United Nations officials will begin work with a task force, launched today in London, charged with developing a set of practical projects and policy proposals to stimulate a new low-carbon global economy.

The initiative comes in response to an invitation made by United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown at the annual World Economic Forum Summit in Davos, Switzerland, in January to create an unprecedented low-carbon prosperity task force.

Some 52 businesses and 34 experts and organizations have joined the task force, which will work with governments and organizations such as the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Foundation to identify how to create millions of urgently needed “green jobs” and to steer global economic growth onto a more sustainable, low-carbon direction.

“We believe 2009 is a crucial year for two reasons,” Richard Samans, Managing Director of the World Economic Forum, said in an open letter to Mr. Brown ahead of this week’s so-called Group of 20 (G-20) Summit in London, which will discuss solutions to the current global economic crisis.

Mr. Samans suggested that by placing low-carbon growth strategies at the heart of economic stimulus measures being injected into many ailing economies, tackling the global recession and achieving a new international treaty on reducing greenhouse gas emissions – to be concluded at the UN-led climate change conference in Copenhagen in December – can be mutually reinforcing.

“The G-20 governments can, politically and practically, signal their determination to transform the current economic crisis into an opportunity by committing a serious part of the multi-trillion dollar stimulus packages to low-carbon investments,” said Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director.

“In doing so, they will be setting the stage for sealing the deal in Copenhagen, and setting the stage for a resource efficient, innovation-led 21st century green economy. That is what business needs to know and that is what the low-carbon prosperity initiative is calling for,” he added.

Source: www.un.org

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A Project Grant Agreement to implement the “Rehabilitation and Sustainable Use of Peatland Forests in Southeast Asia” project was recently signed by the ASEAN Secretariat and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The Agreement was signed by Dr Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-General of ASEAN and Mr Lennart Båge, President of IFAD.

The four-year project received a grant of US$4.3 million from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and will mobilize an additional US$10.2 million in co-financing during the implementation phase. IFAD has been designated as the implementing agency for GEF while the ASEAN Secretariat will coordinate the execution of the project in ASEAN Member States.

Dr Surin expressed his appreciation to GEF and IFAD for their support to this project. He noted that “the project will help to address the major transboundary environmental problem – smoke haze pollution - facing the ASEAN region.”

He added, “More importantly, this project will also contribute towards addressing the global climate change crisis. More and more international partners have recognised the value and mutual benefits of working with ASEAN and the ASEAN Secretariat and capitalising on its robust intergovernmental framework for programme design, implementation and monitoring. This GEF/IFAD project is another demonstration of this confidence in ASEAN.”

ASEAN has more than 30 million hectares of peatlands comprising 60% of global tropical peatland resource. Peatlands are primarily water-logged areas containing centuries-old decayed vegetative matter up to several metres deep. While being significantly important for development, livelihood, environment and biodiversity, unsustainable practices and adverse climate conditions have severely degraded the peatlands, making them the primary source of fires and smoke haze that affects the region regularly. Degraded peatlands are also a major source of greenhouse gases contributing to global warming. ASEAN, through the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution adopted in 2002, is undertaking a concerted effort to address forest and land fires in fire prone areas such as the peatlands.

This project takes a holistic approach to promote sustainable management of peatlands, sustain local livelihoods, reduce risk of fire and associated smoke haze, and contribute to global environmental efforts particularly biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation. It consists of both national activities undertaken in participating countries with major peatland areas, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Viet Nam and regional activities involving all ASEAN States to share best practices, technology and experience. On-the-ground activities will be undertaken at several identified peatland areas together with the local governments, private sector and local community.

Source: www.asean.org

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by Honor Mahony

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission has warned that it will crack down on unscrupulous companies targeting vulnerable online consumers if no improvements are made to protect personal data from abuse.

Speaking at a conference on rise of the amount of personal data collected and used for commercial purposes, consumer affairs commissioner Meglena Kuneva on Tuesday (31 March) pointed out that citizens' online data - such as visited websites, purchases made and online friends - are routinely being used without their knowledge.

Businesses take the information to build up a profile of consumers so they can target the person who appears to be in debt with predatory loans, the person who appears to have a medical condition with certain drugs or even customise services in terms of price, based on whether the customer is likely to be late in payments, fall ill, or return goods that they buy.

"The new reality that internet consumers are paying for services with their personal data and exposure to ads," said the commissioner, adding that "most users are not aware of this."

The huge growth in internet use both by companies and consumers coupled with a lack in corresponding policy means the World Wide Web is "turning out to be the world 'wild west,'" she said.

While personal data is what makes the internet as an advertising-supported service "go round", actual privacy policies are either non-existent or at best intransparent, but "avoiding tracking is currently technically difficult if not impossible."

The commissioner pointed out that privacy policies are "not always easily accessible" and in some cases, a consumer is asked to submit personal data before the privacy policy is given or sometimes a web service will include a clause under which the consumer agrees to share data with other commercial partners.

"You are signing up to give these unnamed people your data," said Ms Kuneva.

Consumer policing of the internet is not enough, the commissioner, with most people not taking the time to read the long terms of online services.

She pointed to a recent "uproar" on Facebook. The social networking service quietly included a clause in their terms and conditions meaning that its users agreed to hand over their personal data to Facebook in perpetuity. It already had 175 million users before the change was noticed.

She called for "principles of transparency, clear language, opt-in or opt-out options that are meaningful and easy to use," allowing people to partake in an economic transaction "without selling [themselves] indiscriminately as commercial fodder to the entire world."

On commercial policies, she called for "guiding principles" with a recent study showing that people no longer use their own judgment when faced with an supposed expert.

At Tuesday's meeting, the commissioner raised a series of questions on the matter, including concerning when a commercial message oversteps the line to look like personal advice and to what extent companies should be allowed to discriminate among consumers in terms of price or message.

She left the questions unanswered but called on industry to establish a framework for "acceptable behaviour" or the commission, as a regulator, "will not shy away from [its] duties."

The commissioner also noted that the most confident group of internet users - 15 to 25-year-olds - use the internet even though they do not trust it, something the commissioner likened to "drinking ... water while thinking it might be slightly toxic."

Source: www.euobserver.com

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by Elitsa Vucheva

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – The European Commission could in the first half of this year recommend lifting visa requirements for the Balkan countries that have carried out sufficient reforms, EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn said on Tuesday (31 March).

"Maybe this year we will be able to get concrete results as regards visa-free travel," Mr Rehn said at a conference organised by the Brussels-based European Policy Centre (EPC) think-tank.

"We analyse the reports for the moment and we will consider recommendations still before the end of the Czech EU presidency [in July] so that the Council [the EU member states] could in the course of this year…take a decision on visa-free travel for the most advanced countries of the western Balkans in terms of meeting the requirements and conditions," he added.

Visa requirements were imposed on the western Balkan countries in the aftermath of the 1990s Yugoslav war, with the EU promising as far back as 2003 to start talks with the countries' governments to lift these obligations.

Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro are currently the most advanced in that respect, according to Brussels' assessment reports from November last year, while Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina are the least prepared.

If the commission recommends scrapping the heavy visa obligations, a qualified majority of EU member states would have to back the measure for it to go through.

Visa liberalisation is "clearly our priority this year," Mr Rehn told MEPs from the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee later on Tuesday.

The commissioner also urged the EU not to use the global financial crisis as an excuse to slow down the enlargement process.

"Let's not make enlargement the scapegoat of economic recession, since it has not deserved this and it is not responsible for our social ills in the EU," Mr Rehn said.

"Our economic troubles are not the fault of a Serbian worker or a Croatian civil servant, rather they stem from the systemic errors of financial capitalism and originate from Wall Street, not from main street in Zagreb or Belgrade."

Slovenia and Croatia should avoid blame games

Commenting on the border dispute between Croatia and Slovenia, which has seen Ljubljana block Zagreb's EU talks since December, Mr Rehn urged the two countries to adopt a "constructive" approach in order to solve the issue, rather than blame each other for the stalemate.

"I am quite worried about the media and the media climate in both countries …Let's stop nationalistic rhetoric," he said.

The commissioner has proposed setting up a mediation group chaired by former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari to help solve the border dispute.

