environmentally friendly and sociably acceptable job opportunities. However, it also includes the effective satisfaction of spiritual, cultural, material needs —
individual and collective alike — which must be an integral component of Lomé cooperation.

40. Lomé cooperation has an obligation vis-a-vis UN conferences to broaden contractual forms
of cooperation to include demands which have not so far been covered by the Convention, for
example a ban on child and forced labour, a ban on discrimination, agreement on minimum social
standards and the right of assembly for workers.

41. An alternative model of intellectual property must be created which recognizes the work of
invention and discovery of the indigenous peoples in the exploitation and use of genetic resources,
affirms their inalienable rights and ensures them control over access to the resources existing on
their territory, to serve as the basis for ACP-EU relations in this field; access to these resources
must presuppose the consent of the local communities which have enabled them to be conserved,
the distribution of the profits so as to compensate their informal innovations, and their full
participation in decision-making.

30.3.98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 96/27

42. Crime, criminal violence, corruption and drugs trafficking and abuse lead to social collapse
which must be decisively resisted at both national and supranational level. The EU and the ACP
states should therefore agree on the main pillars for a common strategy to combat crime aimed at
allowing cross-border prosecution guaranteeing that penal measures are carried out and issuing
workable rules for deportation, where necessary.

43. The EU should help the ACP countries to overcome the monocultures which are inherited
from colonial times. Efforts should be made to achieve diversification and thereby escape the
present ties of dependency, by means of changed production structures and broader market
strategies.

**Women’s rights**

44. A large number of ACP states have signed or ratified the 1979 UN Convention on eliminating
all forms of discrimination against women; however, others have not done so. The governments
concerned are urged to follow the example of their partner states and to accede to the Convention.
All parties are urged to step up their efforts with a view to implementing all the provisions of the
convention within their sphere of activity by the Year 2000, to give practical expression to the
strategies of Nairobi and to draw the lessons from the Geneva declaration on women in rural areas.

45. Development policy objectives and demands concerning women must be regarded as a
cross-sectional task. The participation of women on terms of equality at all levels and all phases of
planning, implementation, controls andevaluation in respectof all measuresrelating to development
cooperation (not only in respect of women) must be institutionally or legally safeguarded.

46. Programmes and measures in favour of women are important in their own right and thus
form an indispensable part of all social development measures: without them there can be no
lasting prosperity or viable community based on solidarity.

47. Comprehensive information and public awareness campaigns to bolster the rights of women
in the developing countries, for example in favour of legal, economic, political and social equality,
the recognition of women’s rights as basic human rights and the prohibition and prosecution of
violence against women and respect for women’s right of sexual self-determination should be
organized throughout the ACP countries with the help of the Commission in such a way as to
ensure that they also address women in disadvantaged regions, and particularly disadvantaged
groups, such as illiterate women, and encourage a willingness to accept changes in behaviour.

48. The Commission is urged, in cooperation with the ACP countries to submit an emergency
aid plan to improve the situation of women in the poorest regions and in crisis areas or refugee
camps with the priority objectives of combating poverty and ensuring food supplies, basic health
services and vaccination campaigns, access to clean water and targeted aid programmes, for
example by providing training in handicrafts or small or very small loans to set up businesses.

49. The Commission and the ACP countries are urged to let women play the important role
they have in conflict prevention and peace-building and in the process of rehabilitation and
reconstruction.

**Habitations fit for human beings**

50. The growth of very large conurbations poses a great challenge to both the industrialized
countries and the ex communist states of central and eastern Europe and the developing countries,
so that joint efforts on a basis of partnership are needed, in order to halt or avoid the destructive
rural exodus and to make the cities more friendly places to live in. The habitat agenda with its
global action plan and the Istanbul declaration on human settlements create a substantive basis for
the creation of a living space fit for human beings: in respect of which all ACP states must agree
on minimum standards in this respect.

51. The governments of the ACP states are urged to recognize that the construction of dwellings
fit for human habitation is a public duty and to take steps to achieve this end which, by
decentralizing responsibility, will strengthen the position of local government and, through the
provision of the necessary funds, bring about structural improvements.

C 96/28 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 30.3.98

52. One urgent measure must be the development of a restructuring plan to counter the trend
towards increasing rural poverty and the concomitant trend towards urbanization, to contain the
rising cost of living and to help eliminate underemployment and unemployment, while ensuring
that traditional forms of female employment — such as in the retail trade or processing foodstuffs
— are not destroyed, without any substitute being created.

53. The targeted involvement of civil society in planning, implementation and maintenance is
an indispensable precondition for achieving solutions which make citizens more responsible for
their own actions and increase people’s acceptance of change, for example their willingness to
contribute towards the cost.

**Security of food supplies**

54. It is indispensable to strengthen the position of women in the family and community since,
without the contribution they make towards health care and supplying food, it would be impossible
to ensure the food supply. Particular efforts should therefore be made to familiarize women with
improved methods of cultivation, harvesting and processing in order to increase self reliance, to
reduce food imports food and to limit monocultures.

55. The ACP countries and the EU are urged, in a spirit of partnership, to promote the extension
and expansion of sustainable agriculture, which can satisfy both the basic requirements of the
population and generates revenue through export sales.

56. The EU and its Member States are exhorted, by exploiting their research and development
capacity and using cooperation between universities and research institutes, to ensure the use or
reintroduction of traditional plants for the production of food, since the latter are better adapted
to local conditions and need less agricultural chemicals. The success of imported high-yield varieties
is open to question, if their cultivation is less sustainable and produces more environmental
pollution.

57. Priority must be accorded both to securing provisions of fresh water and protecting — or
increasing — fish stocks in rivers, lakes and seas.

58. The EU must ensure that food aid does not upset local production and local or regional
markets, which means that a consistent European agricultural policy is necessary.

59. Emergency aid is sometimes indispensable, but cannot be a substitute for preventive
measures. Measures to prevent natural and man-made disasters are a better form of emergency aid.

**Conclusions**

60. The Commission is urged forthwith to submit a report which gives a frank and honest
account of ACP cooperation with its successes, failures and omissions in implementing decisions
taken by the UN conferences and provides a blueprint for future cooperation, which is based on
the conference results bearing in mind that, in spite of their geographical locations and level of
development, the ACP States, in accordance with the UNDP Human Resource Development Index,
continue to demonstrate the characteristics of developing countries, and provides a realistic time
framework; social and ecological effects will require continuous critical scrutiny.

61. Thesuccessor agreementtothe LoméIV Conventionshould contain well-definedquantitative
and qualitative targets in the areas of social development, food supplies and security, environment
and trade, to be achieved within an agreed time-frame.

62. The European Parliament, the Commission and the Council are urged to draw up, together
with the ACP countries, a comprehensive and consistent policy blueprint for development
cooperation, together with the ACP in the light of the results (or failures) of the Beijing conference,
the UN Convention of 1979 and the results of the conferences of Rio (environment and development
1992), Vienna (human rights 1993), Cairo (population and development, 1994) and Copenhagen
(social summit, March 1995) and the ILO standards and the previous European Parliament
resolutions; this blueprint should focus on combating poverty and thereby above all enhancing the
position of women and call on the Member States gradually to achieve the figure of 0,7 % of GNP
by the year 2000.

30.3.98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 96/29

63. The resolution of conflict by domestic and international military clashes cancels out the
development efforts undertaken by the ACP countries themselves and any benefit of ACP-EU
development cooperation. The world social summit in particular demanded that more substantial
financial resources be made available for social development. However, the state budgets of the
ACP states are in some cases heavily burdened by military expenditure, in addition to debt servicing.
Military expenditure should be reduced to 1 % of GNP .

64. The globalization of the problems requires a globalization of solutions, which by no means
excludes regional plans. Instead of traditional models of foreign and security policy, new forms of
international crisis management must be developed with a view to achieving solutions which are
in keeping with human dignity, environmentally-friendly and inspired by a spirit of solidarity.
They should be based on binding rules for cooperation, namely at the level of the UN and its sub
organizations and international organizations such as the WTO and at the level of regional
communities such as the EU, including partnership with the ACP countries and involving the
national states, local political authorities and non-governmental organizations. The strengthening
of regional integration can contribute in the long term towards making global cooperation a legally
binding system of global standards in the international organizations and institutions.

65. Calls on the European Union and its Member States and the Commission to adopt, in
international conferences and fora, including the WTO, IMF and World Bank, positions which are
supportive of the objectives of the ACP-EU Convention. In this respect, it would be highly desirable
for the EU Commission and ACP Group to coordinate and harmonize their positions as far as
possible.

66. The ACP states must be supported in constructing effective regional security communities
embracing all states. A code of conduct should be drawn up to prevent the arms trade to regional
flashpoints. The arms trade and arms exports — not only in connection with Europe but also
between individual ACP states — exacerbate conflicts and civil wars and should therefore be
reduced and measures taken to promote investments in preventive measures.

67. In this spirit, all initiatives towards achieving an international convention on the control and
reduction of trade in weapons, to be binding on the signatory states before the international
community, will be welcome.

68. Development cooperation, humanitarian aid and crisis prevention should be subject to joint
political controls and be coordinated.

69. The EU institutions and the governments of the EU Member States are urged, in cooperation
with all the relevant organizations and population, groups to launch an information campaign in
Europe to provide information about the background of international politics and basic European
concerns and to seek acceptance for development cooperation so that citizens appreciate the need
for it. Global learning must be anchored in all levels of school, extra curricula, university and other
education and also find expression in vocational training.

70. Within an appropriate framework, development policy needs must be included in the
educational measures of ACP states so as to promote self reliance. Sustainable development in any
field can only be achieved with the conscious support of the population and not in defiance of
popular wishes. The necessary processes of change can only be successful if they are desired by the
people and if the people play a role in shaping them and accept responsibility for them. This means
involving civil society, and particularly women, at all levels and all phases of development from
the planning stage to implementation and follow-up assessment.

71. InstructsitsCo-PresidentstoforwardthisresolutiontotheACP-EUCouncil,theCommission,
the European Parliament and the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

C 96/30 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 30.3.98

**RESOLUTION(** [1] )

**on ACP-EU cooperation on climate change and the Third Conference of the Parties to the**
**Framework Convention on Climate Change (Kyoto, December 1997)**

_The ACP-EU Joint Assembly,_

— meeting in Lomé (Togo) from 27 to 30 October 1997,

— recalling the Programme of Action for small island states adopted at the UN Global Conference
on the Sustainable Development of small island developing states (Barbados 1994) and in
particular Chapter I thereof,

— having regard to its previous resolutions on climate change, small island states and environment,
in particular the resolution on the action to be taken on the Third Conference of Parties to the
Framework Convention on Climate Change (Kyoto, 1997), adopted in Brussels on 20 March
1997( [2] ),

— having regard to the relevant provisions of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change,
which gives specific recognition to the particular vulnerability and special circumstances of
developing countries, especially small island states and other countries with low-lying coastal
areas or areas liable to drought and desertification, in particular preambular paragraphs 12 and
19 and articles 3.2, 4.4 and 4.8(a),

— whereas the commitments assumed by the governments at the first Conference of the Parties
concerning theInternational Conventionon CombatingDesertificationcontributetosustainable
development and highlight the correlation between all the factors involved,

— having regard to Articles 328, 335, 336, 337, and Chapter 2 of Title II, Part two of the Lomé IV
Convention,

A. noting that of all the signatories to the Lomé Convention, about a third are small island states,

B. having regard to the deliberations currently taking place on the future of ACP-EU relations and
the need to give greater attention to questions related to climate change in the future Lomé V
Convention,

C. whereas the industrialized countries bear the prime responsibility for the greenhouse effect, and
they are therefore morally obliged to make a substantial contribution to preventing and
resolving the problem,

D. whereas at the extraordinary session of the UN General Assembly (Earth Summit II) held in
New York from 23 to 27 June 1997 the international community as a whole confirmed its
recognition of climate change, the role of greenhouse gas emissions as one of the biggest
challenges with which the world will be confronted in the decades to come, and the need to
adopt measures on the matter,

1. Expresses its conviction that prevention of and adaptation to climate change is an area in
which ACP-EU cooperation should be enhanced in an effort to support sustainable development
in ACP states and bring mutual benefits to ACP and EU members;

2. Stresses the importance, in the context of ACP-EU cooperation, of actions in implementation
of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and calls on all the signatories of the Lomé
Convention to acknowledge the priorities set in the ‘Barbados Programme of action’, integrating
them in the future successor arrangement to Lomé IV;

( [1] ) Adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Assembly on 29 October 1997 in Lomé (Togo).
( [2] ) OJ C 308, 9.10.1997.

