The Commonwealth Secretary-General has said at the weekend that he has great hopes that the European Union would hear a united call from the Commonwealth members to cut its farm subsidies and help to win a fairer deal on world trade.
As the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) came to an end on Sunday, Don McKinnon stated that he wanted the three EU states in the Commonwealth – Britain, Cyprus and Malta to commence the lobbying of their EU partners for trade justice at the summit of EU and Mediterranean rim leaders later in the day.At a special news conference McKinnon said, “The prime minister (of Malta) ... (will) be meeting all those European heads and I am sure he is very capable of explaining the background to the Commonwealth's thinking.”
The 53-member nations of the Commonwealth have been taking part in serious closed-door talks, resulting in a multiple pages of statements being released covering development, terrorism and migration. However, the issue of trade was the core of the summit, which has taken place just a few weeks prior to the decisive World Trade Organisation (WTO) gathering in Hong Kong.
Despite almost being side-tracked onto the issue of human-rights in certain member-nations, the leaders set this aside to focus on fair trade; demanding a better deal on world trade to help lift poorer nations out of poverty.
What has been seen as a great achievement at the gathering has been the loud call that has arisen from the leaders for the EU to cut farm subsidies in efforts to influence the WTO to move positively on the issue.In the aftermath of the talks, many diplomats have stated their opinion that the Commonwealth stance taken will help British Prime Minister Tony Blair in tough negotiations with EU peers in the coming fortnight. However, in agreeing to the statement, which largely criticises the EU’s inactivity on the issue, Blair is also taking a risk of widening the divide with France and Germany.
Coming into the Commonwealth talks, many leaders were looking towards Tony Blair, who holds the EU rotating presidency, with great hope. For his influence will be sure to add to the already increasing pressure on the WTO for radical trade changes.
The next Commonwealth meeting will take place in Uganda in 2007 despite it being highlighted that the east African nation has recently come under heavy criticism for its lack of democracy, with opposition political leader Kizza Besigye being arrested and facing a military trial for treason.
However, the Commonwealth nations seemingly left Malta with renewed hope, and the hope will now move towards Hong Kong for the WTO talks in a few weeks time.