Mr Rehn declined to confirm whether he had received a reply to his proposal from the two countries, or whether Mr Ahtisaari would participate in a meeting between himself and Croatia's and Slovenia's foreign ministers on Wednesday in a bid to break the deadlock.

He reaffirmed however that Zagreb was "still on track" to conclude EU accession talks by the end of this year, despite the current stalemate.

Croatia opened EU accession talks in 2005 and wants to become the bloc's 28th member state in 2011.

Source: www.euobserver.com

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by Andrew Willis

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - World leaders from the Group of 20 industrial nations will gather in London on Thursday (2 April) to discuss ways to deal with the financial crisis but failure to reach a meaningful agreement and massive protests planned to coincide with the event threaten to destabilise the situation further.

The meeting represents the latest attempt to deal with the current imbroglio that has kept bureaucrats working hard since a G20 leaders' meeting in Washington last November, with stimulus spending and improved financial regulation set to top the agenda.

Recent calls by the US administration for a co-ordinated global stimulus plan met with a cold reception in European capitals where politicians are increasingly wary of negative market reactions to their burgeoning budget deficits.

Last Wednesday, the Czech Republic's ex-prime minister Mirek Topolanek whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU said US spending plans amounted to "the road to hell." The following day he was forced to resign due to unrelated domestic squabbling.

Since then the commission president Jose Manuel Barroso has moved to sooth the situation.

"The Americans accept that there has to be a reform of the financial sector. So I really think that we are thinking along the same lines – and this is new," said Mr Barroso on Thursday.

The EU debate on reforming financial regulation has been largely shaped by a report commissioned by Mr Barroso from a group of financial experts headed by former governor of the Bank of France, Jacques de Larosiere.

The report calls for a new European body to gather information on systemic risks to the EU economy as a whole, coupled with greater oversight and co-ordination between national regulators that monitor individual banks and insurance companies.

The US has an equivalent plan but how these will marry at the global level remains unclear.

"Markets are global and high standards at home need to be complemented by strong international standards enforced more evenly and fairly," US treasury secretary Tim Geithner said last week, signalling that purely domestic solutions would not be enough.

A greater role for the International Monetary Fund is one proposal with significant backing. G20 finance ministers and central bank governors agreed on 14 March on the need to reform the multilateral lender and bolster its funds but stopped short of producing a concrete figure.

Likewise leaders may call for reform of the 2004 Basel II accords, a set of general principles for national regulators whose central tenet that banks should hold a minimum of 8 percent capital relative to investments is now considered to be too low.

A decision on tax havens is also expected, despite recent capitulations by countries such as Switzerland to abide by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's rules on sharing banking information.

Extended agenda

Both EU commissioner for trade Catherine Ashton and World Trade Organisation director-general Pascal Lamy made calls last week for the G20 leaders to categorically reject protectionism and reassess the Doha round of trade talks that broke down last year.

UK prime minister Gordon Brown's recent whirlwind tour of the globe to garner support for a G20 deal included a visit to Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva, whose support is seen as crucial to restarting the talks. However the lack of staff in the US trade representative's office means such an announcement this week is unlikely.

Added to this, recent discussions on whether the US dollar should continue to be the world's reserve currency may see the topic creep onto the G20 agenda.

Last week China called for the dollar to be replaced by an IMF accounting unit known as "special drawing rights" and a UN advisory committee headed by US economist Joseph Stiglitz backed the call.

The difficulty in reaching a final decision with so many topics on the agenda is compounded by Europe's frequent inability to speak with one voice.

The EU member states attending the meeting are Germany, the UK, France and Italy, with the Netherlands and Spain also gaining an invitation to the event.

Mr Barroso will represent the European Commission at the meeting with Mirek Topolanek likely to represent the Czech EU presidency despite his resignation last week.

Germany's Angela Merkel said over the weekend that leaders were unlikely to reach a final deal on financial regulation.

"We will naturally not solve the economic crisis either, and we won't solve the issue of trade. We will definitely need to meet again," she added.

Protests

This more incremental nature to Thursday's meeting means huge protests planned for London could easily steal the limelight from world leaders.

Major environmental and anti-capitalist groups will be joined by a multitude of smaller organisations on Thursday with one anarchist group encouraging its supporters to "capture and burn a banker."

The policing bill for the event alone is expected to reach €7.5 million and failure by world leaders to reach a decision raises the prospect of a stock market fall on Friday.

Source: www.unobeserver.com

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The Asia-Pacific arm of the United Nations has launched an initiative aimed at cutting through the red tape that is adding as much as 15 per cent to the cost of goods traded in the region.

The scheme will pool expertise and experience of countries in the region to remove hidden trade barriers, such as delays at border crossings, harbours and docks caused by cumbersome procedures and excessive paperwork.

The UN Network of Experts for Paperless Trade in Asia and the Pacific (UN NExT) initiative was launched at a high-level meeting this week in Bangkok, which was organized by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the UN Economic Commission for Europe (ECE).

Ravi Ratnayake, Director of the Trade and Investment Division of ESCAP, said hidden trade barriers have resulted in the “higher cost of exports and lost opportunities in trade, which the countries in the Asia-Pacific region cannot afford at a time of great economic turmoil.”

While commending the fiscal stimulus packages of the region in response to the on-going global economic turmoil and the emphasis they place on physical infrastructure, Mr. Ratnayake said, “we at ESCAP believe that the region should also take this opportunity to address its ‘soft infrastructure’ challenges – the many forms of institutional barriers to trade.”

Capacity building, training, sharing experience on successful trade facilitation measures, and sensitizing policy makers on the importance of trade facilitation were among the elements of a work programme presented by UN NeXT at the end of the meeting.

Source: www.un.org

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In a very first for the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the ARF Voluntary Demonstration of Response (VDR) exercise will be held on 4-7 May 2009 in the Philippines. This exercise, co-sponsored by the Philippines and the United States, was announced by the Foreign Ministers of ARF’s 27 participants during the ARF Ministerial Meeting on 24 July 2008 in Singapore.

The ARF-VDR is a robust civilian-led, military supported exercise designed to demonstrate ARF national capabilities in response to an affected country's request for assistance and build regional assistance capacity for major, multinational relief operations. This is significant milestone for the ARF in its development as a regional security institution. Through this first ever field exercise, the ARF-VDR will move ARF from a forum for dialogue into one that facilitates and provides concrete, tangible contributions to regional security in transnational security issues such as disaster relief.

Using a scenario where Manila and Central Luzon are devastated by a super-typhoon, ARF participants will offer assistance to the Philippines in response to her request for international humanitarian relief. Areas of demonstration include land, air and maritime search and rescue, medical assistance/evacuation and engineering reconstruction. This first-ever ARF-VDR will also test the National Disaster Coordinating Council - United Nations Clusters Coordination mechanism in humanitarian assistance.

Over 20 participants from the Asia-Pacific region will participate in the ARF-VDR. Australia, European Union, Indonesia, Japan, Mongolia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and the USA will provide assets, personnel, and capabilities. The other ARF participants and international organisations will participate as observers in the exercise.

The media are invited to observe and report on the ARF-VDR from 4-6 May 2009 along with senior civil and military attendees from ARF participants and expert-level civil and military observers. Interested media should contact Ms Betty Lou Penera at 924-1942 (Manila), email blpenera@yahoo.com or visit http://www.pia.gov.ph/arfvdr/ for more information regarding scheduling, accreditation, and other arrangements

Source: www.asean.org

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by Andrew Willis

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The Czech EU presidency has indicated that the European Union and China are to hold a summit on 20 May in Prague, six months after the previous meeting was cancelled because of a diplomatic spat over Tibet.

When asked in Prague whether the rumoured date was accurate, Czech foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg said: "Yes, there hasn't been any change," reports the French Press Agency.

The date for the EU-China summit was one of the topics discussed by EU foreign ministers who met in the Czech Republic last Friday (27 March).

China's mission to the EU told EUobserver that they were busily making preparations for the summit but were unable to confirm the date at present.

However, they did confirm that Chinese vice-premier Wang Qishan will visit Brussels in late April or early May as part of high-level bilateral trade co-operation and investment talks.

EU commissioner for external relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner is currently in China to discuss the preparations for the G20 meeting in London on 2 April, climate change and also the upcoming EU-China Summit.

The commission says discussions will also look at the current state of play of negotiations on a Partnership and Co-operation Agreement. The negotiations started in 2007.

