SPEECH BY HON. WILKIE RASMUSSEN CO-PRESIDENT OF THE ACP-EU JOINT PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY AT THE OFFICIAL OPENNING OF THE 17TH SESSION OF THE ACP-EU

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1 SPEECH BY HON. WILKIE RASMUSSEN CO-PRESIDENT OF THE ACP-EU JOINT PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY AT THE OFFICIAL OPENNING OF THE 17TH SESSION OF THE ACP-EU JOINT PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY Prague, Czech Republic Monday, 6 April 2009

2 - Prime Minister, - Mr. Jan KOHOUT, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Czech Republic in Charge of Development, and President in Office of the EU Council, - Mrs. Glenys KINNOCK, Co-President of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, - Fellow Parliamentarians, - Distinguished invited guests, - Ladies and Gentlemen, First of all I would like to thank the people and government of the Czech Republic for hosting the 17th Session of the JPA in this beautiful city of Prague. Thank you for the warm welcome. We had an opportunity to explore the city on Sunday, which was a wonderful experience. Mr. Prime Minister, Madam Co-President, Our meeting comes at a difficult time. World leaders have been occupied in the last few months with the current global financial and economic crisis. This crisis provides an opportunity for all of us to have a fresh perspective on how the world conducts its economic and financial affairs. In this regard I would like to echo the words of US President Barack OBAMA that these global economic challenges cannot be met by half measures, but need a comprehensive and coordinated effort that not only jump-starts recovery, but also launches a new era of economic management to prevent a crisis like this from ever happening again. 1

3 This crisis has led me to think about the management of global affairs in general, and I would like to devote my address to exploring some of these issues, namely: The importance of the political will to confront global challenges; Who participates in international decision making? The current pattern of world production and consumption. Political Will Mr. Prime Minister, This crisis will, we hope, demonstrate what can be achieved when there is strong political will to address the world's problems. As I have stated, there has been intense activity in the last few months or so among G8 and G20 leaders on the financial and economic crisis. They have recognised that coupled with fiscal incentives; there is also need for huge cash injections into the economic system, although the scale and amounts needed are still a matter of discussion. This crisis has been building up for the past two years, but when the dam broke, the speed with which first the USA and then the rest of the developed world reacted was impressive - as was the huge amount of money put together in a relatively short period of time to attempt to stem the crisis. 2

4 However, when we look at other issues of an equally important, and arguably, apocalyptic nature, there has not been the same sense of urgency and resolve to address the problems in a forthright manner. There is a real danger that the opportunity to do something now in order to avert another catastrophe in future may slip away. We have been arguing in this and other forums for adequate, timely and additional resources in order to meet the development needs of developing countries. Such appeals found expression in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the Accra Agenda for Action (AAA). About two decades ago, the OECD countries made commitments to increase their aid budgets to 1 percent of their GDP. Only a handful of countries have reached this target. Two other matters should be noted in this context. The first is climate change, and the second are the MDGs. As far as climate change is concerned, some experts have warned that that if present trends continue, the total cost of global warming will be as high as 3.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Four global warming impacts alone -- hurricane damage, real estate losses, energy costs, and water costs, could amount to 1.8 percent of U.S. GDP, or almost $1.9 trillion annually alone by the end of this century. And yet the world is still far from agreeing effective climate change targets that could help avert this looming disaster for future generations. 3

5 Coming to the MDGs, the World Bank estimates that, if countries improve their policies and institutions, the additional foreign aid required to reach the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 is between US$40 to $60 billion a year. This is a fraction of the huge amount that is involved in the current financial stimulus packages in the world's developed countries. Our Committee on Social Affairs and the Environment have once again take up the subject of Climate Change in its Report and Draft Resolution on The Social and Environmental Impact of Climate Change in ACP Countries, which highlights the peculiar vulnerability that ACP countries face and the limited capacity they have for mitigation or adaptation. Who participates? Mr. Prime Minister, The present crisis has reminded us of the integrated and globalised nature of the world's development challenges. While it had become fashionable to talk about globalisation those of us in developing countries were concerned about how we could benefit from a global system in which we are not effective participants. 4

6 Our concerns and fears were that while we recognised the inevitability and benefits of globalisation, there was need to ensure that less developed countries were smoothly and gradually integrated into the world economy, and were provided with adequate safety nets should things not work well. In an integrated world economy, any disruption would be felt most keenly by those who do not have the resources to shield themselves from any adverse consequences of any malfunction, as has been evidenced by the food and oil crises, and now the financial and economic crisis. Although developing countries were not responsible for these - our leaders should be involved in the formulation of solutions; not only to prevent similar disasters in the future, but to see how developing countries can best be accommodated by, and participate in, effective regulation of the world's financial and economic system. That system, in whatever form it may take, will affect us all. I submit that fiscal and financial measures to mobilize the global economy may simply obscure fundamental questions that needs pragmatic solutions suited to the present times and which can guide global governance in future. The current institutions and structures for global finance, development and political cooperation, namely the Brettonwoods institutions and the UN, designed to respond to the aftermath of World War 2, will need fundamental change to which we can all contribute in order to respond to the lack of confidence in global governance that the present crisis has brought about. 5

7 In terms of the ACP-EU Partnership, the progress we have made is partly due to its emphasis on the elements of equality of partnership, participation and the role of dialogue and fulfillment of mutual obligations in Article 2 that the Cotonou Agreement. To this end, we shall be adopting at the end of this Plenary Session a Resolution on the Role of the Cotonou Agreement in Addressing the Global and Financial Crisis. The current pattern of world production and consumption Mr. Prime Minister, The current economic system in which a few nations consume the bulk of the world's resources and production is patently unfair, is in the long run unworkable. The concentration of the word's wealth in, and its management by, a few nations is to blame for the current crisis. Long-term global financial stability calls for the creation and expansion of opportunities for investment and economic development in less developed countries as well. We should be concerned that only 1 percent of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) goes to less developed countries. Inadequate economic and financial investment translates into inadequate social investment in health, education and environmental protection. The result surely will be continued underdevelopment, leading to national, regional and international insecurity. 6

8 Conclusion: Mr. Prime Minister, You will notice from our Agenda that political, social and economic issues will again dominate our discussions. We can not divorce those discussions from the practical, everyday realities affecting our people in our respective countries. It is my hope that we shall give due weight to each of the Resolutions that we shall adopt, not merely to pass them off passively, but to intensify our efforts to ensure that these development challenges are addressed effectively, whether at national, regional or international level. I thank you for your kind attention. *** 7

9 I now have the pleasure of inviting Co-President Kinnock to deliver her statement. Many of you already know that this will be the last statement she will be making to this Assembly as Co-President, as she will not be seeking re-election at the next European Parliament elections due to be held in two months time. She is moving on after servlnq 15 years in the European Parliament, the last 7 of them as Co-President of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly. We shall miss her and wish her well in her future activities. Co-President Kinnock, you have the floor. Version 2/4/09 8