Brussels, 21/02/2003 (Agence Europe) - The EU on Friday warmly welcomed the World Trade Organisation's decision to allow officials from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Multilateral Environment Agreements (MEA) to attend negotiations on this chapter of the Doha Development Agenda. It will, however, continue its efforts in Geneva to grant these organisations permanent observer status- currently blocked for political reasons- with the WTO.
The DDA, which is "supposed to support sustainable development- we must make sure that organisations with environment expertise can be present at these talks", as Commissioner Pascal Lamy stressed , announced this decision, which it describes as "the first steps towards a response to the expectations raised at the World Summit on Sustainable Development". "We are now encouraged in our efforts and hope that 'ad hoc' turns into 'permanent' by the time the WTO ministerial meeting in Cancun takes place in September", he added.
"The EU has been pushing hard for a decision on observer status, as talks already underway could affect the future of these organisations", the spokesperson explains in a press release.
Among the MEAs concerned are: the Convention on Biodiversity, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Basel Convention on Hazardous Waste, the Montreal Protocol on Substances that deplete the Ozone Layer, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, and the International Tropical Timber Organisation.