A previous EU-China summit scheduled to take place in Brussels last December was cancelled by the Chinese side following French President Nicholas Sarkozy's announcement of his intention to meet the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, in Poland.

The French government held the EU's rotating six-month presidency at the time and Mr Sarkozy's move was seen as antagonistic by a Chinese administration that is sensitive over the Tibetan question.

Since then, relations have improved following a fence-mending tour by Chinese premier Wen Jiabao in January and a trade delegation of about 200 Chinese entrepreneurs led by commerce minister Chen Deming in February.

However, the Chinese administration was incensed earlier this month when the European Parliament adopted a declaration marking the fiftieth anniversary of an uprising in Tibet against Chinese rule that saw the Dalai Lama flee to India, where he continues to reside.

The Dalai Lama was recently refused a travel visa to visit South Africa where he was due to attend a conference on football's role in promoting world peace.

Despite the South African government's statement that the move was intended to prevent the Tibetan leader from distracting the country's 2010 football world cup preparations, in reality the decision reflects the increasing unwillingness around the globe to upset China.

China has become a major investor in Africa as it seeks to secure improved access to raw materials.

Source: www.euobserver.com

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The United Nations-backed tribunal to try the perpetrators of a massive car bomb blast that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri has appointed its main officials and adopted rules of procedures and evidence, the court announced today.

“The Special Tribunal for Lebanon now has the necessary tools to deal promptly and efficiently with the first files concerning the Hariri case, which the Lebanese authorities are expected to transfer in the next few weeks,” its President, Antonio Cassese of Italy, said in a statement.

In consultation with President Cassese, who was the first president of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed François Roux of France as the head of the defence office.

The Tribunal, an independent body located in The Hague, is designed to try those accused of recent political murders in Lebanon, particularly the February 2005 assassination of Mr. Hariri and 22 others in downtown Beirut.

Daniel Bellemare, a Canadian prosecutor and former head of the International Independent Investigation Commission (IIIC) into the murders, assumed his office as Prosecutor of the Special Tribunal when it began operations earlier this month.

The judges and registrar of the court have already been sworn in as well, and rules governing detention and the directive on assignment of defence counsel have been adopted, the court said.

According to the Tribunal, President Cassese and Daniel Fransen of Belgium, the Pre-Trial Judge, will soon take up their duties on a full-time basis.

The other judges, for the Trial and Appeals Chambers, will take office on a date to be determined by the Secretary-General, in consultation with the President, and their names will be announced once all security measures are in place, the Tribunal said.

The investigation continues under the guidance of Prosecutor Bellemare, and a trial will take place when he has sufficient evidence is in place, according to the court.

Source: www.un.org

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The first round of United Nations-backed negotiations designed to culminate in an ambitious new international climate change treaty in Copenhagen in December got underway today.

More than 2,000 delegates from government, business and industry, environmental organizations and research institutions, have gathered in Bonn, Germany, for the first of a series of three sessions aimed at producing a draft document to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, whose first commitment period to reducing greenhouse gas emissions ends in 2012.

“This first negotiating session this year is critical for moving the world closer to a political solution to climate change,” said Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

“The clock is ticking down and countries still have much work to cover,” stressed Mr. de Boer at the start of the nine-day meeting.

Discussions on greenhouse gas emissions reductions to be achieved by industrialized countries after 2012 will centre on issues relating to the scale of the reductions, improvements to emissions trading and the Kyoto Protocol''s carbon offset mechanisms, as well as concerns relating to land-use change and forestry.

“Industrialized countries are committed to lead the way, and the world is looking to them to agree on ambitious targets, in line with what science is telling us, in Copenhagen in December,” said Harald Dovland, who chairs the working group leading the negotiations.

“We must lay the groundwork for this in Bonn at this session by shifting gears and moving into serious, in-depth negotiations,” he added.

Source: www.un.org

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Private-public partnership in ASEAN is being enhanced with a tie-up between the Siam Cement Foundation in Thailand and the ASEAN Foundation based in Jakarta to offer up to eight scholarships for ASEAN government officers and high school/university students to study in Thailand. A Memorandum of Understanding will be signed by the two foundations next week (31 March 2009) to formalise the co-operation, which will kick off in April this year. This scholarship programme will contribute to human resource development in the region, thus helping to build the ASEAN Community.

Source: www.asean.org

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by Leigh Phillips

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - With MEPs and European Union member states just inches away from clinching a deal on a sweeping revision of EU telecommunications rules, one major issue remains the sticking point: whether the flow of information on the internet will remain neutral or be split, with some data being privileged over other data.

Internet innovators, from Google to Skype to web-based start-ups are afraid that in the rush to get a deal on a telecoms package through the European institutions before the June parliamentary elections, so-called net neutrality is being left by the wayside.

Currently, wherever data comes from, whether from a silver-surfing Latvian granny blogging about her favourite traditional recipes or a multinational corporate content provider, the packets of information are treated equally, or neutrally, hence ‘net neutrality'.

Amendments to a proposal on the minimum levels of service provision by network operators backed by some centre-right MEPs however would permit telecoms companies and internet service providers to block or degrade some of the data passing through its lines while privileging other data.

Opponents of the amendments, largely from the left and green corners of the house, fear that this would instantly deliver two or more tiers to the internet, with some providers paying premium fees to prioritise their data.

The big content producers and service providers would be able to eclipse smaller publications and tiny internet start-ups.

Moreover, telecoms and ISPs may choose to block or otherwise restrict the data of providers of competing services or competitors or their partners.

Not co-incidentally, the provision of free or extremely cheap internet telephony from companies such as Skype, are the telcos' major competitors. Indeed, analysts believe internet telephony is digging the grave of the large telcos.

Internet search giant Google also opposes the amendments. "We could easily pay any additional premiums, but that's not the point. It's a point of principle. We started out as a small company. We wouldn't be able to do the same thing now, if this passes."

Jean-Jacques Sahel of Skype told EUobserver: "In a time of economic crisis, the EU should be enabling this sector to be more competitive and innovative as possible and this is going in the opposite direction. It protects the big boys and shuts out the small-time innovators."

Supporters of the amendments, including European telcos such as Telefonica and Orange, but also, crucially, US telcos AT&T and Verizon, for their part back a hands-off regulatory approach, saying that competition is enough to sort out any problems that may arise.

They also argue that any such protection of net neutrality inhibits their ability to co-ordinate traffic flows and guarantee quality of service. Many new video and gaming service suck up a lot of bandwidth, they say, arguing that data needs to be managed and prioritised so that internet provision to users is not diminished.

Furthermore, the additional revenues from preferred access fees could finance development of advanced new networks and other innovative services.

This approach is backed by the European Commission, which argues that if consumers feel their content is somehow being compromised, they will switch to other providers.

At the same time, according to sources close to the discussions, the UK and France do not favour net neutrality - the UK believing, similar to the commission, that competition alone is sufficient, and France supporting any moves that it believes will enable it to crack down on copyright infringement.

The debate has sparked off a furious round of lobbying, particularly from American firms.

US President Barack Obama made net neutrality a key issue while on the campaign trail, and at the beginning of March appointed Julius Genachowski, a strong backer of net neutrality, as the country's top telecommunications regulator. The big US telcos see the writing on the wall, and so the battlefield has shifted across the Atlantic.

"If they can deliver a result here in Europe that goes their way, this is something they can use to pressure policymakers with back in the US," said Mr Sahel.

Negotiations over the telecoms package between the parliament, the commission and the Council have all but concluded apart from haggling over the net neutrality issue, which dominated discussions between the three parties on Tuesday.

Compromise texts currently being floated from the parliament and being considered on Thursday evening appear to have caved into the anti-net-neutrality stance as MEPs pick their battles and choose other issues to make a stance over.

Further discussions are expected to take place on Monday night ahead of twin votes on the topic in the parliament's internal market and industry committees on 31 March. The full sitting of the house will consider the matter on 22 April.

Source: www.unobserver.com

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by Andrew Willis

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The volume of world trade is predicted to plunge by nine pecent this year, according to a World Trade Organisation annual report due out on Wednesday (25 March), in the largest contraction since World War II.

WTO director-general Pascal Lamy said the new forecast highlighted the need to kick-start world trade, with the 9 percent dip to help cause a one to two percent contraction in the world economy overall this year - the first time since the 1930s.

