WIDE consultation day 'Bilateral and regional trade agreements and gender'

EU bilateral and regional free trade agreements - bringing women to the centre of the debate

22 November 2007, Amazone, Brussels, Belgium

Click here for full report

At the end of November, WIDE held a successful and intensive one-day consultation "EU bilateral and regional free trade agreements: Bringing women to the centre of the debate" between more than 60 representatives of civil society organisations, including members of WIDE, academics, researchers, non-governmental organisation (NGO) activists and representatives of the European Commission (EC), Directorate-General (DG) Trade and the private sector in Brussels.

Factsheets:
-Naty Bernadino, 'Gender Implications of the European Union - ASEAN Free Trade Agreement WIDE Factsheet', November 2007.
-Tessa Mackenzie, 'Gender Implications of the European Union - Central America association agreement WIDE Factsheet', November 2007.
-Oksana Kisselyova, 'Gender Implications of the European Union ­- Ukraine trade Relations WIDE Factsheet', November 2007.

Short report

The aim of the consultation was to increase understanding of the relationship between gender and trade, to provide a space for critical reflection and debate on the opportunities, challenges, strategies and the different policy options relating to trade liberalisation with a gender focus.

In view of the unlikely conclusions of the World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations before the end of 2008, the European Union´s (EU) attention has increasingly shifted towards concluding a new generation of comprehensive and competitiveness-driven bilateral and regional free trade agreements (FTAs) with key partners. The European Commission´s Communication Global Europe: Competing in the world (October 2006) sets out the frame of reference for these ambitious bilateral and regional FTAs as "tackling issues that are not ready for multilateral discussions". It sets as one of its main objectives the opening of new markets for EU companies by targeting developing countries´ overall regulatory environment, despite the acknowledged problems this will cause to the own development efforts of poorer countries. Other main elements are: the renewal of the EC Market Access Strategy to focus on non-tariff barriers; the drafting of a new strategy for ensuring better access for EU companies to major public procurement markets; the development of an EC strategy to protect intellectual property rights and ensuring EU access to natural resources, including energy. Global Europe also links external aspects to internal reforms and proposes the "harmonisation" of European standards, which can be interpreted as starting a process of convergence with the US regulatory system. The consultation analysed these objectives in relation to development, poverty eradication and its impact on women´s rights, entitlements and livelihoods. These were examined in relation to the current trade negotiations in Asia, the Middle East, Ukraine and Central America.

The presentations, discussions and fact sheets (see box above) provide a good overview of the processes and a gender analysis of the potential impact in different geographical regions. Interestingly, although the negotiations are at different stages in these regions the case studies indicate many similarities in relation to the potential impact on women of free trade agreements.

The EU representatives responded to the findings presented by the speakers and to intense questioning from participants and they tried to reassure the audience of their commitment to sustainable development and gender equality and the benefits of these agreements for developing regions. The officials expressed their willingness to engage in dialogue with civil society and some recognised the lack of a gender perspective in trade discussions and the need to incorporate an analysis of the impact of trade on both men and women.

The women´s movement and civil society organisations in these regions are engaged in different ways with the process of the EU trade agreements and the workshop discussions identified important strategies to engage with the negotiation process. An important underlying theme was the issue of power relations: between men and women, between governments and civil society and between North and South, East and West, which highlights the need to protect the most vulnerable sectors and the rights of women in their productive and reproductive roles. The speakers identified a number of concerns that need to be addressed such as: trade and investment policies between unequal negotiating partners; policies that threaten the policy space of governments to define their own development priorities and policies; polices aimed at liberalisation and the privatisation of public services that subordinate essential public services to the profit interest; policies that destroy food security and food sovereignty of the people in developing regions and which are a threat to people´s survival; policies that are a threat to basic human and women´s rights and prevent the implementation of global social rights. The consultation led to specific demands being identified to transform EU external relations policies into a development agenda that is sustainable and just. These recommendations can be found in the full report of the consultation (see box above).

The consultation was an opportunity for civil society organisations from the South, East and West to meet with policy makers and to present these demands. Our aim and hope is that this will contribute to a constructive dialogue that will feed into a EU trade policy that is consistent with social and gender justice and environmental sustainability.

 WIDE Position on Principles for Fair Trade

EU trade and investment negotiations must be transparent, participatory and involve democratically elected institutions at national and sub-national level, as well as civil society organisations, in particular, representatives of the most vulnerable groups who bear the brunt of unfair market relations and social injustice. Privileged relationships to big business should be ended to ensure that EU trade policies serve the interests of the general public and not the narrow commercial agendas of large companies.

EU trade and investment agreements must recognise policy space and regulatory capacities of governments to shape economic and social development policies that serve the most vulnerable of their people, including trade measures to protect weak economic actors and groups, such as poor and single women, through affirmative action.

EU trade and economic partnership agreements must recognise the right of developing countries to protect themselves from subsidised EU agricultural import dumping and to use other policy tools to guarantee food sovereignty and the livelihood of its small-scale farmers.

EU trade and investment agreements must not have primacy over or undermine development, social and environmental objectives, human and women´s rights, as protecting and advancing social rights, meeting basic needs, and protecting our environment are essential to life.

The liberalisation and privatisation of public services such as water, energy, education and health, access to which is important for human development and women´s empowerment, must be excluded from the EU trade and investment negotiations. Essential services of general interest must not be subordinated to profit interest.

The EU must drop its demand for reciprocal trade liberalisation, exclude the Singapore issues from bilateral trade negotiations and urgently honour its commitment to provide Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries with viable nonreciprocal alternatives to EPAs.

EU trade and investment policies must allow space for alternative economic and development approaches, deviations from the neo-liberal market doctrine and heterodox policy option, and which should be driven by people´s needs, not profit.