30.3.98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 96/31

3. Calls on the EU and its Member States to release sufficient financial and technical resources
to ensure that the Convention on Combating Desertification and the Convention on Climate
Change can be applied and enforced effectively; in this context recalls its appeal to the Commission
and the Member States to assist ACP small island states on a regional basis, under separate and
specific EDF allocation outside their National Indicative Programmes and Regional Indicative
Programmes, in strengthening their disaster monitoring and preparedness programmes, including
strategies and measures for adaptation to climate change and lessening of the impact of its
consequential effects on their environment;

4. Reiterates its support for the draft protocol of the AOSIS states, which aims to reduce carbon
dioxide emissions in Annex I countries to the FCCC by 20 % by the year 2005 as compared to 1990
levels, and calls on all Member States of the European Union and the ACP countries to do
everything possible to ensure that negotiations under the Berlin Mandate lead to the adoption of a
binding protocol or other legal instrument at the Third Conference of the Parties in Kyoto, which
achieve genuine greenhouse gas emission reductions;

5. Stresses that the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets set out in the EU’s negotiating
position (a 15 % reduction on 1990 levels by 2010 and an intermediate target of at least 7,5 % by
2005) represent the absolute minimum, and that in practice the aim should be to achieve a 20 %
reduction on 1990 levels by 2005;

6. Calls on the US and Japan to accept identical targets at the forthcoming Kyoto negotiations;
notes President Clinton’s speech at the Earth Summit II which seems to signal a change of attitude
on the part of the US; the values suggested by the US and Japan for the forthcoming Kyoto
Conference, are in no way sufficient;

7. Calls for a positive development in the approach of certain coal exporting and oil-producing
countries, and deplores the lack of real influence of the AOSIS countries and ACP countries in the
UN negotiations, despite them being members of the G-77;

8. Endorses the European Parliament’s appeal to the European Commission and Council of
Ministers to the effect that they should draw up a mandate for post-Kyoto negotiations, adopting
a common approach to climate change from the year 2000 on, since this will be a key component
of any package of measures agreed in Kyoto; and in this regard, regrets that the ACP-EU Working
Group on Climate Change and Small Island States and the Committee on Development and
Cooperation of the European Parliament will not be represented in Kyoto;

9. Instructs its Co-Presidents to forward this resolution to the ACP-EU Council, the Commission
and the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change with the
request that it will be circulated to all non-EU contracting parties.

C 96/32 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 30.3.98

**RESOLUTION(** [1] )

**on ACP-EU cooperation in the fisheries sector beyond the year 2000**

_The ACP-EU Joint Assembly,_

— meeting in Lomé (Togo) from 27 to 30 October 1997,

— having regard to the Commission’s Green Paper on relations between the European Union and
the ACP countries on the eve of the 21st century,

— having regard to the deliberations of the follow-up group on fisheries in the context of the
Lomé Convention,

— having regard to the resolution on fisheries in the context of ACP-EEC cooperation, adopted
in Brussels (Belgium) on 7 October 1993( [2] ),

— having regard to the resolution on responsible fishing agreements adopted in Brussels (Belgium)
on 28 September 1995( [3] ) and the resolution on ACP fisheries and the eight EDF adopted in
Brussels (Belgium) on 20 March 1997( [4] ),

— having regard to the Resolution No 1/LXV/97 on imports of fisheries products into the EU
from third countries adopted by the 65th session of the ACP Council of Ministers held in
Brussels from 21 to 23 April 1997,

— having regard to the resolution on international fisheries agreements adopted by the European
Parliament on 15 May 1997( [5] ),

— having regard to the resolution on coherence of the EC’s development cooperation with its
other policies, and in particular Section III C thereof (fisheries and development), adopted by
the EU Development Council on 7 June 1997,

— having regard to Chapter 17 of Agenda 21,

— having regard to the FAO Code of Conduct for responsible fishing and the UN Agreement for
the Management and Conservation of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks,

— having regard to the deliberations currently taking place on the future of the ACP-EU relations
and the need to address the areas that affect ACP fisheries sectors,

— having regard to the fisheries agreements between the European Community and 14 ACP
countries and to other fishing agreements with non-ACP countries,

— having regard to the relevant sections of, and annexes to, the Lomé IV Convention, in particular
Articles 58 to 68 and Annexes LXV to LXVII,

A. noting that three of the objectives established by the Convention (a growing contribution of
fisheries to rural development, a growing contribution to local fishery industry development,
and greater access for Community fleets) can result in non-sustainable patterns of fisheries
resources exploitation if the adequate measures are not taken to avoid conflict between the
objectives,

( [1] ) Adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Assembly on 29 October 1997 in Lomé (Togo).
( [2] ) OJ C 14, 17.1.1994, p. 22.
( [3] ) OJ C 61, 29.2.1996.
( [4] ) OJ C 308, 9.10.1997, p. 26.
( [5] ) A4-0149/97 (Crampton report).

30.3.98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 96/33

B. stressing that most of the ACP countries with which the Commission has concluded fisheries
agreements do not have industrial fleets, as a result of which the Community fleet catches
perishable resources which would otherwise remain unexplored or be poached by other fleets,
or, at best, be ceded to countries whose fisheries legislation may be far less rigorous as regards
resource control, management and conservation policies than the rules required of Community
fishermen by the EC regulations, and which have entered into no development cooperation
undertakings; whereas this would be of no benefit whatever to the ACP countries or to other
developing countries,

C. calling on both the EU and ACP sides to launch talks with other countries having large
long-distance fishing fleets, with a view to ensuring that all countries negotiating fisheries
agreements with developing countries respect the obligations arising from multilateral
agreements,

D. recalling that the international fisheries agreements signed with the EC represent for many
countries their means of ensuring surveillance and control of resource exploitation in their
territorial waters, as well as a source of financial and technical resources for the scientific
studies which are both necessary and desirable for measures to preserve the ecological balance,

E. convinced that, if sustainably exploited in a manner which is integrated with the wider economy
of the ACP states concerned, the fisheries sector can become an engine of economic growth and
development,

F. noting that the growing degree of globalization of the sector and its interdependence with other
social and economic activities requires pro-active systems research and new types of cooperation
and partnerships between political and economic decision makers and researchers,

1. Firmly believes that fisheries is one of the sectors most eminently and visibly characterized by
the shared interest and interdependence of the partners, and that suitable forms of cooperation in
the sector are therefore essential with a view to ensuring sustainable exploitation of fishery
resources in the future for the benefit of all;

2. Supports an all-embracing approach to ACP-EU cooperation in the fisheries sector in order
effectively to promote the sustainable and integrated economic and social development of ACP
coastal countries; proposals for reform of the existing basis for ACP-EU cooperation should be
judged on this basis;

3. Takes note of the results of the dialogue process on the joint development of the ACP-EU
Fisheries Research Initiative;

4. Recalls that the EC, unlike other countries, has created a rigorous legal framework as regards
marine resource conservation and ecological concerns, ensuring, through its initiative, the
application of those principles to the activity of the Community fleets fishing under international
agreements;

**On sustainable exploitation**

5. Notes that fishery resources worldwide, with few exceptions, are fully exploited;

6. Stresses the need for access to resources allowed under fisheries agreements to be fully
consistent with a precautionary approach to sustainable fisheries management;

7. Calls on the Commission to give special attention to projects aimed at promoting scientific
research into the state of fish stocks, effective monitoring and control, and sustainable fisheries
management;

8. Calls upon both ACP and EU governments to recognize the important contribution of the
artisanal sector to food security, employment and local development; notes that the sector is highly
vulnerable in the face of organized commercial fishing, where the two sectors fish the same stocks;

C 96/34 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 30.3.98

**On trade and access to the European market**

9. Notes that the situation regarding rules of origin for fishery products under the Lomé
Convention is unsatisfactory, and renews the Assembly’s request that all catches made in waters
over which ACP states exercise sovereign rights and which are obligatorily landed in ACP ports
for processing there and exported to European markets should enjoy originating status;

10. Considers that, under the future contractual framework for ACP-EU relations, it will be
desirable to retain exemption from customs duties for access to the EU market for all fisheries
products originating in ACP states, and takes the view that this position should prevail in the
WTO;

11. Notes that EU standards on hygiene and phytosanitary standards have sometimes prevented
the importation of fish and fisheries products from ACP countries and that there is a need for EU
and ACP governments to cooperate to ensure that all fish and fisheries products caught in ACP
waters and destined for Europe satisfy the EU criteria;

12. Requests the Commission to consider favourably the extension, in accordance with
Article 11(7) of Directive 91/493/EEC, of the derogation contained in the Commission’s
decision 97/256/EC dated 22 April 1997 until the expiry of Lomé IV in February 2000, in order to
avoid any disruption of traditional patterns of trade and to provide sufficient time to the ACP
states concerned to complete their modernization programme, including the construction of new
canneries, which necessitate heavy capital investment and the procurement of appropriate
technology;

**On financial and technical cooperation**

13. Notes that the possibilities for financial and technical cooperation in fisheries which exist
under the Lomé Convention have not been fully utilized by coastal ACP countries;

14. Feels that mechanisms should be found which enable local investors in ACP countries to
move into industrial scale-fishing, while ensuring that no direct damage is done to artisanal fishing;

15. Believes that successful long-term development projects in the fisheries sector are only
possible with the support of independent and responsible local fisheries sector organizations and
that there is a need to build on participatory approaches, not only with regard to project-level
interventions, but also with regard to issues of fisheries policy development and fisheries
management;

**On fishing agreements**

16. Encourages increased regional cooperation or sub-regional cooperation in the framework of
the future ACP-EU relations in the fisheries sector in integrated management of stocks in EEZs,
marine pollution control, human resource development and training, exchange of data, and
surveillance and enforcement measures;

17. Calls on the Commission and the ACP coastal states to study the possibility of concluding
regional or sub-regional fisheries agreements including both the coastal states in whose waters the
fish are found and all distant water fishing nations which fish for those stocks;

18. Considers that financial compensation for fishing rights should reflect the true economic
rent of the resource;

19. Considers, therefore, that, given the considerable nature of the factors involved and without
prejudice to the EU’s development cooperation commitments with third countries, it is necessary
to retain a range of different types of agreement, thus making it possible to realize the real potential
of both sides in a fruitful and progressive fashion;

20. Considers that if progress is to be made towards establishing more equitable fisheries
agreements, the catch possibilities granted to EU vessels should be calculated on the basis of real
catches actually made, rather than resorting to criteria which are difficult to verify such as GRT;

30.3.98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 96/35

21. Welcomes the provisions in fishing agreements for specific areas to be reserved for artisanal
fishermen; calls for the enforcement of these areas and the retention in future agreements of the
principle underlying their creation, allowing in all circumstances for the impossibility of such
reserved areas corresponding to the same predetermined number of miles in all cases, given the
multiple factors involved, such as platform size, the behaviour of the various species fished in the
different countries (e.g. migratory species) and the capacity of the local artisanal fleets; calls,
accordingly, for the minimum size of the protected areas to be examined on a case-by-case basis;

22. Is of the opinion that local canneries should have guarantees for certain minimum supplies;

**On coherence**

23. Considers that, in line with the spirit of Articles 130u and 130v of the Treaty on European
Union, future ACP-EU relations in the fisheries sector should be based on a coherent development
policy for the sector in the ACP countries, which should not be undermined by fisheries agreements
having a detrimental effect on resources (competition in access to stocks), employment (competition
in the processing sector), food safety, or hard currency gains from exports (competition in access
to non-European markets);

24. Considers that if ACP-EU relations are to be coherent, they must protect, both via the Lomé
Convention and through fisheries agreements, the interests of local fisheries, given the industry’s
role as an effective instrument of sustainable social and economic development;

25. Considers that the practical application of the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fishing
(as accepted by numerous European and ACP countries) in the context of future ACP-EU fisheries
relations, especially at the level of fisheries agreements, should permit the rational exploitation and
optimal utilization of marine resources for the benefit of all; careful consideration should be given
to the establishment of an ACP-EU Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries Agreements,
designed to promote both a precautionary approach to sustainable fisheries management and the
EU development policy objectives;

26. Encourages the creation of a dialogue platform for responsible fishing where public and
private decision makers, professional organisations and researchers can meet and contribute their
specific experience and outlook to creating a vision for fisheries cooperation in the next decade
with a view to maintain or increase benefits from the sector for all stakeholders concerned;

27. Instructs its Co-Presidents to forward this resolution to the ACP-EU Council and the

Commission.