"Trade can be a potent tool in lifting the world from these economic doldrums," he said.

"In London, G20 leaders will have a unique opportunity to unite in moving from pledges to action and refrain from any further protectionist measure that will render global recovery efforts less effective."

Pressure is also increasing for a resumption of the Doha development round of trade talks that broke down last year.

The trade contraction in developed countries such as Germany, the world's largest exporter by volume, will be severe says the report, with WTO economists forecasting a 10 percent fall in exports.

Developing countries will see a smaller fall in the range of two to three percent, but their heavy reliance on exports for growth make this figure no less alarming.

Mr Lamy said the global credit shortage was exacerbating the problem as companies around the world struggle to finance deals.

"The depleted pool of funds available for trade finance has contributed to the significant decline in trade flows, in particular in developing countries," he said.

"As a consequence, many thousands of trade related jobs are being lost. Governments must avoid making this bad situation worse by reverting to protectionist measures that in reality protect no nation and threaten the loss of more jobs."

EU leaders also repeated the need to reject protectionism last Friday at the bloc's spring summit in Brussels, while on the same day French carmaker Renault announced its intention to move a production plant employing 400 workers from Slovenia to a site just outside Paris. The move was supported by French President Nicholas Sarkozy.

The promises of European leaders contrast sharply with the severity of the current situation, particularly in the automobile sector.

The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) reports that passenger car registrations were down 18 percent in Europe in February 2009, compared to the previous year. The sector is a huge provider of jobs in Europe.

The WTO's report highlights the need to unblock the banking sector as a crucial first step in tackling the problem.

Under normal recessionary conditions, consumer reticence to spend is transferred into a larger pool of savings that in turn can be lent out to businesses that are keen to invest in future production.

However, current uncertainty over assets held by banks, means this process is not taking place.

The annual report also emphasises the unprecedented global nature of the fall in consumer demand that has effected all regions of the world, but suggests that some initial signs of recovery may be visible in parts of Asia.

Source: www.euobserver.com

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by Valentina Pop

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – Some 80 percent of European consumers are set to have smart energy meters installed in their homes by 2020 as part of a deal on liberalising the EU's energy market.

The new agreement between the European Parliament and the Czech EU presidency updates proposals put forward by the EU executive in 2007, initially aimed at preventing big electricity and gas supply companies from owning both distribution networks and pipelines – the so-called unbundling policy.

After fierce opposition particularly from Germany and France - home of energy giants Gaz de France and EoN - the unbundling deal has been diluted by giving member states unbundling options while strengthening the role of national and EU regulators.

The European Parliament also managed to add a provision under which every household is to have "smart meters" allowing them not only to carefully screen and control energy consumption, but also to sell energy back to the network, for instance by installing solar panels on the roof.

"The price of electricity in particular is determined by when the peak hours are," British Labour MEP Eluned Morgan explained to journalists at a press conference. "So if you could take the peak hours out by getting people to use dishwashers or washing machines at night, you would get a more sophisticated way of using electricity. These smart meters can actually speak to the generator and tell it to stop putting up the amount of energy they use,"

The EU legislative also introduced a provision to fight "energy poverty" - when gas and electricity bills eat up so much of a user's income they cannot afford other basics.

Consumers will be able to change their energy provider within three weeks after the transposition of the EU agreement into national law, expected by the end of next year.

Gazprom clause strengthened

A "third-country clause" aimed at preventing energy giants or monopolies from countries beyond the EU such as Russian gas supplier Gazprom from buying energy networks and imposing their price on EU consumers was "re-inforced by the proposal," EU commission spokesman Ferran Tarradellas said at a press briefing.

It will rest under the competence of national regulators, whose independence has now been strengthened, to decide whether a given investment affects EU energy security or not and whether it is in compliance with EU rules.

Source: www.euobserver.com

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Myanmar’s Permanent Representative to ASEAN, U Nyan Lynn, who is concurrently the
Ambassador of the Union of Myanmar to the Republic of Indonesia, today presented his
credentials to the Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr Surin Pitsuwan, at a ceremony at the ASEAN Secretariat.

Receiving the credentials, Dr Surin said, “The addition of Ambassador U Nyan Lynn as a member of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (CPR) will ensure smoother cooperation and communication between Myanmar and the ASEAN Community Councils, ASEAN Sectoral Ministerial Bodies, ASEAN National Secretariats and the ASEAN Secretariat; all in the effort of building the ASEAN Community.”

Prior to Myanmar, Dr Surin has accepted credentials from the Permanent Representatives to
ASEAN from Singapore, Viet Nam, Lao PDR, Cambodia and Philippines. As the ASEAN Charter stipulates, the other ASEAN Member States – Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand – shall also appoint Permanent Representatives to ASEAN, and collectively they will constitute the CPR. This new mechanism will enhance the efficiency of ASEAN integration efforts.

Source: www.asean.org

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by Elitsa Vucheva

In a record turn-out, as many as three million people hit the streets in France on Thursday (19 March) to protest against the government's economic policies in response to the global crisis, according to union estimates. The numbers were closer to 1.2 million, say the police.

The country's airports, trains, schools and public transport were disrupted by the mass demonstration - the second general strike faced by France in two months.
The event mobilised more people than the similar one in January when between one and two million people protested in France's cities.

The country's eight main trade unions, who had called for the protests, demanded that the government react.

"I cannot believe the government will stay immobile in the face of a phenomenon of this size," Bernard Thibault of the General Labour Confederation said on state television France 2.

"If things continue like this, the marches will get bigger," Bernard van Craeynest, the leader of trade union CFE-CGC, was reported as saying by Le Monde.

Representatives of the opposition were also participating in the protests.

"It is important that the government changes its economic, social and fiscal policy," Paris' Socialist mayor Bertrand Delanoe said.

For his part, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon defended his government's actions and ruled out any new economic recovery plan in France at this stage, saying it should first be clear what the effects of the €26 billion plan announced in December are.

"Mobilisation [in the streets] will not solve the problems of the world crisis," Mr Fillon said.

EU-wide problem

The French protests come as unemployment reached eight percent in the country, and new figures published on Friday by the National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) say the number of jobless people will reach 8.8 percent by the end of the first half of 2009.

The institute also forecasts a "prolongation of the recession" in the first half of this year in France, saying GDP will shrink by up to 1.5 percent in the first quarter alone – its worst drop since 1975.

Meanwhile, strikes have been taking place in other EU countries as well, including Italy. A major demonstration is also to be organised by unions, NGOs and charities on 28 March in London, ahead of the G20 meeting on 2 April, to call on global leaders to "put people first," Le Figaro reports.

EU premiers and presidents, gathered for a two-day summit ending on Friday in Brussels, are expected to declare in a final document that the "rapid increase of unemployment is central to our concerns."

The Czech Republic, currently at the helm of the EU's six-month rotating presidency, has also called a social affairs summit in Prague on 7 May, aiming to tackle the social consequences of the economic crisis.

On Thursday, John Monks, secretary-general of the European Trade Union Confederation's (ETUC), called on the EU to be "ambitious" and adopt "a new social deal" at this summit.

Source: www.euobserver.com

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by Honor Mahony

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - A planned EU jobs summit has been downgraded to a low-key affair without the presence of EU leaders, following concerns that the meeting would only underline the fact that there is no magic formula for getting people back into the workplace.

Goaded into action by criticism that it was doing too little to tackle the effects of the economic crisis, the Czech Republic, currently at the helm of the EU's six-month rotating presidency, in February called two extraordinary summits - one on anti-protectionism and one on employment, with the latter to take place in May.

But EU leaders meeting last week for their regular spring gathering decided that a full-blown jobs summit is "not the best way of handling things," said an EU official, who added that this was the "general feeling around the table."

Member states are reluctant to be pinned down to a possibly result-less summit on employment with the economic crisis increasingly taking its toll.

The advancing crisis has already claimed the government of Latvia and produced serious political tremors in Hungary, with major demonstrations or riots in a number of countries, including Bulgaria, Greece, Ireland, Lithuania and France in particular, where millions took to the streets last week.

Meanwhile, the EU's jobless rate climbed to 7.6 percent in January and could rise still rise significantly. Business Europe, an umbrella group for businesses, suggested last week that the EU is set to lose an additional 4.5 million jobs this year.

