EU announces food aid package for vulnerable countriesThe EU will allocate 160 million euros in food aid for “the world’s poorest countries and regions” – Sudan, Chad, Somalia, Congo, Nepal Sri Lanka, Colombia and the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank among them. The decision targets an estimated 18,7 million people. The first portion of the funding, which commissioner Louis Michel announced on March 4th, will be directed to sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, the Caucasus, the Middle East and North Africa. The funding aims to help “vulnerable people in many of the world’s poorest countries [who] are increasingly exposed to natural disasters, conflict and economic pressures that can rapidly lead to situations whereby people go hungry”, Michel said. The EU plays “an essential role in providing them with food aid and in restoring food production”, he added. More funds will be allocated later in the year. Those who will benefit from the package include refugees, displaced persons, communities hosting refugees and people who have returned to their land after having been forced to leave by armed conflict or natural disasters. Europe and financial markets stability”Europe must remain open to inward investments. Sovereign wealth funds are not a big bad wolf at the door”. This is how José Manuel Barroso sums up the Executive’s position, which has been dealing with the stability of financial markets these past few weeks, following the recent international financial turmoil. The Commission has adopted communications on sovereign wealth funds and global financial systems the Commission contribution to EU leaders’ discussions on these subjects at the Spring European Council on March 13th-14th. The Commission aims to make sure that EU leaders endorse a common EU approach, which will improve transparency, risk management, and responsibility of these forms of investment, which are under the direct control of foreign governments. A common strategy would “strengthen Europe’s voice in international discussions aiming to establish a code of conduct including standards in areas of transparency and governance”, making public and private investors safer. Barroso added that sovereign wealth funds “have injected liquidity and helped stabilize financial markets. They can offer reliable long-term investments our companies need. To ensure this, we need global agreement on a voluntary code of conduct – it is to this end that we contribute today. It must avoid some funds being run in an opaque manner or used for non-economic objectives”.The PAC, the past and globalizationThe primary sector absorbs about 40% of the Community’s budget. Ever since the creation of the EEC, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), has been one of the main focuses of attention – and expenditure – in Brussels and Strasbourg. A process of reform began in the 1990’s, to support an essential, productive sector, while at the same time attending to the needs of consumers – and budgetary ones. The CAP has also started dealing with important issues, such as environmental concern, international commerce, and new technologies of production. The overhaul that began in 2003 is now being evaluated by the Agricultural Commission of the EU parliament. Deputies have approved a report that addresses questions raised in a EU document regarding the future of CAP, stating that the agricultural sector in Europe is on a positive path, considering the ecent eastward expansion fo the Community’s borders. “Previously, the CAP was a symbol of the wasteful spending of the EU, but now farmers are being given payments to act as environmental stewards and to maintain areas of natural beauty in our countryside, said the parliamentary commission president, Neil Parish (UK). New challenges are arising, such as the single market, the depopulation of vast rural areas, the use of OGM’s, and globalization generally. It might be necessary, for example, to develop mechanisms to ensure that local production is encouraged, while at the same time avoiding the introduction of tariffs and barriers to international commerce.