C 96/36 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 30.3.98

**RESOLUTION(** [1] )

**on the situation in Angola**

_The ACP-EU Joint Assembly,_

— meeting in Lomé (Togo) from 27 to 30 October 1997,

— recalling its previous resolutions on the war situation, and the peace process in Angola,
especially that of 20 March 1997,

— having regard to the declaration of the European Union of 11 April 1997,

A. alarmed at the enormous loss of life and destruction resulting from the civil war,

B. reaffirming that the international community and the EU must continue to support the Angolan
peace process launched in 1994 with the Lusaka agreements,

C. concerned at the delay in implementing the peace process launched in 1994 with the signature
of the Lusaka protocol by the Angolan government and UNITA, despite the positive signs given
by the formation last April of a government of national unity and reconciliation and the
accession to the National Assembly of all the parliamentarians elected at the 1992 general
election,

D. whereas the repeated delays in the implementation of the Lusaka Protocol, caused both by
UNITA and by the government, prompted the UN Security Council to decide on the introduction
of sanctions against UNITA on 30 September 1997,

E. whereas the UN Security Council decided at the end of September to delay for 30 days the
application of the sanctions against UNITA,

F. whereas the Security Council criticizes UNITA for unwillingness to disarm its troops or return
the regions hitherto under its control,

G. noting with concern that the climate of suspicion has worsened over the last few months
between the government and UNITA and this may have adverse effects on the peace process,

H. having regard to the severe economic and social plight of the Angolan people following the civil
war, and recalling the threat represented by the large numbers of anti-personnel mines scattered
throughout Angola,

I. concerned at the military intervention by government troops in neighbouring countries such as
the former Zaire and Congo-Brazzaville,

J. recognizingthestrenuouseffortsoftheUnitedNationsSecretaryGeneral’sSpecialRepresentative
in Angola, Mr Alioune Blondin Beye, and of the Troika to maintain both UNITA and the
Government in a consultation spirit on the peace process,

K. recalling the important role played on the ground by UNAVEM and by UNMOA,

1. Reaffirms its commitment to the total implementation of the peace agreements and the Lusaka
Protocol, and recalls the Union’s undertaking to contribute to the full realization of the peace

process;

2. Calls on the government authorities and the UNITA leader to overcome the still-prevailing
climate of suspicion which makes each side doubt the other’s good faith as regards respecting the
Lusaka commitments, and to comply in full with their undertakings in the context of the agreements,
since only their full application can ensure peace, reconciliation and development in Angola;

( [1] ) Adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Assembly on 30 October 1997 in Lomé (Togo).

30.3.98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 96/37

3. Calls upon UNITA to abide strictly by its obligations under the Lusaka Protocol, in particular
by:

— rapidly disarming and demobilizing the remainder of its troops;

— allowing the UNMOA to verify the access to the aviation fields still controlled by UNITA;

— cooperating fully in the extension of the central state administration;

4. Calls on the government to refrain from any further unprovoked military action against
UNITA;

5. Calls on the UN Security Council:

(i) to intensify its pressure upon both parties in such a way that all the Lusaka Protocol obligations
are fulfilled quickly and no sanctions are needed at the end;

(ii) to sponsor instead a high-level diplomatic initiative to encourage a meeting between President
Dos Santos and Dr. Savimbi to overcome the present stalemate in the peace process;

6. Calls on the International Community and the United Nations Security Council in particular
to continue the UNMOA support until a final settlement of the Angolan conflict is reached;

7. Calls on the entire international community to provide the financial and technical assistance
required for infrastructural rehabilitation, mine clearance, and, more generally, the revival of
economic activity; recalls, in this connection, that Angola has huge and urgent needs as regards
schools, hospitals and roads, as well as basic necessities;

8. Appeals to the International Community and the EU in particular to continue its contribution
to the peace process in Angola and to help create better conditions for the reintegration and
rehabilitation of former soldiers into civilian life, and insists on the need for reconstruction and
rehabilitation operations to take account of the serious problems related to combatants rejoining
their families and the return to work of demobilized persons;

9. Appeals to the Angolan government to combat the proliferation of arms and weapons of
destruction in civilian hands, and to facilitate and promote the demining of all sorts of mines in
Angola;

10. Calls on all the parties concerned to refrain from any further military intervention in the
region;

11. Urges UNITA to accept government administration in its areas;

12. Calls on the Commission and the UN to encourage, through financial support, the work of
NGOs engaged in mine clearance in Angola, and proposes the creation of and support for
information programmes for local communities and training schemes for national specialists;

13. Instructs itsCo-Presidents toforward this resolution to the ACP-EU Council, the Commission
and the UN and OAU Secretaries-General.

C 96/38 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 30.3.98

**RESOLUTION** ( [1] )

**on the situation in Congo-Brazzaville**

_The ACP-EU Joint Assembly,_

— meeting in Lomé (Togo) from 27 to 30 October 1997,

A. whereas, at the approach of the presidential elections scheduled for 27 July, fighting broke out
between the forces of President Pascal Lissouba who was democratically elected in 1992 and
supporters of his predecessor Denis Sassou Nguesso,

B. whereas the fighting which has continued for over four months has imposed great hardships on
the Congolese people, left more than four thousand dead, devastated the capital, forced its
inhabitants to flee and seriously harmed the country’s economic situation,

C. having regard to the efforts made as part of the international mediation organized by the
President of the Gabonese Republic, Omar Bongo, with the support of Ambassador Mohamed
Sahnoun, the Special Representative of the UN and the OAU, to induce the parties involved in
the conflict to seek a negotiated and durable settlement to the crisis,

D. whereas troops from the Democratic Republic of Congo are being deployed in Brazzaville,
ostensibly to ascertain the origin of shots which were fired on Kinshasa in September killing
several people,

E. whereas Angolan troops have intervened in Congo from the Cabinda enclave,

F. recalling that the fighting has ended with the seizure of power by Sassou Nguesso,

G. having regard to statements made by Sassou Nguesso at his swearing-in ceremony,

1. Deplores that the military option has once again prevailed over negotiation and the peaceful
settlement of the crisis in Congo-Brazzaville;

2. Reaffirms its support for the principle of non-interference; therefore condemns the military
interference of Congo-Brazzaville’s neighbouring countries and calls for the immediate withdrawal
of foreign troops from Congo;

3. Notes the declarations made by Sassou Nguesso who after his military victory is in favour of
a revival of the democratic process and has announced his intention of setting up a government of
national unity, organizing democratic elections and respecting human rights;

4. Calls for the opening of talks between all the Congolese parties to the conflict aimed at
agreeing, in a spirit of national reconciliation and civil harmony, on the revival of the democratic
process in order to allow free elections to be held;

5. Calls for all the militias to be disarmed forthwith;

6. Asks the international community and the EU in particular to support the requests by
appropriate international agencies for emergency humanitarian aid to displaced persons as well as
the 150 000 Rwandan refugees that fled from the Democratic Republic of Congo in May 1997;

7. Calls on the authorities of the Democratic Republic of Congo to comply with the request of
the ICRC and other humanitarian organizations to open a humanitarian aid corridor between
Kinshasa and Brazzaville to permit aid to be brought to the victims of the fighting and persons
displaced by the civil war;

( [1] ) Adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Assembly on 30 October 1997 in Lomé (Togo).

30.3.98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 96/39

8. Calls on the European Union to prepare a plan for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of
the areas devastated by fighting so as to permit the Congolese who have been displaced or have
taken refuge in neighbouring countries to return speedily as soon as sufficient security has been
restored;

9. Instructs its Co-Presidents to forward this resolution to the ACP-EU Council, the Commission
and the Secretaries-General of the UN and the OAU.

**RESOLUTION** ( [1] )

**on Sudan**

_The ACP-EU Joint Assembly,_

— meeting in Lomé (Togo) from 27 to 30 October 1997,

— recalling its previous resolutions on human rights violations in Sudan,

A. anticipatinganescalationofcivilwarand,subsequently,theincreasedsufferinganddisplacement
of civilian communities in southern Sudan, the Nuba mountains, the southern Blue Nile and
northern Bahr el Ghazal and eastern Sudan, and a surge in the numbers of refugees and
displaced persons,

B. concerned by the mounting destabilization of security in the Horn of Africa due to the ongoing
war in Sudan and disturbed by violation of sovereignty of countries in the region, most notably
Eritrea, Ethiopia and Uganda, by the Government of Sudan,

C. dismayed that the Government of Sudan has not yet complied with the requests of the Central
Organ of the OAU Mechanism for Conflict Resolution and with resolutions of the Security
Council urging Sudan to extradite to Ethiopia the three men allegedly involved in the 26 June
1995 attempt to assassinate President Mubarak of Egypt,

D. alarmed by reports of the Foreign Ministry of Eritrea indicating involvement of the Sudanese
Government in a plot to assassinate Eritrea’s President Afwerki,

E. aware of reports indicating that the Sudanese Government is offering military support and a
safe haven to several Ugandan rebel groups, among them the Lord’s Resistance Army,

F. aware that a Security Council resolution to ban all aircraft either registered in Sudan or owned,
leased or operated by, or on behalf of Sudan Airways from taking off from, landing in, or
overflying other national territories, and close the offices of Sudan Airways abroad, is still
pending,

G. aware of the UN resolution on human rights in Sudan and sharing the deep concern expressed
by the UN Commission on Human Rights at continued serious human rights violations by the
Government, including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, detentions without due process,
enforced or involuntary disappearances, violations of the rights of women and children, slavery
and slavery-like practices, forced displacements, systematic torture and denial of freedom of
religion, expression, association and peaceful assembly,

( [1] ) Adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Assembly on 30 October 1997 in Lomé (Togo).

C 96/40 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 30.3.98

H. equally concerned by violations by other conflict parties including kidnapping, arbitrary
detention, forced conscription, indiscriminate killings, forced displacement and arrest of foreign
relief workers without charge,

I. outraged at the use by all conflict parties of military force to disrupt or attack relief efforts,

J. concerned by the conscription of secondary school boys into the army following a decree of
Sudan’s President that all boys waiting to be enrolled into the universities must first serve in the
army before being admitted for further studies,

K. whereas the Islamist regime which has been in power since the 1989 coup has made political
parties, trade unions and political meetings illegal,

L. equally concerned by the ongoing aerial bombing of civil targets killing and injuring civilians
like in Yei on 8 October,

M. aware of the extended mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on Sudan,

N. aware of the resumption of talks under the auspices of IGAD scheduled for 28 October, and
reiterating its belief that the IGAD peace initiative is the most effective platform to achieve a
just and durable resolution of the conflict through dialogue,

O. aware of the scheduled Ottawa Conference of countries which will sign the ‘Ottawa Agreement’
banning anti-personnel landmines,

1. Urges in the strongest terms all major conflict parties to restart a sincere process under the
auspices of the IGAD, aiming at a just and lasting peace and based upon the IGAD Declaration of
Principles, starting with imminent IGAD meeting scheduled in Nairobi on 28 October;

2. Strongly supports the regional initiative, the IGAD peace process, as the only viable alternative
to bringing about a comprehensive settlement of the civil war in which all of the parties to the
conflict are to be involved and in particular supports the IGAD countries which have taken the
initiative and persisted in seeking a just and lasting peace, despite setbacks and difficulties and
congratulates them for making it possible for both sides to agree to talk on the basis of the
Declaration of Principles;

3. Urges the Government of Sudan to extradite to Ethiopia the three suspects allegedly involved
in the assassination attempt on the life of President Mubarak of Egypt;

4. Condemns terrorism and urges the Government of Sudan to stop its policy of destabilization
of its neighbouring countries and to stop the support of rebel groups like the Lord’s Resistance
Army;

5. Calls on the UN Security Council to maintain and implement sanctions against Sudan for as
long as the Government of Sudan fails to respond to requests of the OAU and the resolutions of
the UN Security Council;

6. Calls on the international community and the EU to maintain sanctions and not to resume
development cooperation until the Government of Sudan refrains from atrocities and from denial
of humanitarian relief of its people;

7. Calls also on the International Monetary Fund to make the continuation of the financing
mechanisms so far granted to the Sudanese government conditional upon compliance with the
demands of the OAU and the Security Council;