National governments are hoping that their economic recovery plan, amounting to €400 billion including automatic stabilisers such as unemployment benefits - or 3.3 percent of the bloc's annual GDP - spread over two years, will slowly encourage employment to pick up.

A spokesperson for the Czech EU presidency said: "A number of countries felt it would raise too optimistic expectations before the European elections."

A jobs summit would give the misleading impression that a one-day meeting "could come up with the magic solution" to the situation, he added.

Instead, the meeting, pencilled in for 7 May but not yet with a venue, is to be attended by the European Commission, the Czech EU presidency and representatives from business and trade unions. Sweden and Spain as the countries next holding the EU presidency will be also be present.

Outlining the purpose of the summit, Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek on Friday (20 March) said: "We want to prepare specific instruments for increasing employment in conjunction with the economic policy of the European Union."

Previously he had said it would be a chance for all member states to update each other on their unemployment situation and possible solutions.

On member-state diplomat said not having a summit would "reduce the likelihood of public bickering and one-upmanship," with EU governments having managed to present a comparatively united front at last week's summit and during the 1 March anti-protectionist meeting, after having started off the year substantially and publicly divided on how to tackle the economic crisis.

John Monks, head of the European Trades Union Congress, was disappointed with the move.

"This decision is a very bad signal to citizens and workers as it suggests complacency," he said. "It gives the impression that European leaders are not sufficiently concerned about unemployment, and we lose now a major opportunity to be heard at the very top level."

Source: www.unobserver.com

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by Heather Tomlinson

Sir Richard Needham, the former Conservative Trade minister, and Tony Caplin, a director of investment bank Durlacher, have settled a legal claim from IEQ, the internet firm where they were once directors.

Sir Richard Needham, the former Conservative Trade minister, and Tony Caplin, a director of investment bank Durlacher, have settled a legal claim from IEQ, the internet firm where they were once directors.

Both paid £27,500. The claim had demanded the recovery of severance payments of £25,000 made to the two men, plus interest and costs. IEQ had also claimed damages for their part in a £377,400 investment in Isle of Wight Cable and Telephone Company (IoWCT), which the writ had alleged was "in breach of their fiduciary duties". Greg Lloyd Smith, the new chief executive of IEQ, said he was dropping the IoWCT issue relating to the two men. They left IEQ shortly after the investment was made.

Mr Smith is still pursuing a claim worth around £1m against other former directors including John Mackay, the chief executive of Seymour Pierce, Chris Foster, a director of building company Wiggins Group, and John Shaw.

The lawyer representing Sir Richard and Mr Caplin said: "For purely commercial reasons, Sir Richard recognised that the costs of fighting the multi-party litigation would be considerable and offered the sum of £27,500 to settle the entire claim. That payment was accepted by IEQ plc and the litigation against him has now concluded."

The continuing legal action demands the return of investments made in Radio First and IoWCT, plus damages, costs and interest. A £200,000 investment in Radio First is said to have led to a "conflict of interest" because Radio First's broker and adviser was Seymour Pierce, where Mr Mackay was the chief executive. It is also alleged that Seymour Pierce and several of IEQ's directors had shareholdings in IoWCT, introducing "conflicts of interest". IoWCT is now in administration.

All the remaining defendants have said they are contesting the action.

Source: www.independent.co.uk

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The headquarters of the global coalition to tackle the world’s most serious cybersecurity threats, backed by the United Nations International Telecommunication Union (ITU), was inaugurated outside of the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur today.

The new state-of-the-art facilities of the International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber-Threats (IMPACT) in Cyberjaya will host the ITU’s Global Cybersecurity Agenda (GCA), which promotes international cooperation to make cyberspace more secure in an increasingly networked information society.

The joint effort by the ITU and IMPACT – an initiative which brings together governments, industry leaders and cybersecurity experts to enhance the global community’s capacity to prevent, defend and respond to cyberthreats – aims to provide real-time analysis, aggregation and dissemination of global cyber threat information.

“Cybersecurity is one of the most critical issues of our time,” said Hamadoun Touré, ITU Secretary-General, noting that the problem demands “a truly global approach.”

Last September, the heads of ITU and IMPACT signed an agreement to operationalize the GCA at IMPACT’s Cyberjaya site.

Although the GCA will be housed at the IMPACT centre, ITU will have a “virtual showcase” at its headquarters in Geneva of the early warning system, crisis management and real-time analysis of global cyber threats.

Source: www.un.org

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by Valentina Pop

EUOBSERVER/BRUSSELS – EU leaders on Friday agreed to double the existing €25 billion fund for troubled non-euro member states and to allocate €75 billion to the International Monetary Fund, after having haggled for three months over energy projects worth €5 billion.

"We agreed on three particular figures: five, 50 and 75 billion euros", Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said at the press conference at the end of the spring EU council.

"We agreed on €50 billion. It's a doubling of the amount available to them. If there is a need to help countries which are particularly hit by the crisis, we also put forward €75 billion for the IMF, to enable it to react better in the context of the crisis," he explained.

The €50 billion figure was initially excluded from the draft conclusions Friday morning, which read that the EU would "keep the ceiling for the Union's support facility for balance-of-payments assistance under review."

In the final conclusions, however, EU leaders welcome "the commission's intention to make a proposal for doubling the ceiling for the Union's support facility for balance-of-payments assistance to €50 billion."

According to several diplomatic and EU sources, Austria and the eastern member states pleaded for the precise figure to be mentioned. Germany and France, on the other hand, would have preferred no figure, so as not to give an 'alarmist signal' that the fund is insufficient and other member states need an international bailout.

Speaking later at a press conference, however, French President Nicolas Sarkozy chose to present the top-up as a French initiative. "The effort for our friends from the East has been doubled ... under a French proposal," he said.

Latvia and Hungary have already tapped the fund, leaving it at €15 billion, while Romania is currently also in talks for an EU-IMF loan, estimated at €20 billion. EU sources told this website that even after Romania tapped the fund, there would still be some €10 billion left, suggesting that the bigger share of the loan would come from the IMF.

"Romania's request can be covered by the €25 billion figure and this still gives us quite a big margin. We decided to double the ceiling at €50 billion, but there haven't been any specific requests apart from Romania. But should there be any future request, we wanted to show we are ready," commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said at the press conference.

Worst hit countries still get least energy funding

Paradoxically, it was the lowest figure, that of €5 billion allocated for energy, broadband and agriculture projects, which caused the most strife among member states. It was eventually agreed after Germany got its way and inserted a 2-year deadline for the funding, after which any unspent money would go back to member states.

Although it was designed to increase the capacity of eastern European member states to face new potential gas cuts from Russia, the project list only allocates €310 million of the total €1.5 billion to these countries. Eastern countries were the worst hit when Russia turned off the gas tap for three weeks in January.

Poland also gets an extra €80 million for a liquified natural gas terminal and €150 million together with Denmark and Sweden for a Baltic gas pipe.

The Nabucco pipeline designed to bring Caspian gas to central Europe via Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria is earmarked to get €200 million, despite strong reserves from Germany. Berlin had argued that the project was fully commercial and would not need public funding.

Source: www.unobserver.com

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by Leigh Phillips

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - European Union leaders, meeting in Brussels on Thursday (19 March) and Friday, have kicked a decision on committing funds for third world carbon reduction measures and adaptation to unavoidable climate change into the long grass.

"Significant domestic and external sources of finance, both private and public, will be required for financing mitigation and adaptation actions, particularly in the most vulnerable developing countries," read the conclusions of the summit.

But no firm figures were announced. Instead, the document says only that the EU "will take on its fair share of financing such actions in developing countries."

Last December at the UN climate talks in Bali, Indonesia, the EU had committed to putting an offer on the table by this summit.

Climate finance for the third world has become the main focus of discussion in the lead-up to the Copenhagen climate change summit in December. If the EU and US stump up significant chunks of cash for cutting emissions and climate adaptation, developing countries may in return commit to considerable CO2 reductions, even though it is the industrialised north that is responsible for most of the emissions that caused the problem.

Two weeks ago, European environment ministers declined to come up with any figure. The following week finance ministers kicked the decision up to the top table. Now it appears that no moves will be made until the June European Council, while Poland has said it would be content if no decision were taken until some time during Sweden's turn at the rotating EU presidency in the second half of the year.

