To date, I have posted seven Diplomatic Reflections of events and of the time whilst being a diplomat in Europe for a period of 14 years – from 1984 to 1998. There are 38 more Reflections to be posted. I feel duty-bound to intervene at this stage to render an analytical breakdown of the forthcoming Reflections. This, I hope, will continue to whet your appetite and retain your interest in kaidravuni.com.

Of the 38 Reflections, three cover issues that relate specifically to the ACP group of countries in their relations with the European Union (EU) under the Lomé Convention – the Agreement that guides the relations between the two groups of countries. Twelve touch on issues that relate specifically to the EU. Another 12 relate to issues that concern both parties of the Lomé Convention; and the final 11 are multilateral in their reach and flavour.

ACP Issues

Of the three specific ACP issues, the first relates to the appointment of the new Director of the Centre for the Development of Industries (CDI). Fiji’s Surendra Sharma was confirmed in the post. What was interesting, as far as this issue was concerned, was the work behind the scene, to reach the desired conclusion.

Firstly, the Joint ACP/EU Committee of Ambassador (COA) had to agree that it was the turn of the ACP group of countries to provide the new Director. Having reached this point, then it was the turn of the ACP COA to confirm that it was the turn of the Pacific countries to provide the next CDI Director – both Africa and the Caribbean had had their turns already. The Pacific ACP members than had to agree who it was to fill the vacant post. Fiji was successful in promoting its candidate to the group.

The second ACP issue was the ACP/COA’s playing host to VIP visitors from Burundi’s Prime Minister and the EU’s External Relations Commissioner Sir Leon Brittan.

The third ACP issue was Fiji’s own Trade Promotion in the Embassy that was styled as a Promotion-Reception.

EU Issues

Of the 12 issues that relate to the EU, six were to do with its own enlargement and its status of being the European Union – a change from being the European Community. These were to do with the squabbles following the change in the membership from 12 to 16, namely: the sensitivity relating to the official languages of the group, the change necessitated by the expanded College of Commissioners, and the endorsement of the first German Presidency after the reunification.

The impasse confronting the EU was impacting timely financing of the various commitments of the EU. This gave impetus to NGO/European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) to push the EU to ensuring timely financing of its own projects. One financing project that was given the once-over was its Financial Protocol to avoid its preferential trade dislocation. This happened to be the same time when the EU was considering new proposal for a new sugar regime.

Furthermore, inter-regional issues never failed to surface. There was the EU-Asia Summit in Bangkok and also the Asia-Europe Dialogue. France had to muddy international relations when it stated that it was going to resume nuclear testing on Mururoa Atolls.

The event that takes the cake was the internal squabble between the EU and Greece. Greece had imposed a trade embargo against the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The EU considered that such was illegal and thus took Greece to the European Court of Justice. The fallout from this was the escalation of the dispute that even raised the nationality/ethnicity of the great historical figure of Alexander the Great.

ACP-EU Issues

There were issues that regularly came up under the provisions of the Lomé Convention. These included: the Joint Assembly meeting in Strasbourg, including preparatory meeting, and preparation for the ACP-EU Council of Ministers in Port Louis, Mauritius, where the signing of the Second Financial Protocol of the Fourth Lome Convention was scheduled.  The next ACP-EU Council of Ministers meeting scheduled for Apia, Samoa in 1996 was also on the agenda.

There were meetings – regular in nature, that addressed the various chapters of the Lomé Convention. There were meetings (3) to determine the preferential price of sugar under the Sugar Protocol and concluding the negotiations for the preferential access of ACP sugar to Portugal. The first of these was specifically critical to ‘stop the clock’ since an agreed price could not be arrived at during the allocated time of negotiations.

Other trade issues were prominent also. There were meetings to address: the erosion of preferential margins, the ownership of fish caught in EU member states’ EEZ, consideration of the supply shortfall of Fiji PAFCO’s tuna to the German market, and the consideration of the Tongan squash exports under the provisions of the EU’s STABEX system.

The two parties to the Convention were also looking into the future of their relations. They were therefore considering a report focussed as the ‘Future of the ACP-EU Relations’. Fiji’s late Senator Paul Sotutu was in the drafting team. The report, from Fiji’s perspective, was usually referred to as the Sotutu Report.

Multilateralism

The conclusion of the Uruguay Round of negotiations under the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT) was in 1993. The negotiations started in 1986. From the EU’s perspectives, its interest in WTO was to ensure that the agreement has provisions to honour and render consistency to its preferential trade packages under the Lomé Convention. The EU’s Sugar Regime is an example.

Both the ACP and the EU were making preparations for the WTO Council meeting scheduled in Singapore. The agenda for the meeting was proving divisive between ACP and EU members.

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) crept into the discussions somehow and that stimulated consideration of the need for a ‘level playing field’ in multilateralism.

The World Bank/IMF Annual Meeting was held in Madrid.

The FAO convened three meetings: The FAO Conference in Rome reviewed the state of food and agriculture in the world. The FAO Committee on Food Security drafted its experience in a multilateral committee. At the FAO World Food Summit in Rome, the late former President of Cuba, Fidel Castro, did what he was always good at: he stole the show.

Casting an eye to the future, both parties to the Lomé Convention promoted the Expo 98 scheduled for Lisbon. The Group of 7, G7, addressed the Information Highway.

These recollections never fail to bring back fond memories of my time in Europe that was undergoing momentous changes that were impacting lives, developments and the economies of the ACP Countries in the furthest corners of the globe.

Personally, my times in Europe were equally epoch-making. My wife and I became bridal parents and later grandparents whilst there. But more critically, the experience, nous and general knowledge I acquired whilst there were to firmly prepare me for my next important engagement as Fiji’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and External Trade from 2000 – 2006.

Bonne lecture! Happy reading!