30.3.98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 96/41

8. Condemns the Government of Sudan and other conflict parties for the continuation of grave
human rights violations and urges all parties to respect international humanitarian law and
human rights prohibiting forced recruitment, attacks of noncombatant and civilian objects and
indiscriminate attacks and to ensure that its forces are properly trained and act in compliance with
international standards;

9. Urges the Sudanese Government to fully cooperate with and to guarantee the protection of
the UN Special Rapporteur and to investigate reported policies or activities which involve the sale
of or trafficking in children and to carry out its promised investigations into cases of slavery, forced
labour and similar practices;

10. Urges the Government of Sudan to cease all acts of torture, close down its clandestine
detention centres and to release all political detainees unless they are to be charged with a criminal
offence and brought to a fair trial without delay;

11. Requests the Government of Sudan to allow the deployment of independent human rights
officers in Sudan as suggested by the UN Human Rights Commission;

12. Urges all parties to fully cooperate with Operation Life Line Sudan and not to obstruct relief
assistance;

13. Calls for humanitarian assistance to the civilian population in the NDA controlled areas,
not only in the south but also in the Blue Nile and Red Sea (Eastern) provinces;

14. Supports the just cause of the people of southern Sudan and the struggle of the National
Democratic Alliance (NDA) which includes all political forces in the country, both traditional and
new, except the NIF;

15. Urges the Government of Sudan to halt the destruction of multipurpose and prayer centres
in Khartoum and other urban centres until the right to judicial review and appeal, suspended by
the 1990 Amendment to the Civil Transactions Act is restored; to award compensation for the
property lost and to permit adherents of all religions to worship freely and to build, purchase or
rent house of worship without obstruction and to rebuild the two multipurpose centres to be
officially considered churches;

16. Welcomes the participation of the Government of Sudan in the Ottawa process and is
looking forward to the signing and ratification of the Ottawa agreement banning anti-personnel
land mines and urges other conflict parties to comply with the agreement voluntarily;

17. InstructsitsCo-PresidentstoforwardthisresolutiontotheACP-EUCouncil,theCommission,
the OAU, and the United Nations.

C 96/42 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 30.3.98

**RESOLUTION** ( [1] )

**on the situation in Sierra Leone**

_The ACP-EU Joint Assembly,_

— meeting in Lomé (Togo) from 27 to 30 October 1997,

— having regard to United Nations Security Council resolution 1132,

— having regard to the Declarations by the Presidency of the European Union of 28 May, 20 June
and 10 July 1997 on the situation in Sierra Leone,

— having regard to its previous resolutions on Sierra Leone,

A. seriously concerned at the continuous reports of looting, killings and the general deteriorating
situation in Sierra Leone, following the military coup d’état of 29 May 1997 that brought the
current military regime of Major Johnny Paul Koromah to power,

B. whereas this military coup d’état seized power from the ten-month old democratically elected
government of President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, which had taken concrete steps to restore
democratic governance, the rule of law, and to seek a negotiated settlement with the rebel
Revolutionary Front,

C. having regard to the rapid deterioration in the humanitarian situation in the country and the
massive influx of refugees into neighbouring countries,

D. welcoming the regional efforts of the Ecowas Committee of Four on Sierra Leone, comprising
the Foreign Ministers of Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea and Nigeria, that insists on establishing
a negotiated solution using a combination of dialogue, sanctions and an economic embargo,

E. having regard to the sanctions imposed on 8 October by the United Nations Security Council
with a view to prohibiting movement by members of the junta and implementing an embargo
on armaments and petroleum,

F. whereas Ecowas has been mandated by the United Nations to monitor compliance with the
sanctions,

G. whereas, at the meeting organized by Ecowas at Conakry on 23 and 24 October 1997, those
responsible for the coup d’état announced their intention to cede power in April,

1. Condemns the military coup d’état of 29 May 1997 that has interrupted the democratization
process and caused internal instability throughout Sierra Leone;

2. Notes the commitments assumed by the military junta to abolish power and reinstall the
democratically-elected President, Ahmed Tejan Kebbah;

3. Supports fully the diplomatic efforts deployed by Ecowas Member States and urges them to
continue to work towards peacefully restoring the constitutional order and returning the
democratically elected government to power;

4. Urges the members of the military junta and their allies to pursue the peace negotiations
under Ecowas auspices in good faith and in a spirit of national reconciliation;

5. Calls on the International Community and the EU in particular to lend its full support to the
diplomatic regional efforts which Ecowas and the OAU are making to resolve the crisis in Sierra
Leone and to prevent further bloodshed;

( [1] ) Adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Assembly on 30 October 1997 in Lomé (Togo).

30.3.98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 96/43

6. Supports the embargo measures launched at regional level and taken up by the United
Nations, and calls on all signatories to the Lomé Convention to cooperate with Ecowas in
guaranteeing full implementation of those measures;

7. Calls on the international community and the EU in particular to increase humanitarian aid
to Sierra Leone victims of the current crisis in the West African region;

8. Calls on the European Union to provide consistent assistance to neighbouring countries that
have taken in a good many refugees since the outbreak of hostilities;

9. Instructs its Co-Presidents to forward this resolution to the ACP-EU Council, the Commission,
Ecowas, the OAU and the military junta of Sierra Leone.

**RESOLUTION** ( [1] )

**on Mali**

_The ACP-EU Joint Assembly,_

— meeting in Lomé (Togo) from 27 to 30 October 1997,

A. regretting the growing political tension since the parliamentary elections of 13 April 1997, and
in particular the temporary breakdown of dialogue between the parties of the presidential
majority and the parties of the radical opposition,

B. noting the results of the parliamentary elections of July and August 1997, which produced a
victory for ADEMA, and deploring the boycott of these elections by the radical opposition,

C. convinced that the opposition has a decisive role to play in any democratic process and regretting
the limited representation of the opposition parties and their lack of resources, organization
and training, while also noting that this state of affairs is unlikely to favour peaceful democracy,

D. noting the attempts by the President of Mali to resume political dialogue with the opposition
parties,

E. welcoming the recent statement by Mali civil society that it wishes to take an active part in the
democratic life of the country,

F. acknowledging the efforts made by the President of the Republic of Mali to consolidate
democracy in his country,

1. Condemns the acts of violence perpetrated after the presidential elections of 11 May 1997 and
the parliamentary elections of July and August 1997, in particular those of 10 August which led to
the death of a policeman at a meeting in Bamako;

2. Calls on the European Union, in the context of its conflict prevention policy, to give due
consideration to the current political situation in Mali;

( [1] ) Adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Assembly on 30 October 1997 in Lomé (Togo).

C 96/44 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 30.3.98

3. Reiterates its support for the actions of the President of the Republic of Mali in support of
pluralism of opinion;

4. Notes the attempts by the President of Mali to bring about a resumption of the dialogue with
the opposition parties, and welcomes the forming of a pluralist government, open to alliances;

5. Calls on all political forces in Mali to abstain from recourse to violence and to work for a
system based on the democratic and peaceful alternation of power through the ballot box;

6. Calls on the EU to strengthen the programme of support for democracy and, in particular,
preparatory work for the next elections and the training of political leaders;

7. Welcomes the remarkable progress achieved by the Mali authorities in establishing a dialogue
between the peoples of the North and considers that this dialogue is essential to the maintenance
of the region’s stability;

8. Instructs its Co-Presidents to forward this resolution to the ACP-EU Council and the

Commission.

**RESOLUTION** ( [1] )

**on South Africa**

_The ACP-EU Joint Assembly,_

— meeting in Lomé (Togo) from 27 to 30 October 1997,

— having regard to the previous resolutions on South Africa which have been adopted by the Joint
Assembly, and notably at its last meeting in Brussels on March 20, 1997,

A. whereas the Republic of South Africa and the European Union are actively pursuing negotiations
which are designed to lead to the creation of a Free Trade Area, in the context of a bilateral
Trade and Development Agreement,

B. whereas the outcome of these negotiations has direct implications for South Africa’s neighbours
in the Southern African region and, in the longer term, for the forthcoming negotiations between
the EU and all ACP states,

C. noting with concern the continued uncertainties surrounding the application of the regional
cumulation provisions, agreed during the Lomé IV Mid Term Review, to the Southern African
region, which is acting as an impediment to regional investment and the diversification of
export production,

D. recalling the political commitment of all parties to these negotiations to conclude an agreement
within a reasonable time frame in order to further consolidate the democratic institutions of
South Africa and to create more a favourable environment for investment in the region,

E. recognising the need for the SADC states to successfully conclude their negotiations on a trade
protocol amongst themselves which will ensure sustainable trade development and cooperation
and lead to increased employment opportunities,

( [1] ) Adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Assembly on 30 October 1997 in Lomé (Togo).

30.3.98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 96/45

F. recognizing also the commitment of the European Union to an asymmetrical and differentiated
removal of tariffs on ‘substantially all’ trade between the EU and South Africa in a way which
reflects the EU’s existing commercial advantages while affording South Africa significantly
improved access to the EU market and allowing it an acceptable breathing space, for it to
continue to restructure its economy in line with the South African government’s development
strategy,

G. emphasizing that the priority of eradicating the economic legacy of apartheid requires a special
effort and commitment by the EU which ensures that its proposals in the context of these
negotiations do not lead to further inequalities in South African society, nor to greater levels of
unemployment in sensitive urban or rural areas, and that those proposals should be specifically
geared to the enhancement of job opportunities in areas of the country which already experience
high levels of poverty,

H. welcoming the Commission’s growing recognition of the impact of the proposed EU/South Free
Trade Area on neighbouring ACP economies,

I. welcoming the ‘positive and constructive’ July Ministerial meeting and noting that, although
divergencies remain on fisheries, wine & spirits, non-traded products and other sensitive
sectoral issues, the conditions in which technical discussions are taking place for the conclusion
of an agreement now appear more favourable,

J. bearing in mind the agreement on the Multi-Annual Indicative Programme which identifies
agreed priorities for development and cooperation between the EU and South Africa; and the
agreement with the EIB on additional loan facilities for private, public and service sectors,

1. Welcomes the advances already achieved in the negotiations, and in particular the successful
conclusion of an agreement enabling South Africa to take its rightful place as a qualified member
of the ACP-EU Convention allowing it, inter alia, to participate actively in all joint institutions
created by the Convention;

2. Calls upon the Commission and the South African authorities to accelerate their technical
discussions and calls upon the Customs Cooperation Committee to reach agreement on the
necessary clarification concerning the ‘ad hoc’ provisions for the rules of origin of products applied
under the Lomé framework, in such a way that there is certainty about the use of this facility and
that it is able to contribute towards promoting regional cooperation in southern Africa;

3. Calls for mutually agreed concrete mechanisms to be established (such as ‘special protocols’)
to deal with ‘sensitive’ products on both sides;

4. Reaffirms its view that the principles of asymmetry and differentiation allow for the protection
for a period of time of regionally ‘sensitive sectors’ in order to ensure the maintenance and extension
of the existing productive base of southern African economies;

5. Reiterates its belief that, in the interest of balanced regional development in Southern Africa,
tariff elimination should only be introduced after tariffs have been eliminated on imports from
neighbouring SSADC countries, in order to ensure neighbouring countries gain the full benefits of
duty free access to the South African market;

6. Calls upon the General Affairs Council of the EU to reject all forms of conditional linkage
between the various agreements being sought between the EU and South Africa as these linkages
undermine confidence, limit progress and prevent the achievement of compromise which will allow
the negotiations to reach a successful conclusion;

7. Urges the negotiators to pay particular attention to the effects on agricultural employment in
South Africa and in the EU, pointing out that certain products which are identified on the EU’s
so-called ‘negative list’ are produced by labour intensive means in South Africa and that a failure
to provide better terms of access to the EU market, in the context of the removal by South Africa
of export subsidies and other WTO unacceptable support schemes, could therefore have severe
negative consequences on local communities;

8. Calls for an urgent review of the existing tariff structures on beef exports from the EU to
South Africa to prevent ‘dumping’ which is currently undermining cattle prices throughout the
Southern African region and increasing poverty in many rural areas;

C 96/46 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 30.3.98

9. Calls upon the EU to commit itself to making an ongoing contribution to the South Africa’s
development effort through the EU budget, given that South Africa is not a recipient of EDF
resources, and urges all partners to the development effort to constantly seek to raise the quality
and efficiency of development programmes and projects and to simplify and decentralize decision
making procedures;

10. Instructs its Co-Presidents to forward this resolution to the ACP-EU Council and to the

Commission.