At the June summit, the EU is set to decide on its overall approach to climate finance, how much it will offer and how much each of the EU member states should contribute.

Additionally, EU chiefs agreed that the bloc's commitment to expand its cut in carbon emissions from 20 percent to 30 percent on 1990 levels is no longer just contingent on other wealthy countries making similar commitments, but on leading developing countries also taking on board significant carbon reduction targets.

Bemused

Explaining why they had not come up with a funding proposal yet, the EU leaders said the priority should be on a common position the EU can take to the Copenhagen meeting.

Angela Merkel, Germany's chancellor, told reporters on Friday: "We want a success of this meeting and we are ready to allocate more funds but it is important that we prepare a negotiating position."

UK foreign minister David Miliband dismissed the concerns of the UN's top climate negotiator, Yvo de Boer, who this week accused the EU of backing down on commitments it had made in Bali last year.

"I've followed this debate with some bemusement," Mr Miliband told journalists at the end of the summit. "Far from backsliding, the EU is going into the last nine months before the Copenhagen summit with stronger and stronger offers, but also with an understanding of the responsibility of all countries.

"The European Union has also taken forward a serious debate on how we fund beyond the carbon finance system."

Sources close to the discussions confirm that Poland is the main opponent to sticking a price tag on EU climate finance for developing countries. Warsaw makes the argument that the economic crisis undermines the ability to make climate finance commitments and does not want to sign off on the mechanism for providing funding without first agreeing how to divide up the burden of the funding among member states.

Poland was backed by Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Hungary, who are opposed to the use of funds from the auctioning of emissions permits for climate finance. But according to the same sources, of the rest of the member states, the UK, Spain and Sweden also did not want to put forward any concrete figures. Only the Netherlands together with Slovenia and Belgium were ready to do so immediately.

Waiting for Godot

Green groups and development organisations said that the delays in coming up with an offer and the demand that leading developing countries commit to carbon reductions before any cash is put on the table is killing off the chance of a strong agreement at the UN climate conference.

"We understand that in times of financial crisis it is difficult to be generous and devote resources to other parts of the world, but turning the responsibility around and asking developing countries to put forward proposals for cutting their emissions is a recipe for defeat at the December climate summit in Copenhagen," said Stephan Singer, director of WWF's Global Energy Programme, in reaction to the news.

Joris den Blanken of Greenpeace described the EU as "waiting for Godot" - in reference to a play about absurd delays - and called on the EU not to wait for the June summit, but to make use of the forthcoming ministerial meetings under the Czech presidency to agree on a plan for climate finance.

Elise Ford, of development NGO Oxfam's Brussels office, said: "Europe is turning its back on poor countries just when they need help most."

"The EU is empty-handed and in no fit state to lead the world on the two biggest issues we face today – the economic and climate crisis. Europe's approach is putting millions of lives and livelihoods at peril."

Source: www.unobserver.com

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Today (20 March 2009) at the ASEAN Secretariat, the Philippines’ Permanent Representative to ASEAN, Orlando S. Mercado, presented his credentials to the Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr Surin Pitsuwan.

Ambassador Mercado’s presentation of credentials followed that of Permanent Representatives from Singapore, Viet Nam, Lao PDR and Cambodia. As prescribed in the ASEAN Charter, all ten ASEAN Member States shall appoint Permanent Representatives to ASEAN which shall form the Committee of Permanent Representatives (CPR). Among other functions, the CPR supports the work of the ASEAN Community Councils and ASEAN Sectoral Ministerial Bodies and facilitates ASEAN cooperation with external partners.

On Ambassador Mercado’s arrival, Dr Surin said, “We are now at a halfway mark towards establishing the CPR. I will be seeing the Permanent Representative from Myanmar next Monday. I am confident that the rest - Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand – will formally appoint their respective Permanent Representative shortly.”

Dr Surin added, “There is much work to be done following the entry into force of the ASEAN Charter. In order not to delay matters, the CPR will hold an informal meeting on 25 March 2009 at the ASEAN Secretariat and I look forward to a productive consultation with them.”

Ambassador Mercado previously served as the Secretary of National Defense and a member of the Philippines Senate.

Source: www.asean.org

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Despite the launch of “one of the largest anti-piracy flotillas in modern history,” the clan-organized taking of vessels off the coast of Somalia will only cease when order is restored to the Horn of Africa nation, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says in a report released today.

“There is a critical need to tackle the problem of piracy with a multifaceted approach” to ensure that the political process, the peacekeeping efforts of the African Union (AU) and the strengthening of institutions work in tandem, Mr. Ban writes to the Security Council.

He encourages Member States to place increased emphasis on ending lawlessness in war-torn Somalia, which has not had a functioning government since 1991, through support to the Djibouti peace process and the AU Mission in the country, known as AMISOM.

He adds that it is necessary for the international community to use the existing international legal framework effectively to apprehend and prosecute suspected pirates and consider further strengthening it.

The 111 attacks in the critical sea corridor linking the Suez Canal and the Indian Ocean that occurred in 2008 represent an increase of nearly 200 per cent over the previous year, Mr. Ban states, adding that there have been seven reported incidents in 2009 to the end of February.

Of great concern to the UN, Mr. Ban says, is the safety of vessels carrying food and other aid on which some 2.4 million Somalis depend, 95 per cent of which arrives by sea and which was threatened by the 2007 attack on a ship contracted by the World Food Programme (WFP).

According to the report, the most prominent pirate fleets are based in the fishing communities of north-eastern and central Somalia and are organized in a way that reflects clan-based social structures.

As an example, the report describes the “Eyle Group” based in Puntland, which at the end of 2008 was holding six vessels hostage with their crews and was estimated to have earned $30 million in ransom up to that point.

“It is widely acknowledged that some of these groups now rival established Somali authorities in terms of their military capabilities and resource bases,” Mr. Ban says.

In the past few months, however, political leaders in Puntland and neighbouring States have vowed to defeat the pirates, and a raft of countries, in addition to groups such as NATO and the European Union have contributed to a policing fleet under the legal framework of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and various Security Council resolutions.

Measures include protective escorts for WFP-contracted vessels with the result that no further attacks have been made on such ships, the Secretary-General says, urging that long-term continuity for those escorts be assured.

The UN Secretariat, Mr. Ban affirms, will continue to perform a central role in information and coordination in combating piracy and he urged all Member States to keep it updated about their anti-piracy activities.

Source: www.un.org

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by Honor Mahony

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton charmed her way through an hour-long session with a young audience in the European Parliament on Friday, answering ten questions with grace and humour and doling out enough compliments about the EU to earn herself a standing ovation.

She was introduced by an obviously delighted EP chief Hans-Gert Poettering, who underlined how “very great” everything about her was: her past achievements, her likely future achievements, her being in the parliament, the answers to the questions she gave. It was almost toe-curling, but he stopped just in time.

Before Clinton started the Q&A she said she was struck by how the hopes and anspirations of other young people around the world were largely the same. The young Welsh nationalist, who asked about the breaking away of regions such as Wales and Scotland in the EU, probably bucked this trend somewhat.

A young Moldovan got to ask a question by virtue of wearing an “I love Hillary” t-shirt. Clinton said she could not leave without being quizzed by him. He turned out to be a gay rights activists and asked about the rights of gays and lesbians. She started by giving a stock answer but ended on a less standardised note, speaking about the rights of an individual “no matter who that person loves.”

A seasoned politician, she neatly sidestepped a question on divisions between old and new Europe saying all of Europe “is our essential partner” and did enough beating of her home country on its climate change record to thrill her listeners – bright young things from the EU institutions.

She praised Europe, calling it a “miracle,” and was careful to give a nuanced answer to a question essentially asking whether she did not find all the layers of EU structure, leaders and member states rather complicated to deal with.

Democracy is by it nature complex she noted, giving a mini lecture on the dangers of “process for the sake of process.”

And that was that from her side – the highest ranking US visit to the parliament since Ronald Reagan in 1985.

You speak just like a European, Poettering marvelled before giving a rallying cry to Irish voters to say yes to the Lisbon Treaty so there can be a “united and strong” Europe. And then Clinton’s European Parliament hour was over.

