8. RESULTADOS Y DISCUSIÓN
8.6. COMPORTAMIENTO DE LOS PERFILES DE PLAYA
During its fourth legislative period, the European Parliament issued favourable opinions on cooperation agreements with Nepal312, Laos313 and Cambodia314.
Nepal, a young democracy still in need of consolidation, was one of the poorest countries in the world and suffered from geographical isolation315 that affected its transport costs
and hence import and export prices; it was furthermore located in a mountainous region between India and China, liable to become critical politically, and had already been obliged to take in some 90 000 refugees from Tibet and Bhutan.
The Agreement, of which, according to a tried and tested model, human rights and environmental protection were key elements, mainly pursued commercial objectives and sought to promote investment and development. Nepal was granted the most-favoured nation clause, while the priorities for economic development, which had to be sustainable, were to improve the quality of life for the poorest population groups, the health system and the lot of women.
Laos was one of the poorest countries in the world, where subsistence farming employed four fifths of the workforce and generated more than half of the country’s GDP. On the plus side, it was rich in natural resources and potential for hydroelectric power, now starting to be exploited.
After fifteen or so years of a socialist economy, Laos adopted a market economy in 1991 whilst retaining a Marxist-style single-party political system.
The Agreement with Laos was primarily designed to strengthen cooperation between the parties both from a commercial point of view and as regards development. Protection of the environment and sustainable use of human resources were among its stipulated objectives.
Respect for democratic principles and fundamental rights were a fundamental element, so much so that their infringement could result in the taking of measures for non-compliance with the Agreement.
312 EP legislative resolution of 19 April 1996 embodying the European Parliament’s opinion on the proposal for a Council Decision
concerning the Conclusion of the Cooperation Agreement between the European Community and the Kingdom of Nepal, OJ C 141, 13.5.96, p. 277 following on from the report of the Committee on Development with the same title. Doc. A4-72/96. Rap: Pettinari.
313 EP legislative resolution of 2 October 1997 embodying the European Parliament’s opinion on the proposal for a Council Decision
concerning the Conclusion of the Cooperation Agreement between the European Community and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, OJ C 325, 27.10.97, p. 15 following on from the report of the Committee on Development with the same title. Doc. A4- 216/97. Rap: Castagnede.
314 EP legislative resolution of 14 April 1999 embodying the European Parliament’s opinion on the proposal for a Council Decision
concerning the Conclusion of the Cooperation Agreement between the European Community and the Kingdom of Cambodia, OJ C 219, 30.7.99, p. 189 following on from the report of the Committee on Development with the same title (second report). Doc. A4-116/99. Rap: Pettinari. A previous report with the same title was not followed up.
Cambodia, like Laos, is one of the poorest countries in the world and wracked by serious economic and political problems, which delayed the Agreement. Indeed Parliament, when presented with a previous draft opinion of the Committee on Development316 in the
wake of a coup d’état in Cambodia which it condemned, had preferred to defer its own opinion until after the elections, which were subsequently held in July 1998 in a credible and acceptable manner. Those elections did not however result in a sufficient majority to form an independent government and were followed by serious disorder. Parliament therefore saw fit to make the continuation of aid contingent on the re-establishment of constitutional order, public freedoms and political pluralism. An agreement reached at the end of 1998 made it possible to satisfy these conditions.
In addition to poverty, Cambodia had serious economic and civic problems. The succession of floods that occurred around the mid 1990s caused severe food shortages, while the after-effects of the wars and genocide visited on the country by the Khmer Rouge had resulted in large numbers of displaced persons and the tragic problem of unexploded landmines which were still causing death and injury. Lastly there was the environmental problem of unsustainable exploitation of the forests to extract teak.
Cambodia was dependent on international aid for 48% of its budget and was seeking to encourage foreign investment, although investors were deterred by its turbulent domestic situation. This too was one of the objectives of the Agreement with the European Union, primarily geared to combating poverty, lasting development and social progress. As concerns human rights and the establishment of an effective democratic system, the Agreement with Cambodia provided for broadly similar mechanisms to those in the Agreement with Laos.
316 Doc. A4-221/97, presented in the Chamber at the same time as the Agreement with Laos.
A poor housing area in Old Baneshwor near Bagmati in Kathmandu, Nepal. Because of Nepal’s poverty, the European Parliament decided in 1996 to grant it ‘privileged country’ status in trade relations.