**RESOLUTION** ( [1] )

**on Southern Africa**

_The ACP-EU Joint Assembly,_

— meeting in Lomé (Togo) from 27 to 30 October 1997,

— having regard to its previous resolutions on the developments in the Southern African region,

A. aware of the commitment of the countries of the Southern African region to the promotion of
regional co-operation and integration,

B. noting the economic reform programmes, such as the economic and social reform agenda,
national development strategy and public sector management programme undertaken by the
Southern African region,

C. noting with concern the threat and the expected repercussions of El Nin˜o on the countries of
the region,

D. welcoming the positive decision taken by the CITES COP 10 meeting held in Harare, Zimbabwe,
on June 9-10, 1997, to down-list the African elephant populations in Botswana, Namibia and
Zimbabwe from CITES Appendix I to Appendix II, in recognition of their good conservation

status,

E. encouraged by the results of the Oslo diplomatic meeting in September 1997, on the International
Ban on the use of, stockpiling, and manufacture of anti-personnel mines,

F. concerned by the spread of Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP) disease in the region and the need
to implement measures to eradicate the disease,

G. concerned by the frequent occurrence of droughts, floods and refugee influx in the region,

H. encouraged by the adoption of the Plan of Action of the SADC-EU conference on HIV/AIDS
Conference on Southern Africa which was held in Blantyre in December, 1996,

I. welcoming the Maseru Statement of May 1997 on the development and formulation of the
Regional Strategy for Integrated Water Resources Management programme,

J. welcoming the positive outcome of the SADC Heads of State or Government summit in Blantyre
(Malawi), in September 1997,

( [1] ) Adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Assembly on 30 October 1997 in Lomé (Togo).

30.3.98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 96/47

K. noting the numerous decisions adopted by the Summit towards the building, consolidation and
strengthening of an integrated sustainable economy in the region,

L. further encouraged by the strong commitment of SADC countries to respect human rights,
fundamental freedoms and principles of democracy,

M. welcoming the establishment of the SADC Parliamentary Forum as an autonomous institution
of SADC,

N. noting the ongoing negotiations between the Government of South Africa and the EU for a
comprehensive Trade and Development Agreement,

O. appreciative of the EU’s acknowledgement that a Free Trade Agreement with South Africa
should be asymmetric both in content and timing,

P. mindful of the ACP Heads of State and Government Summit to be held in Gabon from the 6th
to the 7th November, 1997,

Q. concerned by the continuous delay in applying the LusakaProtocol and itsnegative consequences
on the reconciliation process, stability and economic developments in Angola,

R. concerned by the Commission of the European Community’s decision to interrupt certain
economic relations with Angola in order to induce UNITA to fulfil its obligations in the peace

process,

1. Requests the EU and the International Community to support the region’s efforts to encourage
mutually-supportive sustainable use of natural resources by rural communities;

2. Appeals to the international community, and in particular the EU to make additional
allocation of resources to regional co-operation and integration activities in Southern Africa;

3. Calls upon the EU to mobilize emergency and Humanitarian Aid for relief, rehabilitation and
alleviation of the efforts of droughts, floods and refugee influx respectively;

4. Calls on the EU to mobilize its Aid services in view of the possible adverse effects of El Nin˜o
on the region;

5. Calls on the countries that continue to manufacture, use and export anti-personnel mines, to
match the initiatives of Southern Africa and work with ACP countries towards making a
comprehensive international ban a reality;

6. Appeals to the EU to assist SADC to strengthen the region’s institutional structures at the
national and regional levels in order to achieve the level of productivity necessary for sustainable
development, taking into account the expansion of SADC to include the Democratic Republic of
Congo and the Republic of Seychelles;

7. Re-emphasises the need for the greatest possible compatibility between an EU-South Africa,
Trade regime and the Lomé trade regime applied to other SADC countries, in order to promote
greater intra-regional trade and co-operation in southern Africa;

8. Calls on the EU to effectively address the question of cumulation under the Lomé rules of
origin, by clarifying the ‘ad hoc’ provision that could militate against the most effective utilisation
of this facility to promote regional co-operation development;

9. Calls on the EU to ensure that the proposed Trade and Development Agreement with the
Republic of South Africa takes cognisance of the process underway to establish a Free Trade Area
in SADC as envisaged in the SADC Trade Protocol signed in Maseru in August, 1996;

C 96/48 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 30.3.98

10. Reiterates its call to the EU to be cognisant of the adjustment costs that will negatively
impact on the economies of the SACU and SADC partners of South Africa;

11. Reiterates its call to the EU to continue to assist the Governments of Angola and Mozambique
and other affected countries of the region in the expeditious removal of landmines to enable
demobilised soldiers and formerly displaced families to freely engage in expanded farming activities;

12. Encourages the Government of Angola to continue its efforts towards the peace process,
and urges UNITA to solve the remaining military and other related issues in order to avoid
sanctions, to contribute to the National Reconciliation and stability in the country;

13. Appreciates the initiative of the countries of the region to undertake voluntary economic
restructuring and calls upon the international community, especially the EU, to provide financial
and technical support for the success of this initiative;

14. Instructs itsCo-Presidents toforward this resolution to the ACP-EU Council, the Commission
and the Southern Africa Development Community.

**RESOLUTION** ( [1] )

**on bananas**

_The ACP-EU Joint Assembly,_

— meeting in Lomé (Togo) from 27 to 30 October 1997,

— having regard to its previous resolutions on bananas, in particular those adopted on 6 October
1994 in Libreville, 3 February 1995 in Dakar, 29 March 1996 in Windhoek, 25 September 1996
in Luxembourg and 20 March 1997 in Brussels,

— recalling the resolutions adopted in this regard by the 65th session of the ACP Council of
Ministers held in Brussels from 21 to 23 April 1997, and the resolution adopted by the European
Parliament at its sitting on 18 September 1997,

A. whereas in 1996 the United States, supported by four Latin American countries (Ecuador,
Honduras, Mexico and Guatemala) submitted a complaint to the World Trade Organization
against the Community banana import regime, following which a special WTO group was
convened,

B. whereas the European Commission took the matter up with the WTO’s appeals body following
the conclusions contained in the interim report delivered by the WTO panel on 29 April, which
stated that the COM in bananas, which grants preferential treatment to ACP countries and EU
regions, was incompatible with the WTO rules,

C. deeply concerned at the confirmation of the WTO panel’s conclusions, in particular the
incompatibility with WTO rules of the Community system of import licences and compensation
for losses caused by bad weather conditions,

D. whereas calling into question these key elements of the Community system would have
disastrous consequences for many ACP countries and for the European Union’s producer
regions, which are sporadically devastated by hurricanes,

( [1] ) Adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Assembly on 30 October 1997 in Lomé (Togo).

30.3.98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 96/49

E. whereas the WTO ruling does not take into account the vital importance of banana production
for the ACP countries and for the EU’s very remote regions in terms of export incomes,
employment, infrastructure development, environmental protection and, more generally, the
socio-economic development of the regions concerned,

F. whereas this condemnation affects both the common agricultural policy and cooperation policy
and could constitute a harmful precedent for the future of the Lomé agreement,

G. whereas the world market in bananas is highly cartelized as a result of the action of
multinationals, which already control two-thirds of the Community market,

H. noting with concern that as third parties the ACP countries were not entitled to equal
opportunities to pursue their interests in the WTO dispute on the regime and that it is imperative
that the rules and the procedures be modified if the interest of all parties is to be protected,

I. whereas the Community regime secured endorsement from GATT in the Marrakesh agreement
of 1994,

J. whereas the Community banana import regime was set up by Regulation 404/93 following the
establishment of the internal market and is designed to organize a hitherto compartmentalized
market; whereas the COM in bananas is the result of a compromise respecting the interests of
the different suppliers while taking account of the Union’s earlier commitments, namely
Community preference, preferential access for ACP countries and GATT rules in relation to
third countries,

K. having regard to the special ties between EU countries and their African, Caribbean and Pacific
partners and the Union’s undertakings under the Lomé Convention, in particular the banana
protocol, which seeks to guarantee the maintenance of the ACP countries’ advantages on the
European market, access to that market, which should not be less favourable than under the
conditions experienced previously, and the improvement of the conditions of production and
marketing of ACP bananas,

L. concerned that the ACP countries’ request for the case of Somalia to be treated as one of force
majeure has still not been favourably considered despite the severe hardship arising from the
adverse effect of the civil unrest on that country’s industries,

1. Expresses concern at the difficult situation currently facing European, ACP and OCT banana
producers;

2. Calls on the European Union to recognize its responsibility and duty to show solidarity
towards the ACP countries and the EU regions concerned by protecting the legitimate interests of
their banana producers;

3. Calls for the maintenance of the Community banana regime in order to safeguard the interests
of producers in ACP countries, in accordance with the undertakings contained in the Lomé
Convention, and of Community producers vis-a-vis major American banana companies which
dominate the world market, and insists that the Commission should institute arrangements to
promote ‘fair trade’ bananas;

4. Urges the Council and the Commission to make an appropriate riposte based on a political
commitment aimed at ensuring the maintenance of the acquired advantages and respect for the
Union’s prior commitments to the ACP countries, as set out in the Lomé Convention, and the
protection of Community production on the EU market;

5. Calls on the Commission to reactivate the system of technical and financial assistance granted
to ACP producers, which, while not completely ameliorating the problem, has proved effective;

6. Calls on the Commission to take appropriate measures to avoid a collapse of market prices,
which would lead to a sharp fall in ACP producers’ export incomes;

C 96/50 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 30.3.98

7. Considers that insufficient consideration has been given to the interests of small developing
countries and shares the view of the Union of Caribbean banana producers that the WTO is
becoming — or is already — an exclusive club for rich countries;

8. Calls on the Union to emphasize within the WTO that the Community banana regime and
the related trade preferences are genuine development instruments for a large number of ACP
countries and very remote EU regions;

9. Calls on the Commission to check that steps are not being taken to set up or develop situations
of abuse of a dominant position in the world banana distribution system or situations contrary to
Community law in the distribution of the product on the EU market;

10. Calls on the Council and the Commission to propose a revision of the WTO mechanisms
and its procedures for the settlement of disputes in order to take greater account of development,
social, health, cultural and environmental issues, as well as the specificities and handicaps of island
ACP States, including their small size, remoteness and weak and fragile economies;

11. Calls on the Commission to provide the group of ACP producers as soon as possible with
technical support to enable them to carry out the necessary analyses and negotiations vis-à-vis the
WTO in the best possible conditions;

12. Urges the Commission to consider favourably the ACP countries’ request for the special case
of Somalia to be treated as one of force majeure;

13. Instructs itsCo-Presidents toforward this resolution to the ACP-EU Council, the Commission
and the Director-General of the WTO.

**RESOLUTION** ( [1] )

**on sugar**

_The ACP-EU Joint Assembly,_

— meeting in Lomé (Togo) from 27 to 30 October 1997,

— reaffirming its resolution on sugar adopted during the 24th Session held in Brussels (Belgium)
from 17 to 20 March 1997,

— recalling the resolution adopted in this regard by the 65th Session of the ACP Council of
Ministers held in Brussels (Belgium) from 21 to 23 April 1997,

A. reiterating the importance to ACP signatory States of sugar exported to the EU under the Sugar
Protocol and the Special Preferential Sugar (SPS) agreement and the contribution of their sugar
industries to socio-economic development, the furtherance of democracy, good governance and
political stability,

B. recalling the mutual benefit accruing to the contracting parties from the preferential trading
agreements and that ACP exports now form an integral part of the EU sugar regime,

( [1] ) Adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Assembly on 30 October 1997 in Lomé (Togo).

30.3.98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 96/51

C. considering the investments undertaken by signatory Sates in their ongoing rationalization
programmes to optimize the use of by-products, ensure compliance with environmental
standards and increase efficiency and competitiveness,

D. noting with concern that the EU’s restrictive pricing has continued to adversely affect the ACP
and that the situation has been further aggravated by the weakening of the ECU against other
major currencies resulting in a significant decline in the value of the ACP guaranteed price,

E. concerned also that there is still no commitment from the EU regarding assistance in alleviating
the burden of the high cost of inland transport and ocean freight a problem which has now
been further compounded by the reduction in revenue resulting from the decline in the ECU,

1. Calls on the European Union to:

i) fully recognize the importance of the sugar industries to the economies of the ACP States
concerned and the contribution made to the socio-economic development and political stability;

ii) ensure that the price offered for the ACP sugar takes fully into account all elements including
the efforts at rationalization as highlighted in the annual memorandum on economic factors
and the decline in value of the guaranteed price resulting from agrimonetary factors;

iii) recognize the mutual benefit to all parties concerned derived from the preferential trading under
the Protocol and Special Preferential Sugar Agreement;

iv) take appropriate action to assist the ACP in alleviating the burden of high transport cost and
the inadequate off loading facilities at European ports of discharge as highlighted in the findings
of the 1992 sugar transport cost study;

2. Instructs its Co-Presidents to forward this resolution to the ACP-EU Council and the

Commission.

