Pacific firsts
Thirteen Pacific Island Forum (PIF) nations will together receive €276 million in assistance under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF), a 20% increase over the previous ninth EDF. Funds will be spent on specific policy areas contained in strategy papers, jointly drawn up with individual Forum countries and signed with the EU during the PIF Ministerial meeting in Nuku’alofa, Tonga on 19 October.
© South Pacific Tourism Organisation
The region is the first to put its signature to the 10th EDF spending programmes due to come on stream 1 January 2008. Beneficiary countries are: Cook Islands, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Pen is also being put to paper on strategies for the other two PIF members; East Timor and Fiji which is normalising relations with the EU following a military coup in December 2006.
Sustainable management of natural resources by such as renewable energy development is priorities for 11 PIF countries, said EU Development Commissioner, Louis Michel, while in Tonga.
Another focus is strengthening good governance. PIF nations, including good governance-related projects in their country strategy paper, receive a 25% top in their respective spending allocations.
“My main aim with you is not to focus exclusively on what may be wrong. You will not catch me moralising you. What I am interested in is supporting what is or what has the potential to become good,” added Louis Michel.
Ownership and efficiency of spending are high priorities with direct support to national budgets, the preferred means of disbursing funds. Vanuatu is already following this path, with Samoa expected to follow.
The Pacific Island Forum countries are also expected to benefit from a €95 million Regional Indicative Programme (RIP) to promote regional integration and facilitate implementation of a European Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the region. It adds up to a tripling of the regional package over the 9th EDF.
‘Stepping Stone’ trade accord
Sides are yet to reach agreement on a fully-fledged EPA with a so-called ‘stepping stone’ agreement in the offing until there is further progress in the free trade talks.
“The EPA is intended to support your own integration agenda and provides you with a bridge to integrating gradually into the world economy,” EU Director General for Development, Stefano Manservisi, told Ministers in Tonga.
“The advantage of having an Interim Agreement is that it would enable us to bridge the gap to this ideal situation whilst securing for you those fruits which can be reaped now such as the EU’s market offer and Pacific-specific fisheries rules of origin,” he added.
In October in Brussels, Pacific and EU Ministers agreed on a comprehensive EPA which by 31 December 2008 will also include trade-related rules and services.
The EU’s goods offer is for duty-free, tariff free access for all imports from the Pacific except for sugar and bananas.
Another first at the Pacific Forum was the move towards an enhanced political dialogue between the two regions, which will include regular EU-Pacific high level meetings to discuss issues such as regional security, good governance, economic stability and growth, international trade, development cooperation and all other topics in common.
