Explaining the Global Europe concept

By Dr Clive Thomas

Last week’s article showed that in the instances of Government Pro-curement and the Most Favoured Nation stipulations of the EPA one should not accept the claim that when negotiating these the EU was dispassionately concerned about promoting the development goals of Cariforum, even at the expense of its self interest. Those who would argue otherwise, and present these provisions as entirely benign and the well-intentioned pursuit of Cariforum/Caricom’s well-being, need to convince us of this beyond a reasonable doubt. This may sound cynical, but the Global Europe project outlined below leaves little doubt about the EU’s guiding purpose. The quote I cited last week from the development commissioner was clear on this issue: “The EU is generous but not naïve”.

DG Trade Commission
In recent years, the EU’s Global Europe project has been mainly articulated through the writings and commentaries of Peter Mandelson, Director General of the Trade Commission. Recently, on the occasion of the Alcuin Lecture at Cambridge University, (February 8, 2008), the theses behind this project were further elaborated and presented to the audience as necessary actions for the EU to follow in order to secure the sustenance of the “openness boom”, on which it is claimed the “rising tide of global prosperity” has rested. Mandelson urges that this vision should inform all of Europe’s future external trade and development agendas.