**RESOLUTION** ( [1] )

**on rice**

_The ACP-EU Joint Assembly,_

— meeting in Lomé (Togo) from 27 to 30 October 1997,

— reaffirming its resolution on rice adopted by the 65th Session of the ACP Council of Ministers
held in Brussels (Belgium) from 21 to 23 April 1997,

A. recalling the objectives of the Fourth ACP-EC Convention of Lomé to promote trade between
the ACP and the EU,

B. considering that the Joint Declaration, Annex XXXII of the Convention, encourages greater
regionalco-operationbetween theACP andtheneighbouringOverseasCountriesandTerritories
(OCT),

( [1] ) Adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Assembly on 30 October 1997 in Lomé (Togo).

C 96/52 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 30.3.98

C. considering also the provision for cumulation with ACP and OCTs as stipulated in the EC
Council Decision No 91/482/EEC of 25 July 1991 on the association of the OCT with the EU,

D. noting that the ACP and neighbouring OCTs have been co-operating over the years and have
been able to use the trade in rice as a means of developing their industries and economies,

E. having regard for the high priority given to trade as a medium for accelerating growth and
development in ACP countries and for integrating the ACP economies into the wider global

economy,

F. concerned that safeguard measures were twice instituted against OCT rice exports to the EU in
1997 without regard to the implications for ACP rice exports to the Union despite repeated
requests from the ACP for consultations on the matter,

G. concerned also about the inordinate period it has taken for the Commission to implement the
provision of the revised Annex XL which allows for an additional 15 % reduction and
socio-economic development in general,

H. emphasising the importance of the rice industry for the ACP rice-producing states, as well as
for trade revenue, employment, poverty alleviation and socio-economic development in general,

1. Calls on the European Union to:

i) fully honour the commitment given in the Lomé Convention of promoting ACP trade with the
Union and encouraging greater cooperation between ACP and neighbouring OCTs;

ii) implement without further delay the provisions of the revised Annex XL in order to alleviate
the hardships currently being experienced by ACP rice-producing states;

2. Instructs its Co-Presidents to forward this resolution to the ACP-EU Council and to the

Commission.

30.3.98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 96/53

**RESOLUTION** ( [1] )

**on measures to alleviate economic instability**

_The ACP-EU Joint Assembly,_

— meeting in Lomé (Togo) from 27 to 30 October 1997,

— having regard to the Fourth Lomé Convention as revised by the agreement signed in Mauritius
on 4 November 1995,

— having regard to the Commission Green Paper on relations between the European Union and
the ACP countries on the eve of the twenty-first century,

— having regard to the European Parliament resolution( [2] ) on the Commission Green Paper on
relations between the European Union and the ACP countries on the eve of the twenty-first
century — challenges and options for a new partnership,

A. mindful of the principal objectives of development cooperation policy, which are:

        - sustainable economic and social development,

        - the smooth and gradual integration of developing countries into the world economy,

        - combating poverty,

B. whereas the destabilizing consequences of globalization, particularly financial upheavals,
uneven development, high unemployment rates and social exclusion accentuate economic
instability in many ACP countries and exacerbate extreme poverty and inequality,

C. whereas the process of globalization can contribute to progress if it is regulated by political
measures which take full account of the needs of sustainable development and regional diversity,

D. whereas WTO rules prohibit any regional preference systems, and do not take into account the
fact that there is at present no level playing field in the international trading system,

E. whereas EU policies must be consistent with the objectives of development cooperation,

F. whereas the only effective way to tackle the causes of unemployment and social exclusion is to
create productive jobs, particularly in the vernacular sector, which is too often called the
informal economy,

G. concerned that developing countries’ debts have increased in recent years and that servicing
debts absorbs a large percentage of ACP countries’ export earnings,

H. mindful of the vital role played by modern technologies in economic and social life and bearing
in mind that scientific research and technological development are decisive factors in the
economic, social and cultural development of ACP countries,

1. Calls for a substantial increase in State development aid and additional funds to support
diversification programmes;

( [1] ) Adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Assembly on 30 October 1997 in Lomé (Togo).
( [2] ) OJ C 325, 27.10.1997, p. 28.

C 96/54 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 30.3.98

2. Considers thatcoherencebetweencooperationpolicies, EUactionsanddevelopment objectives
is essential;

3. Calls for EU trade barriers to be lowered, for less rigid rules and a more flexible and effective
system of tariffs and preferences, particularly for the least developed countries;

4. With regard to trade, welcomes the Commission’s proposal on differentiation within a single
framework; differentiations which should be implemented through the provision of additional
preferences in order to take into account the specificities of each region of the ACP Group and the
particular problems and needs of least developed, land-locked and island ACP States;

5. Clearly states its intention of supporting the fight against poverty and in this connection urges
that trade agreements will grant enhanced and improved preferences to the ACP States;

6. In view of the fact that WTO rules prohibit any system of regional preference, hopes that the
Lomé Convention will place greater emphasis on market-dependent elements such as infrastructure
and support for educational systems and economic regeneration;

7. Is convinced that combating poverty, sustainable development and gradual integration into
the world economy are complementary objectives and in this respect points out the importance of
participation by women, who should be prepared for the achievement of these objectives;

8. Is in favour of support measures for the informal, vernacular economy, particularly in large
conurbations and with regard to training and assistance with marketing products;

9. Takes the view that the EU should provide technical assistance to the ACP countries, enabling
them to improve their ability at more astute negotiation of agreements to promote emerging
industries, guaranteeing regulated working conditions and a better environment;

10. Takes the view that the EU should provide technical assistance to the ACP countries to
enable them to promote and use what are known as front-line technologies, which are simple to
use and a means of emerging from poverty, particularly in the area of sanitation and water

treatment;

11. Considers that micro-credits and public access to credit are vital factors which should be
reinforced in development cooperation, particularly through ACP-EU financial cooperation which
could benefit those active in the vernacular economy and small and medium-sized enterprises;

12. Calls for the launch of a major technology transfer programme to ACP countries on a
non-commercial basis, together with training programmes tailored to actual needs;

13. Considers that the next Lomé convention should make provision for the protection of
intellectual property in the ACP countries, whose inventions are pirated, while the sparse results
of their research institutes are bought up by multinational companies, and cost prevents access by
ACP countries to developed countries’ patents;

14. Calls on the Member States to comply with the United Nations recommendation and devote
0,7 % of their GDP to development aid;

15. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to take action with a view to drawing up
a global debt-reduction programme, particularly reducing debt through repayments in local
currency, with participation by all the creditors (commercial banks, creditor countries and
international institutions);

16. Calls on the Commission and the governments of the Member States and ACP countries
actively to monitor, and possibly to regulate, banking practices and the interest rates charged,
particularly on SMEs;

30.3.98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 96/55

17. Points out that increased production in ACP countries should entail increased sales, and
notes that most advertising broadcast in ACP countries is for imported products; therefore calls
for the development of public local television and radio programmes or designated time-slots on
national networks to provide free or subsidized advertising for local products;

18. Instructs its Co-Presidents to forward this resolution to the ACP-EU Council and the

Commission.

**RESOLUTION** ( [1] )

**on peace management and conflict resolution, including measures to ban anti-personnel mines**

_The ACP-EU Joint Assembly,_

— meeting in Lomé (Togo) from 27 to 30 October 1997,

A. concerned at the conflicts and potential armed conflicts affecting or threatening many African
countries, especially in the continents’ western and central sub-regions,

B. whereas these conflicts usually take the form of civil wars or inter-ethnic clashes, are internal
in origin and are rarely connected with an attack by one State on another,

C. whereas these conflicts usually come close on the heels of disastrous economic situations and
governments’ failures to respect human rights,

D. whereas preservation of peace and prevention of conflicts in ACP countries entails elimination
of corruption in governance, establishment of democratic socio-political systems based on
respect of human rights, popular participation, the rule of law, transparency and accountability
in public function,

E. whereas respect for human rights, democratic principles, the rule of law and good governance
constitute essential elements of the revised Lomé IV Convention,

F. whereas the Commission’s Green Paper on future relations between the Union and the ACP
countries states that conflict prevention should be one of the main aims of cooperation,

G. whereas public opinion is more and more aware that the authors of war crimes cannot go
unpunished but must be brought to justice; whereas, in this connection, it is essential to create,
as a matter of urgency, the nucleus of an impartial international judicial body to have prime
responsibility for judging war crimes and crimes against humanity wherever they have been
committed,

H. whereas the scourge of anti-personnel mines, apart from the immeasurable suffering inflicted
on the victims, jeopardizes any prospect of sustainable development for the people in the
affected areas,

I. pointing out the crucial importance of the mine clearance operations agreed by the international
community and the European Union in particular,

( [1] ) Adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Assembly on 30 October 1997 in Lomé (Togo).

C 96/56 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 30.3.98

J. noting the significant progress achieved by the Ottawa Process towards banning anti-personnel
mines,

K. particularly welcoming the fact that the 89 countries present in Oslo in September unanimously
adopted a treaty imposing a total ban on landmines, prohibiting their use, stockpiling,
production and transfer and requiring them to be destroyed,

L. deploring, however, the fact that the withdrawal of the US from the Ottawa process and the
absence of a number of states which produce or utilize mines affect the impact of the treaty
from the outset,

1. Recalls that the principles of ‘good governance’, respect for human rights and the primacy of
law are the best means of preventing conflict and guaranteeing the stability of States, and that these
principles should therefore be promoted and supported;

2. Calls for the establishment of international political cooperation structures with adequate
and effective resources to enable them to take conflict prevention measures, initially by means of
mediation;

3. Supports and encourages efforts by the OAU and other regional or sub-regional organizations
in ACP countries that seek to promote dialogue and reconciliation and prevent the arising of
conflict situations;

4. Is convinced of the need for closer cooperation at the highest level between the EU and the
OAU, as well as with the subregional organizations such as Ecowas and the SADC, and accepts
the decisions taken in this sense;

5. Calls for the provisions on security on the African continent and other ACP countries
concerned to include:

— a ban on the use of landmines;

— control and limitation of arms sales;

— limitation of military budgets to 1 % of GDP, failing which cooperation measures will be
reduced;

— a regional system for assessing tension and preparing mediation;

— providing ACP States with satellite information that may contribute to crisis prevention;

— establishment of an inter-African volunteer buffer and peace-keeping force under the aegis of
the OAU;

6. Notes the Council’s conclusions of 2 June 1997 on conflict prevention and encourages it to
pursue its action in this field, taking due account of the vital role of civil society and, in particular,
the important role of women in conflict prevention and settlement;

7. Wishes matters of conflict prevention and the peaceful resolution of conflict to be the main
concern of the negotiators of the agreement which succeeds the Lomé Convention; considers it
essential that conflict-prevention measures should form an integral part of development aid;

8. Stresses the need to create a permanent international criminal tribunal, and calls on all the
signatory states to the Lomé Convention to give their support at the UN to the creation of such a

court;

9. Considers that mine clearance operations must precede any development action;

10. Welcomes the fact that 89 states succeeded in Oslo in agreeing a common text that will put
a legal ban on the production, stockpiling, use and transfer of anti-personnel mines;

30.3.98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 96/57

11. Regrets that, with the US leaving the Ottawa process, the hoped-for positive signal for a
worldwide ban on the mines has not been sent;

12. Regrets that Finland and Greece were present at the negotiations only as observers, but
urges them, nevertheless, to sign the treaty;

13. Considers that the Ottawa process must be continued to ensure that the new treaty acquires
the universal character which it at present lacks;

14. Calls on the US, in this connection, to adhere to the Ottawa process and to sign the treaty
instituting a total and immediate ban on anti-personnel mines this year;

15. Encourages all states, in particular Russia, China, Pakistan, India, Iraq and Turkey, which
have not participated in the Ottawa process to date, to sign the treaty in December 1997;

16. Calls on the Council, the Commission and Member States to develop the necessary
cooperation between civilian and military R & D programmes in order to foster the widespread
use and diffusion of mine-detection technologies in the ACP countries;

17. Calls for a critical reexamination of relations with countries opposed to the signature of the
treaty or to participate in the Ottawa process;

18. InstructsitsCo-PresidentstoforwardthisresolutiontotheACP-EUCouncil,theCommission,
the Secretary-General of the Oslo conference and the SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations.

