Brussels, 18/03/2005 (Agence Europe) - With protests multiplying in the EU against the highly controversial candidacy of Paul Wolfowitz, outgoing American deputy defence secretary, to the post of President of the World Bank, European Commissioner Louis Michel invited Mr Wolfowitz on Friday “to Brussels to listen to his ideas on development, on the main challenges to come and his vision of the World Bank”. “The Commission takes note of this nomination. Consultations are to begin. We must leave it up to Mr Wolfowitz to define himself. The main thing is for the new President to put make development the focal point of the World Bank's actions”, said Françoise Le Bail, a Commission spokesperson, on Friday.
Reactions were a lot stronger at the European Parliament: in an official letter to high-level European and international authorities, Luisa Morgantini (GUE, Italy), president of the committee on development, said that she was “extremely concerned at the nomination (…) of Paul Wolfowitz, who is one of the fiercest proponents of the doctrine of defensive war and the export of democracy via arms (…). Once more, the United States want to impose their decisions on us unilaterally”. Speaking on behalf of the PES, the Dane Poul Nyrup Rasmussen said: “whoever wins, they must not betray the principle of signing up to the millennium development objectives (…). This position (President of the World Bank) is a hefty responsibility calling for a candidate with integrity, who has the interests and welfare of the poorest populations in the world at heart”. Monica Frassoni, co-president of the Greens/EFA described the nomination as the confirmation that “President Bush is continuing his unilateral policy”. She adds: “His candidate represents everything that we as Europeans do not want. We ask President Bush to present an alternative candidate, as the Europeans did for the Presidency of the International Monetary Fund when their candidate was rejected in 2000”. She feels that the shareholders of the World Bank- especially the developing countries, must have more of a say, in a “more transparent and democratic” selection process.
The group CONCORD, which is made up of European development NGOs, has taken the initiative of a petition calling on the European Heads of State and Government to call on their representatives to reject Mr Wolfowitz.