Source: blogs.euobserver.com

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by Valentina Pop

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – EU leaders on Thursday night put an end to a three-month long haggle over energy, broadband and agricultural projects worth €5 billion, finally agreeing the terms and the conditions for spending the funds, part of the EU's economic recovery plan.

"We have reached an agreement in principle on the allocation of this infrastructure recovery plan – gas, oil, energy infrastructure, broadband and rural development. We'll be carrying out projects in 2009 and 2010, with finance mechanisms that are sufficiently transparent," Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek told a press conference after the first day of the meeting of heads of state and government.

The deal could only be reached by accepting a demand by Germany that the funding would only run for two years. A 'sunset clause' is to be attached under which all other projects that are not ready to go by the end of 2010 are not eligible for funding.

Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso was visibly relieved to see an agreement following months of criticism from member states over the idea of the fund and the amounts allocated to each member state.

Initially, the commission had proposed to use €5 billion of unspent money from 2008, but the idea was abandoned after protests from big EU donors like Germany who under EU law get the unspent community money back to the national budget.

Top-up to €50 billion for Eastern Europeans

EU leaders are set to discuss on Friday morning the possibility to double the rescue fund for Eastern European countries, currently at €25 billion, and which has already been tapped by Hungary and Latvia as part of their EU-IMF bailouts. New EU member state Romania has also applied for joint funding, the figure floated so far being €20 billion.

Ukraine, which has received an IMF-only loan, has been actively pleading for the EU fund to be opened up for the bloc's neighbours as well, and not just its members, as it is currently the case.

Both Mr Topolanek and Mr Barroso said money could be made available to "whomever needs it", as the EU would also support a doubling of the IMF funds – a position agreed by EU leaders in the view of the G20 summit in London.

Another item on the Friday agenda is climate change in preparation for the UN conference in Copenhagen, aimed at striking a new global deal on reducing CO2 emissions.

Martian intermezzo

The otherwise technical press conference was interrupted by a question from a French female journalist saying that "I see six men sitting behind the podium. Is that what Europe is like?"

Mr Topolanek promptly answered, in Czech: "What did you expect - Martians?" His remark was followed by Czech finance minister Miroslav Kalousek who added: "I am a bit of a feminist myself."

Source: www.euobserver.com

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Denmark becomes the seventh EU member state to appoint its Ambassador to ASEAN. Mr Børge Petersen, concurrently the Danish Ambassador to the Republic of Indonesia, today presented his letter of appointment to Dr Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-General of ASEAN.

ASEAN has in the past cooperated with Denmark in the areas of transnational crime and capacity building in the Trade in Goods for new members of ASEAN. Dr Surin said of this appointment, “I hope Ambassador Petersen’s appointment will bring about a new dimension to ASEAN-Denmark relations. In particular, Denmark has a strong tradition of sustainable development, social justice and humanitarian concerns. There are a lot that can be shared and exchanged for the purpose of ASEAN integration and community building.”

The EU has announced that all 27 member states and the European Commission will appoint Ambassadors to ASEAN. So far, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the European Commission have appointed their Ambassadors to ASEAN.

Source: www.asean.org

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The President of the United Nations General Assembly today urged that children’s education be made central to the assistance given to communities devastated by violence and disaster, as he opened a dialogue on the topic in New York.

“Let us find ways to assure that we are feeding young minds, as well as bodies, creating safe havens for learners as well as their larger communities,” Miguel D’Escoto told the representatives of Member States, education experts and aid organizations gathered for the debate.

“Let us give these girls and boys, youth and women the opportunity to contribute in the recovery and the future of their societies. Let us give them hope by learning to overcome what, in the midst of chaos, must seem to be insurmountable challenges,” he continued.

Few development partners include education as part of their humanitarian policy, Mr. D’Escoto maintained, saying that as a result an estimated 75 million children worldwide were being denied what he called “this fundamental right.”

Speaking today on the issue were children, educators and policymakers, including a teacher working in Haiti amidst the destruction of recurring hurricanes, youths from Nepal who worked to create schools as ‘zones of peace’ during the insurgency and staff working on education in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, the Caribbean and Latin America.

Also speaking at the meeting’s opening, Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro said she shared Mr. D’Escoto’s sense of urgency on the issue, adding that far too many children cannot get an education because of “brutal attacks” on schools, staff and students.

She noted that in Afghanistan last year there were more than 275 such attacks, with 66 people killed and many more injured, most of them children.

There were diverse motivations for such violence, she pointed out, adding “But what every single attack on any school teacher or student shares is this: it can never be tolerated.”

Governments, she said, must deliver on their promise of basic education for all children, including in times of emergencies, and must ensure that schools, students and teachers are protected. If schools are not safe during a crisis, alternative safe spaces must be provided, she added.

The UN is keeping the issue in the spotlight, promoting quality education and keeping children studying during the worst conditions, she said, pointing to the example of the “school-in-a-box” kit distributed by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) during emergencies.

“But we need to do even more,” she urged, saying that countries and agencies must include education in their emergency plans, and increased funding must be provided despite the financial crisis.

“As you know, water, sanitation and food are considered emergency responses, but what we are pushing for is to ensure that education is an integral part of emergency programmatic planning and response,” Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Representative of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for Children and Armed Conflict told correspondents at a press conference during the day.

“Education brings stability, normalcy and routine into a child’s life, which is absolutely essential, especially when they are displaced,” she said.

Source: www.un.org

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by Elitsa Vucheva

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – EU leaders are meeting in Brussels on Thursday and Friday to discuss the best ways to get out of the economic crisis. But despite some calls to spend more to support the bloc's ailing economies, most of the attention is expected to be focused on the need for better regulation of the financial sector and on "fine-tuning" the existing European economic stimulus package.

The two-day summit comes just as the International Monetary Fund presented the outlines of a gloomy forecast for this year, saying the world economy would shrink by some 0.6 percent, instead of growing 0.5 percent as previously thought.

In the face of the persisting economic turmoil, France and Germany's leaders sent a letter to the Czech EU presidency and to the president of the European Commission on Tuesday reiterating what they see as an urgent need to reform the financial system.

"The top priority is building up the new global financial architecture. The European Union must affirm a common position and take the lead in this process," French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel wrote.

"The European Union shall propose that all hedge funds and other private pools of capital which may pose a systemic risk to be brought under appropriate registration, regulation and supervision," they added.

The EU summit will also aim to reach a common position among the 27 leaders on that issue ahead of a G20 meeting in London on 2 April.

"We are determined to reach at the London Summit concrete results for further action to strengthen international financial regulation," Ms Merkel and Mr Sarkozy wrote.

In a document the bloc's leaders are to adopt at the end of their two-day meeting, a specific annex has been dedicated to the EU's position for the G20, calling for more regulation of the financial markets and for better international coordination in order to ensure a quicker economic recovery and prevent further crises.

Spend more or regulate more?

France and Germany's letter came after recent calls from Washington that governments around the world should focus more on additional fiscal measures than on regulation as a reaction to the global turbulence.

On Wednesday, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso also advised the bloc's 27 members to spend more to stimulate their economies.

"If member states are in a position to do more, they should do more," he told reporters in Brussels.

But most EU states – not least France and Germany – estimate that the bloc is already spending enough.

The EU committed €200 billion in a recovery plan last year (around 1.5 percent of GDP), but it argues that it is in reality to spend about €400 billion (around 3.3 percent of GDP) in 2009 and 2010, including non-discretionary public spending, such as unemployment benefits - or the so-called "automatic stabilisers."

Its energy and broadband projects, worth up to €5 billion, have proven to be the most contentious element of the EU's economic recovery package.

No agreement has been reached so far on how this money should be allocated, and the issue is likely to push aside any debate on possible spending increase.

EU leaders are expected to "fine-tune" the €5 billion package at the summit and reach an agreement on the projects that should be included in it. "We are on the right track," one Czech diplomat said.

The bloc is also considering "topping up" a €25 billion emergency package for non-eurozone member states, notably from central and eastern Europe, hit hard by the crisis.

EU leaders are to tell the bloc's finance ministers and the European Commission to "rapidly examine the possibility of increasing the ceiling for the Union's support facility for balance-of-payments assistance."

Social issues

Part of their dinner on Thursday will also be dedicated to the preparation of a special summit on social affairs in Prague on 7 May.

"The rapid increase of unemployment is central to our concerns," the draft of the EU leaders' final statement reads.