**RESOLUTION** ( [1] )

**on Article 5 of Lomé IV — its implementation, support for human rights, democratic principles**
**and good governance**

_The ACP-EU Joint Assembly,_

— meeting in Lomé (Togo) from 27 to 30 October 1997,

— having regard to Articles 5 and 366a of the Fourth Lomé Convention,

— having regard to the Joint Assembly’s previous resolutions concerning human rights, and in
particular the resolution of 31 March 1993 on democracy, human rights and development in
the ACP countries,

— having regard to the European Commission’s proposal on a framework procedure for
implementing Article 366a,

— having regard to European Parliament Resolution( [2] ) on the Commission’s Green Paper on
‘Relations between the European Union and the ACP countries on the eve of the 21st century
— Challenges and options for a new partnership’,

A. whereas respect for human rights, democratic principles and the rule of law constitutes an
essential element of the Lomé IV Convention as revised in Mauritius on 4 November 1995, and
development policy and cooperation are closely linked to respect for — and the enjoyment of
— fundamental human rights and freedoms and the recognition and application of democratic
principles, the consolidation of the rule of law and the sound management of public affairs,

( [1] ) Adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Assembly on 30 October 1997 in Lomé (Togo).
( [2] ) OJ C 325, 27.10.1997, p. 28.

C 96/58 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 30.3.98

B. whereas the ACP-EU partnership has encouraged and contributed on an international scale to
greater respect for human rights and democratic principles,

C. whereas in some of the ACP countries, progress with regard to human rights, democracy and
the rule of law is accompanied by economic progress, and political conditionality is increasingly
accepted as an instrument of development and as an essential component of long-term
development cooperation,

D. whereas to guarantee democratic participation by civil society and other socioeconomic
performers in the process of lasting development, respect for human rights, democratic principles
and the rule of law are indispensable,

E. whereas the mere fact of holding elections cannot guarantee respect for democracy,

F. pointing out the recent positive developments observed in Africa and particularly the progress
as regards democracy and the rule of law, the improvement in economic performance and the
new aspirations and behaviour of the emerging generations,

G. regretting, however, the persistent human rights violations and blockage of the democratization
process in a few ACP countries which has led the EU, after the signing of Lomé IV in 1989, to
suspend its cooperation with twelve ACP countries, currently maintaining this suspension with
eight of these countries,

1. Proposes that a political component be added to the Convention;

2. Solemnly affirms its commitment to the promotion of human rights and democracy and
welcomes the introduction of respect for human rights, democratic principles and the rule of law
as essential elements of the Lomé Convention;

3. Calls on the EU to define clear and objective criteria for the implementation of Article 366a
of the Lomé Convention — which sets out the procedure for the suspension and the resumption of
cooperation — to ensure the transparency and coherence of EU policy;

4. Calls on the EU and ACP States to protect all the rights of nationals of EU and ACP states
legally residing in their territories;

5. Welcomes the recent positive developments observed in most ACP countries with regard to
democratization and improved economic performance, and the new aspirations and behaviour of
the emerging generations who wish to take development into their own hands;

6. Calls on those ACP countries with which EU cooperation is still suspended to abide by their
obligations under Article 5 of the Lomé Convention in the best interest of their populations and to
avoid increased political and economic isolation;

7. Stresses that the question of democratization must be examined, taking into account social
and cultural differences, without, however, making any compromises over the fundamental
principles of human rights;

8. Considers that elections must be held in accordance with recognized international standards
and must give free expression to the will of the electorate by offering it a genuine political choice;

9. Calls for the mandatory submission of an annual report to the European Parliament, the
parliaments of the Member States and the Joint Assembly;

10. Demands that measures be taken to improve the basic education of broad categories of the
population and that tomorrow’s leaders of society receive specific training;

30.3.98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 96/59

11. Recalls that the basic preconditions for democratization include the satisfaction of the
fundamental social and economic needs of individuals and the existence of efficient local services,
and that, consequently, financial means adapted to the mechanisms of the development of the
informal sector must be established alongside actions to promote democracy;

12. Considers that independence of the judiciary, freedom of the press, the independent
organization of civil society and political pluralism constitute essential components of the operation
of democracy;

13. Calls on all States party to the Lomé Convention to ensure that the actions of their security
forces are subject to legal accountability;

14. Urges the abolition of capital punishment by countries where it remains on the statute book;

15. Instructs its Co-Presidents to forward this resolution to the Commission and Council and to
the ACP and EU Member States.

**RESOLUTION** ( [1] )

**on the organization of free and transparent elections in the ACP countries**

_The ACP-EU Joint Assembly,_

— meeting in Lomé (Togo) from 27 to 30 October 1997,

A. whereas one of the main purposes of the ACP-EU Joint Assembly is to help the countries of
Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific to promote the well-being of their peoples,

B. convinced that the ACP States can attract private investment because they command by no
means negligible natural and human resources; and that what is missing is the establishment of
an adequate legal climate based on scrupulous respect for human rights, the guarantee of
sustainable economic development,

C. whereas some African countries in favour of the establishment of democracy have seen a rise
in the rate of economic growth and whereas one of the conditions for genuine democracy rests
on respect for human rights and the organization of free and transparent elections,

1. Recommends that the Commission and the Council provide adequate technical assistance
and financial resources to the African countries for the organization of genuine free and transparent
elections;

2. Instructs its Co-Presidents to forward this resolution to the ACP-EU Council, the Commission
and the UN and OAU Secretaries General.

( [1] ) Adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Assembly on 30 October 1997 in Lomé (Togo).

C 96/60 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 30.3.98

**RESOLUTION** ( [1] )

**on demographic policy, reproductive health and HIV/AIDS**

_The ACP-EU Joint Assembly,_

— meeting in Lomé (Togo) from 27 to 30 October 1997,

— having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the European Convention for the
Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the United Nations Convention
on the Right of the Child,

— having regard to its resolutions of 2 February 1995, 28 September 1995 and 20 March 1996 on
the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing,

— having regard to its resolution on the results of the international conference on population and
development held in Cairo on 2 February 1995,

— having regard to its resolutions on measures to prevent and combat AIDS in the ACP countries
of 22 March 1996 and its resolution on AIDS of 1 October 1992,

— having regard to its resolution of 20 March 1997 for the International Conference in Abidjan
on sexually-transmitted diseases/AIDS,

A. whereas the world population is currently approximately 6 billion and is increasing daily by
some 260 000, with 95 % of this increase being accounted for by Africa, Latin America and
Asia,

B. whereas in Africa children of under five years of age represent some 14 % of the population,
but sometimes account for up to 80 % of annual deaths,

C. whereas, however, under-development is not due primarily to over-population, but to the lack
of education, economic exploitation, the injustice which characterizes international relations,
political oppression, violence and war,

D. whereas every minute a woman dies of complications during pregnancy or while giving birth
and almost 99 % of these 500 000 annual deaths take place in the developing countries,

E. whereas one pregnancy in four in unwanted, and this greatly increases the number of deaths
and the cases of infection and sterility due to abortions which are hazardous because practised
illegally, in secret and under dangerous conditions and 35 % of cases of mothers dying in
childbirth could be avoided solely by practising a method of family planning,

F. condemning the fact that every year two million girls suffer genital mutilation,

G. noting with regret that over 40 % of school drop-outs in Tanzania are under-age girls who have
become pregnant,

H. whereas the incidence of sexually-transmitted diseases, including AIDS, is continuing to rise
world-wide and is also increasing dramatically among young people and women, and this is
particularly true of Africa,

I. alarmed that by the year 2000 at least 80 % of people carrying the HIV virus will be living in
the developing countries,

J. noting that solidarity among the Lomé partners and other states in the fields of therapeutic
research, information and prevention is necessary in combating AIDS, and that this solidarity
will make it possible to give patients more individual care and attention,

( [1] ) Adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Assembly on 30 October 1997 in Lomé (Togo).

30.3.98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 96/61

K. whereas, owing to its social and economic consequences AIDS constitutes a serious barrier to
development like traditional tropical diseases and diseases induced by poverty,

L. whereas population policy and health care are generating promising solutions which act both
directly to improve the situation of women and children, particularly as regards reproductive
health, and indirectly to reduce the growth of the world population,

M. whereas family planning is one such approach, since it allows women to determine by themselves
the number of children they have and the intervals between births and means that unwanted
pregnancies and age-related maternal risks can be avoided,

N. whereas in countries where the use of modern contraceptives remains low, this is at the cost of
the well-being of women and their children,

O. whereas since the UN International Human Rights Conference in Teheran in 1968 family
planning has been a recognized human right, a status confirmed once more at the international
conference on population and development in Cairo in 1994,

P. welcoming the statements made by the Government of the United Kingdom, as the next
President-in-Office of the European Union, that it will consider reproductive health one of the
priority areas for action during its Presidency,

Q. delighted that there is great potential of ideas and commitment in respect of family planning
projects, in particular among northern and southern nongovernmental organizations, projects
which are well received by the population in question and may have great success,

R. pleased that a family planning project in Lowero (Uganda) was able to quadruple the rate of
use of contraceptives within a period of three years,

S. whereas a significant correlation exists between the educational level of women and the time
of their marriage, the birth of their first child and the number of their children.

T. whereas the rise in the world’s population has led to the increasing consumption of resources
andincreasingenvironmental pollutionwhichare veryunevenlydistributed, since thepopulation
in the industrial countries consumes much more energy and raw materials and pollutes the
global environment far more than the population of the developing countries,

1. Calls on the governments and civic leaders in EU states to modify economic structures and
consumer habits in such a way as to avert the threat of global ecological catastrophe and the
economic collapse that would follow;

2. Calls on the EU Member States once more to increase their contributions to development
cooperation and calls on the ACP States to redouble their own development efforts so as to improve
the social situation of the population in the developing countries, since this will create a sounder
basis for the effective implementation of family planning programmes, measures in favour of
women and elementary schooling and health care, which will in turn lead to a reduction in the
population growth;

3. Demands that questions of population policy and reproductive health play a greater role in
the political dialogue between the EU and ACP countries in future;

4. Reiterates its desire that traditional and religious leaders should heighten public awareness of
practices which prevent AIDS and promote responsible procreation and cooperate with the
authorities with a view jointly to fostering habits and adopting legislative measures to achieve this
end;

C 96/62 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 30.3.98

5. Calls on the Commission to reinforce the services responsible for combating AIDS in the ACP
countries and to set in place a structure endowed with adequate financial, human and technical
resources in order to establish a Euro-ACP network to develop methods of combating and tackling
the disease in all the countries affected by the spread of AIDS as part of an integrated approach
involving all the development programmes in the health, education and civic training sectors;

6. Calls on the governments of ACP and EU States to redouble their efforts to implement the
final document and the action plan of the 1994 world population conference, to take into account
the results of the World Conference on Women in Beijing and to notify their parliaments of the
results;

7. Calls on the Commission, as a matter of urgency, to notify the Joint Assembly of implementing
measures taken at EU level and in ACP-EU cooperation and, in particular, to develop and publish
an EU policy guideline document on reproductive health in the developing countries and to unveil
this policy in time for discussion at the next meeting of the Joint Assembly;

8. Calls on the Commission to provide the Joint Assembly with an assessment of the lessons to
be learned from the ten years of the EU HIV/AIDS programme for developing countries and to
present the next meeting of the Joint Assembly with a proposal for action on HIV/AIDS in the
years ahead;

9. Calls on the Commission to support the establishment in several ACP countries of condom
production factories;

10. Calls on the EU Member States and the European Union to make available the necessary
resources in their budgets to enable them to assume their share of the world-wide costs of
implementing the specific population policy measure recommendations set out in the Cairo action
plan, costs, which, it is estimated, will be reach US $17 billion annually by the year 2000, 5,7 billion
of which are to be raised by financial cooperation from the donor countries; the emphasis should
be on the allocation of increasing resources to reproductive health initiatives;

11. Looks to the European Parliament therefore to set aside at least ECU 8 million for population
policy in the 1998 European Union’s budget for 1998 (Budgetary Line B7-631);

