G7 CONNEX Consultative Conference - Survey

Transcription

1 G7 CONNEX Consultative Conference - Survey Dear Sir or Madam, In preparation for the G7 CONNEX Consultative Conference, we have designed a survey regarding the Code of Conduct and would highly appreciate your input. We will collect and evaluate the answers of all participants, and the survey results will form the basis for the discussions at the conference. To guarantee a successful and productive conference, a high rate of participation is extremely important. You can find several groups of questions below. Please select and answer only the questions that apply to your own stakeholder group. Please send your responses to the organisation team at connex@g7bmz.de by 20 February Thank you very much for your cooperation. Yours sincerely, The Organisation Team on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) Please choose the applicable set of questions. A) Providers of external advisory support B) Non-Governmental Organisations C) Companies D) Developing Countries 1

2 A) Providers of external advisory support: 1. Do you have a code of conduct (or similar documents) that govern how your contracted or procured advisors operate in complex commercial contact negotiations for the benefit of developing countries? 2. If so, is the code of conduct legally binding or incorporated in a legally binding mandate letter? 3. Have gaps in your code of conduct been identified as problems? If so, what are the gaps? 4. How does your current code of conduct (or similar documents) match up with G7 zero draft code of conduct? 5. Are you able to (organizationally) and would you in principle be willing to - endorse / incorporate a G7 endorsed code of conduct into your operating procedures? If not, what is the reason? 6. How would a legally binding code of conduct for external advisors improve or change what you do and how your work? 7. What kind of guidance governs the substantive quality of the advice that you provide? 8. How is the quality of advice assessed? 9. Do you refer to a dispute settlement body in case of potential conflicts? 10. Do you require particular qualifications/credentials for advisors? 11. How are the UN principles for responsible contracting or other relevant international principles, standards or charters reflected in your code of conduct (or similar documents)? 12. Would you be open to engaging with these types of principles, standards or charters to contribute towards providing higher quality service? 13. Do you have a pre-selected roster of advisors and if so, how do you decide who to include on the roster EU: and in specific cases for advice on contract negotiation? 14. A study by the former Vale Columbia Center and the former Humboldt Viadrina School of Governance assessed the service providers for negotiation support. Do you have any comments on the findings for your organization? 15. From your experience what are the main obstacles for partner countries to use external multidisciplinary advisory support (e.g. lawyers, financial and fiscal analysts, mining experts/geologists) in complex commercial contract negotiations? 16. How could the G7 support your organization to better meet the demands of partner countries for external multidisciplinary advisory support in complex commercial contract negotiations 17. How often do you receive requests for advisory support in contract negotiations from resource-rich countries? 2

3 B) Non-Governmental Organizations: 1. Is the negotiation of investment deals (e.g. oil, gas and mining deals) relevant to the work of your organization? If yes, please explain how and give some details about the types of interested groups you typically work with (e.g. civil society etc.) 2. What potential impact can badly negotiated deals have on the groups that you represent? (e.g. environmental or social impacts) 3. Do you think if developing governments were able to negotiate better deals this would have a positive impact on wider society? Please elaborate. 4. Are you aware of whether governments in the countries you work in are able to access adequate expert support to negotiate deals / contracts? For example, external multidisciplinary (lawyers, mining experts, financial experts etc.) if yes, do you think this type of advisory support in complex commercial contract negotiations IS useful for developing countries? And, how should the support be provided? 5. From your experience, what are the main obstacles for partner countries to use external multidisciplinary advisory support in complex commercial contract negotiations? 6. What benefit do you expect from a legally binding code of conduct for external advisory support in complex commercial contract negotiations? 7. What is missing in the G7 zero draft code of conduct? 8. Do you see any problems applying the G7 zero draft code of conduct? 9. Are you aware of any gaps in the codes of conduct of existing service providers that have been identified as problems? If so, what are the gaps? 10. Are you familiar with the UN principles for responsible contracting or other relevant international standards or principles? If so, do you find them useful? 11. How could the G7 support the demands of developing countries to negotiate better deals? 12. What do you see as the NGO role in the provision of complex contract negotiation support? 3

4 C) Companies: 1. Have you been involved in negotiations with governments that used external multidisciplinary advisory support in complex commercial contract negotiations and if so, what was your experience? 2. From your experience, is external multidisciplinary advisory support in complex commercial contract negotiations useful for companies and developing countries? If so, how should the support be provided? 3. In your opinion, will a legally binding code of conduct for external advisors help improve negotiations? Please explain why / why not. 4. Where do you see problems in applying a legally binding code of conduct? 5. Are you aware of any gaps in codes of conduct (or similar documents) of existing service providers that have been identified as problems? If so, what are the gaps? 6. How would a legally binding code of conduct for external advisors improve or change the status quo? 7. Are you familiar with the UN principles for responsible contracting or other relevant standards or charters? If so, do you adhere to them / apply them when you negotiate commercial contracts? 8. From your experience, what are the main obstacles that hinder developing countries from putting together strong negotiation teams to negotiate complex contracts in investment deals? 9. In your opinion, would the greater availability of external multidisciplinary advisory support (e.g. lawyers, financial and fiscal analysts, mining experts/geologists ) to developing country governments in complex contract negotiations results in stronger investment deals for developing countries? 10. Do you have any comments on the G7 zero draft code of conduct? 11. In your opinion, how could the G7 support developing country governments to negotiate better investment deals? 4

5 D) Developing Countries: 1. Have you been involved in complex commercial contract negotiations with companies and have you used external multidisciplinary advisory support (e.g. lawyers, financial and fiscal analysts, mining experts, geologists etc.)? If so, what has your experience been? 2. From your experience, is external multidisciplinary advisory support in complex commercial contract negotiations useful for developing countries? If so, how should the support be provided? 3. What other mechanisms/initiatives can be used to ensure all parties achieve their intended goals? 4. What capacity do you have to build upon the support provided by outside advisors to develop in-country capacity to negotiate future contracts? 5. Are you aware of where you can request external support for negotiating complex contracts? 6. Have you ever turned down an offer of support or chosen not to seek external support? If so, why? 7. How could the G7 support partner countries and existing service providers to better meet the demands of partner countries for external multidisciplinary advisory support in complex commercial contract negotiations? 8. What are your expectations towards external multidisciplinary advisory support for developing countries for complex contract negotiations? 9. Are you aware of any existing codes of conduct (or similar documents) that providers of external expert support operate under? 10. Are you aware of any gaps in codes of conduct (or similar documents) of existing service providers that have been identified as problems? If so, what are the gaps? 11. How would a legally binding code of conduct for external advisors improve or change the status quo? 12. Where do you see problems in applying a legally binding code of conduct? 13. Are you familiar with the UN principles for responsible contracting or other relevant principles, standards or charters? If so, do you find them useful? 14. Do you have any comments on the G7 zero draft code of conduct? 15. How could the G7 support you to negotiate better investment deals through complex commercial contract negotiations? 5