With recent figures confirming the soaring unemployment levels in the EU – the average jobless rate reached 7.6 percent in January this year, Mr Barroso on Wednesday called on the bloc's leaders to "focus their minds on employment issues."

A general strike has been called on Thursday in France to protest against the worsening economic situation, with the previous one seeing more than one million people on the streets in January.

Energy security will also figure among the topics discussed at the summit, with a gas row between Russia and Ukraine earlier this year affecting the deliveries to many EU countries.

"Energy security is a key priority which needs to be enhanced by improving energy efficiency, diversifying energy suppliers, sources and supply routes, and promoting the Union's energy interests vis-à-vis third countries," read the draft conclusions of the summit.

Meanwhile, Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen is to brief his counterparts on the state of play of Ireland's preparations for a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, while the Czech Republic is also to inform the other EU leaders on the state of its own ratification process.

Source: www.euobserver.com

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by Leigh Phillips

UOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - European Union leaders are adamant that the developing world must commit to carbon reductions if the EU is to stump up cash for making the adaptation measures to deal with climate change, the Danish prime minister said on Thursday (19 March).

Denmark's prime minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, described as "quite optimistic" the state of climate discussions between EU member states currently taking place in Brussels at the bloc's spring summit. The EU premiers and presidents are attempting to hammer out a common position to take to the upcoming United Nations climate change conference at the end of the year.

However, he told reporters that it was still too early for the EU to commit to any funds for the developing world for "climate finance."

The prime minister said that the leaders will consider the issue again on Friday morning and that afterward: "We expect to send a clear signal the the EU will take on a fare share of the burden and has to assist developing countries in support of adaptation and mitigation measures.

"Then at a later state develop some concrete figures [in terms of EU funds] - but then we must have concessions from these countries."

The Danish leader made the comments days after Yvo de Boer, the UN's climate change chief, accused EU leaders of welching on promises made at last year's Bali climate conference.

Speaking to the BBC on the eve of the EU summit, Mr de Boer said: "Quite frankly the language from [EU] ministers re-writes some of the fundamental agreements we made in Bali."

"I don't think it's constructive to enter into a negotiation by trying to change the fundamental principles on which you've just agreed the negotiation will be based," he said, adding that the EU needed to put some figures on the table before applying pressure to developing countries to commit to carbon reductions.

Mr Rasmussen told journalists that the UN official was wrong: "I don't agree with de Boer. The EU really is in the driver's seat. But we now need clear moves from our other partners."

Pressed whether the EU would commit to sums to take to the Copenhagen negotiations by the summer, the Danish leader said: "It's premature to make any predictions about a timetable.

"If there's progress in international negotiations, then we'll see."

He did say nevertheless that whatever figures are eventually decided upon, it will be fresh cash rather than previously announced funds.

"The member states have already committed to new and additional funds at Bali," he insisted.

Polish resistance

Poland appears to be the most resistant of the member states to committing to a negotiating position, something conceded by Mr Rasmussen.

"It is well known that Poland has a very particular view on climate," he explained, but went on to say that he thought Warsaw would commit to firm figures at some point. "We have to be able to unite all the points of view."

Polish leader Donald Tusk however suggested during the summit that it could be quite a long time yet before the the bloc agrees to any funding commitments, insisting that the EU mandate for Copenhagen climate talks must be taken at EU leaders' level (where Poland has a veto).

"It doesn't matter to us whether its the June European Council or the first summit under the Swedish [EU] presidency," he said.

"[A successful outcome in Copenhagen] will be possible if EU member states know what is the mechanism for contributing for this fund and accept it."

He said he rejected what he called a "simplistic mechanism. You pay as much as you emit."

Source: www.unovbserver.com

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Five pilot countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America are set to receive $18 million in funding from a United Nations programme aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from forests while boosting local livelihoods.

The UN Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (UN-REDD) was launched last September by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as a way of combating climate change through creating incentives to reverse the trend of deforestation.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that the cutting down of forests is now contributing close to 20 per cent of the overall greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere.

The programme’s Policy Board, at its recent inaugural meeting in Panama, approved $18 million in funding – roughly a third of the sum currently available – for the Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Tanzania and Viet Nam.

“This is a very significant first step for the UN-REDD Programme,” said Angela Cropper, Deputy Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), who chaired the meeting.

“I am heartened to see such a dedicated group of countries, indigenous peoples, civil society, donors and the United Nations come together to reach consensus on this important programme. I am confident that the programme will have a substantial input to the continuing REDD debate.”

Along with the countries currently engaged in the programme implementation, the Policy Board includes members of indigenous peoples groups and civil society, as well as donors and many other interested parties such as the World Bank and the Global Environment Facility secretariat.

In addition to the five countries that are set to receive the new funds, Bolivia, Panama, Paraguay and Zambia have also already expressed interest in receiving assistance through UN-REDD – a collaboration between UNEP, the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

Source: www.un.org

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The overall levels of humanitarian assistance allowed into Gaza remain below what is urgently required, the United Nations reports, adding that lengthy clearance procedures for aid workers are also hampering vital relief efforts.

A total of 671 truckloads of goods – including 121 from humanitarian agencies – were allowed entry into Gaza this past week, according to an update from the office of the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory.

This is less than the 1,080 trucks that were let in the week before, it notes, adding that items banned by the Israeli authorities over the past week included jam, biscuits and tomato paste.

In addition, no petrol or diesel was allowed entry into Gaza last week via Israel, and approximately 90 per cent of Gaza’s population suffers from intermittent power supply, with power cuts of between four and five hours daily.

The Humanitarian Coordinator’s office also notes that Israeli clearance procedures for access into Gaza by international staff from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) continue to be very lengthy, thereby hindering the work of aid groups.

While it has been about two months since the end of the Israeli military offensive in Gaza, the office reports that rocket fire by Palestinian militants into Israel and air strikes on Gaza by Israeli forces continues.

At least 1,300 Palestinians were killed and some 5,300 were injured in the three-week offensive launched by Israel in late 2008 with the stated aim of ending rocket attacks by Hamas and other groups. The heavy bombardment and fighting also reduced homes, schools, hospitals and marketplaces to rubble.

A UN Development Programme (UNDP) report on the aftermath of the Israeli military operations finds that 65 per cent of Gazans live below the income poverty line and 37 per cent live in extreme poverty.

The report adds that 60 per cent of the unemployed are extremely poor – compared to 56 per cent before the recent Gaza conflict.

“Most households in the Gaza Strip have suffered from limited access to basics such as food, water, electricity, sanitation and money, but their highest need now is personal security,” the agency notes.

Source: www.un.org

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The United Nations human rights chief today said she hopes the release of a shorter version of the draft outcome document for next month’s anti-racism conference will mark the necessary breakthrough to achieve consensus among States and lead to a successful summit.

The conference, to be held from 20 to 24 April in Geneva, will assess progress since the landmark 2001 World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, held in Durban, South Africa.

A working group made up of UN Member States has been negotiating a draft outcome document for next month’s meeting, which High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has acknowledged has been the target of criticism by those who fear a repetition of the anti-Semitic outbursts witnessed in Durban.

In a news release issued today in Geneva, Ms. Pillay said she hoped the introduction of the much shorter, but still substantive, version of the text that has been under discussion since January would be a “major turning point” in preparations for the meeting.

“I really hope that this marks the necessary breakthrough needed to achieve consensus on a text that must offer concrete help to hundreds of groups and millions of individuals who are subjected to racism and other forms of intolerance all across the world,” Ms. Pillay said.

“No continent, indeed no individual country, is free of these dangerous phenomena, and it would be inexcusable if States failed to reach consensus on such important issues,” she added.

Russia’s Yuri Boychenko, who is chairing the negotiations, will continue to consult informally on this “rolling” document during the coming weeks, leading up to a Preparatory Committee meeting from 15 to 17 April, just before the actual Review Conference.

“Thanks to those who have been working, and contributing with good will, to produce this latest text – despite the sustained and sometimes distorted criticisms that have dogged this Conference process – I believe there should now be no major barrier to reaching a successful outcome,” Ms. Pillay said.

She urged all States to refrain from taking “narrow politicized or polemical stances on particular issues,” and to work together to ensure a successful outcome for the victims of racial discrimination and intolerance around the world.

Source: www.un.org

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