12. Insists on the need for increased attention to be paid to population issues in development
planning, and suggests that visible support should be given by politicians and senior civil servants;

13. Expects that, particularly in implementing cooperation within the framework of the Lomé
Convention, some areas which are relevant to population and health policy will be seen as priorities
and accordingly given priority in the authorization of projects and in future national and regional
guideline programmes:

— Women should be in a better position to make decisions on regulating their own fertility.
Health care and treatment to improve reproductive health should be uniformly extended in
appropriate forms, notably by mobile health services. Within the framework of the ACP-EU
cooperation, a long-term plan should be set up, possibly as part of essential drug programmes,
in order to ensure a reliable supply of contraceptives for families and individuals in ACP
countries, with special attention being paid to the poorest sectors of the population;

— The access of women to culture, training, jobs, loans, property, social security and political,
social and economic decision-taking processes should be facilitated;

— Measures should be taken to prevent the degradation of women to sexual objects, which occurs
in a particularly despicable way through the trade in women and rape;

— Appropriate measures should be taken to combat the crass discrimination that exists against
girls;

— All people should have access to appropriate-quality family planning services;

30.3.98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 96/63

— In population policy and family planning services, priority should be given to protecting
reproductive health. All aspects of human reproduction and sexuality, in particular measures
to combat and treat AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases and to prevent the mutilation
of genitals, should be seen in the general context of physical and psychological health; emergency
care for pregnant women should also be given a higher level of attention and support;

— Sizeable and sustained investments in making modern contraception available and accessible
are crucial to the success of family planning programmes in developing countries;

— Measures should be taken to remedy the neglect of sex education among young people of both
sexes, and to improve access to contraceptive methods and protection from sexually transmitted
diseases;

14. Reiterates, however, that women’s self-determination in reproductive matters and their
decisions as to how many children to have form, irrespective of the cultural or religious context, a
fundamental and inalienable right in all countries; considers, therefore, that women must have
access to the whole range of safe, effective and morally acceptable family planning methods, while
recognizing that abortion is not a method of birth control;

15. Welcomes the publication of the joint EU-World Bank report ‘Confronting AIDS: Publication
Priorities in a Global Epidemic’ which contains the most extensive evaluation of HIV/AIDS
programmes and policies in developing countries to date, and which emphasizes the responsibility
of government in ensuring effective action on HIV/AIDS, and calls on the Commission to present
the findings of the report to the Joint Assembly and to the European Parliament;

16. Stresses — on the tenth anniversary of the EU HIV/AIDS programme for developing
countries — the importance of this programme and the need for the EU to continue to allocate
sufficient human and financial resources to HIV/AIDS in the future;

17. Takes the view that in combating AIDS, it is essential that aid be focused on the following

measures:

— the supply of HIV-free blood stocks linked to a ban on the uncontrolled sale of blood stocks by
institutions and individuals;

— improved education and training for medical personnel, in particular regarding the storage of
blood stocks and transfusions;

— the promotion of disposable needles and the free distribution of such needles, or the effective
sterilization of needles;

— increased efforts to inform opinion-shapers, such as teachers, communal spokesmen and media
representatives (in particular, information programmes should be carried out for radio
journalists);

— measures to educate and sensitize the population, and in particular high-risk groups, including
tourists, to behave responsibly, and notably to use condoms;

— a specific policy to prevent disease and to promote sex education, in particular among women
and children;

— aid for the creation of consultation and care facilities;

— specific attention for HIV-infected women at a reproductive age, and pregnant women in highly
endemic areas to reduce vertical transmission (mother to child);

— the promotion of all methods of preventing sexually transmitted diseases and of reducing the
production, marketing and distribution costs of condoms;

C 96/64 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 30.3.98

18. Stresses the importance of non-governmental organizations for population policy, family
planning measures, the protection of reproductive health and measures to combat HIV/AIDS, and
supports the priority allocation of resources to independent organizations of this kind for the
implementation of projects;

19. Calls for the inclusion of — and cooperation with — the private sector, particularly in the
implementation of publicity measures and campaigns, and notably pharmacies, doctors and the
retail trade and cooperation with the national, regional and local authorities;

20. Urges the relevant EU and ACP institutions actively to promote the views contained in this
resolution at the forthcoming meeting on ‘AIDS in Africa’ (Abidjan, December 1997) and considers
that the Joint Assembly should delegate its own representatives to participate at this meeting;

21. Calls for greater efforts to be made to revise and alleviate the procedures in order to facilitate
access and to maximize the utilization of these resources by specialized NGOs at national, regional
and international level;

22. Instructs its Co-Presidents to forward this resolution to the ACP-EU Council of Ministers
and the Commission.

**RESOLUTION** ( [1] )

**on the follow-up to the Rio Earth Summit**

_The ACP-EU Joint Assembly,_

— meeting in Lomé (Togo) from 27 to 30 October 1997,

— having regard to the outcome of the nineteenth special session of the United Nations General
Assembly (UNGASS), variously referred to as Rio + 5 and Earth Summit II, held in New York
from 23-27 June 1997 to review progress achieved since the first Earth Summit, held in Rio de
Janeiro in 1992,

— having regard to the Commission Communication on a common platform: guidelines for
European Union preparation for the United Nations General Assembly Special Session to be
held in New York in June 1997 to review Agenda 21 and related outcomes of the United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992( [2] ) and to
Parliament’s resolution thereon of 14 March 1997,

— having regard to the Environment Council’s conclusions concerning the guidelines for the EU’s
preparation for the United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) at its meeting
of 9 December 1996, and the Environment Council’s further conclusions at its meeting of
19 June 1997,

— having regard to the European Parliament resolutions of 13 February 1992 on EC participation
in the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development (UNCED) and on the
need for a convention on the protection of forests,

— having regard to the conclusions of the UN Conference on Environment and Development in
Rio de Janeiro in June 1992,

( [1] ) Adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Assembly on 30 October 1997 in Lomé (Togo).
( [2] ) COM(96) 0569 — C4-0656/96.

30.3.98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 96/65

— having regard to the resolutions of the ACP-EU Joint Assembly on climate change and on
reducing greenhouse gas emissions of 6 October 1994, 2 February 1995, 28 September 1995,
22 March 1996, 26 September 1996 and 20 March 1997,

A. whereas the just distribution of global wealth, changes to wasteful production and consumption
patterns and an improvement in the world environment referred to in Agenda 21 have not taken
place,

B. whereas the environment both within, and outside, the EU has continued to deteriorate
(greenhouse gas emissions are rising, deforestation has continued, poverty in the world has
increased, overseas development aid has declined); whereas the pursuit of business as usual is
most unlikely to result in sustainable development in the near future,

C. whereas Rio gave positive signals to the world, and the EU in particular was constructive in
pledging financial support for the implementation of Agenda 21 in the south; whereas, in the
meantime, the polarisation between developed and developing countries has not diminished;
whereas, many of the financial commitments given have, with very few exceptions, yet to be
honoured,

D. whereas, in order for southern countries to be involved in solving global environmental
problems, northern countries (OECD) must make a major effort, given that two-thirds of toxic
waste is produced by the North,

E. whereas the preparations for the Earth Summit II in the UN Commission for Sustainable
Development (CSD) showed that a major signal from the industrialised world was needed to
create a new momentum for sustainability,

F. whereas industrialized countries have to take the lead in environmental performance, working
to encourage changes in consumption and behaviour patterns at home, developing and using
environmentally sound technologies and making them available to developing countries,

G. whereas most industrialized countries undertook to allocate 0,7 % of their GDP to public
development aid,

H. whereas poverty and under-development continue to be a cause of environmental, deterioration;
whereas sustainable development is about empowerment; whereas recognising, valuing and
enhancing the role of women and the contribution of indigenous peoples, as well as respect for
human rights, are crucial means towards that end,

I. whereas, although the wide-ranging scope of the sectoral and cross-sectoral negotiations at
UNGASS (freshwater resources, forests, energy, transport, climate change, atmospheric
pollution, toxic chemicals, waste, land and sustainable agriculture, desertification and drought,
biodiversity, sustainable tourism, natural disasters, eradication of poverty, consumption and
production) is to be welcomed, it is alarmingly clear that, unless current negative trends in these
areas are halted and reversed, there will be potentially disastrous consequences for economic
andsocialdevelopment,forhealthandenvironmentalprotection,indevelopingandindustrialised
countries alike,

J. whereas the CSD has been reconfirmed as the body responsible for the continuing reappraisal
of Agenda 21; whereas the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) should be
strengthened and reconfirmed in its role,

K. whereas the participation of the countries of the South in the resolution of the world’s
environmental problems calls for a major effort by the countries of the North (the OECD),

1. Considers that implementation of the undertakings made in Rio in 1992 is more than ever
necessary and that sustainable development must become a priority in terms of political options
and serve as a basis for the world economy’s guiding mechanisms;

C 96/66 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 30.3.98

2. Calls on the EU to play, or continue playing, a pioneering role in international negotiations
with a view to sustainable economic and social development and the reduction of global
environmental pollution;

3. Stresses that the EU was the only major regional group of countries at New York to push
consistently for global protection and sustainable development and, in the context of the
forthcoming Third Conference of the Parties (COP 3) to the UN Framework Convention on
Climate Change in Kyoto in December 1997, to present a clear strategy for reaching agreement;

4. Recalls in this context its call to the Commission and Council (in its resolution of 14 March
1997 referred to above) to pursue a mandate for negotiations after Kyoto intended to involve all
Parties to the Convention in a common approach to climate change from the year 2000, as this will
be an essential component of any Kyoto package;

5. Urges industrialized countries, and in particular the OECD members, to honour the
undertakings made at the Rio Conference by effectively raising their financial aid for developing
countries to 0,7 % of their GDP;

6. Calls on the EU and its Member States to work towards a substantial reduction in the debt
burden of the least developed countries, given that the repayment of their debt places too much
pressure on their national economies;

7. Notes that, whereas the Rio Earth Summit raised high expectations about the possibility of
tackling global environmental and development problems, UNGASS highlighted the fact that, on
key issues such as climate change, financing and forest in particular, there is still a long way to go
to achieve significant progress;

8. Regrets the fact that despite the intensive and unrelenting negotiations undertaken among the
various nations and groups of nations at UNGASS, it is abundantly clear that the positions of the
developing countries and the industrial world on many of the above issues are still far apart and
that there is a lot of controversy between these groups;

9. Warmly welcomes the EU’s negotiating position for Kyoto, where clear targets for greenhouse
gas emission reductions are outlined — a 15 % reduction vis-a-vis 1990 by the year 2010, and an
interim target of at least 7,5 % by 2005 although this is only a first step to the necessary reduction;
and expresses its hope that the EU will continue to be a driving — and unifying — force in the
Kyoto negotiations and beyond Kyoto into the next century;

10. Calls for joint action by the EU and the ACP countries within the WTO to regulate world
trade on the basis of ecological and social considerations so that new criteria can be adopted;

11. Condemns exports to southern countries of a number of dangerous products which are
prohibited in industrialized countries on grounds of public health, protection of ecosystems or
safety;

12. Calls for a binding bio-safety protocol to be adopted with a view to regulating the genetic
engineering market worldwide;

13. Calls for the adoption of a form of intellectual property recognizing the rights of the peoples
of the South over their genetic resources;

14. Considers that a moratorium should be declared on the release into the environment of
genetically modified organisms, pending the results of studies on their long-term effects on health
and the environment;

15. Calls on the EU and the ACP countries to continue measures to combat desertification and
to implement rapidly the decisions of the UN Convention on combatting desertification;

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16. Deplores the destructive role played by many other OECD states like Japan, Australia, New
Zealand and until the end of the New York Conference also the USA; urges these states to subscribe
to legally binding commitments that are identical to those made by the European Union;

17. Expresses disappointment at the destructive role played by China and other big G77
countries; and deplores the fact that the AOSIS states, although members of G77, and the ACP
countries had only little influence on the UN negotiations;

18. Supports the initiatives taken at the UNGASS meeting in favour of convening a conference
on management of water resources and access to water, on the one hand, and sustainable urban
development, on the other;

19. Emphasises the importance of subsidiarity in the process of implementing sustainable
development so that all the different actors in civil society are included and empowered;

20. InstructsitsCo-PresidentstoforwardthisresolutiontotheACP-EUCouncil,theCommission,
the governments of the signatory states of the Lomé Convention and the United Nations.