Conceptualizaciones de Auditoría de Gestión

The ninth Conference, held in Kinshasa from 29 to 31 March 1973, featured a higher degree of structure in the issues dealt with, and the presence, in the European delegation, of MEPs from the three new Member States of the Community, which was a tangible element in the changed frame of reference of the association following the first enlargement of the Community:

- enlargement of the Community, prefiguring the enlargement of the Association itself, in so far as the Commonwealth countries consider it advisable to join the Association Convention;

- Conference of the Heads of State and Government of the enlarged Community, which confirmed the continuation of the association policy, retaining its existing achievements and fundamental principles, while extending Community development aid action in line with the growing responsibilities incumbent upon Europe;

- the accession of Mauritius which took place under the Port-Louis agreement, on 12 May 1972;

- UNCTAD conference in Santiago, Chile, which, in spring 1972, despite the often difficult confrontations between the participating countries, made it possible in practice to reinforce the solidarity between the Member States of the Community and their African associates. In fact, the results of the Conference, which in the eyes of some were too modest, contrasted with the more specific nature of the actions carried out within the framework of the Yaoundé Convention140_.

140 _{EP - Committee on Development...- Report on the outcome of the Ninth Annual Meeting of the Parliamentary Conference of the}

This quotation141 _{from the usual report on the work of the Conference clearly shows not}

only the new features, but also the feelings they gave rise to: we see, on the one hand, the pride of an Association which had placed itself in the vanguard of cooperation between industrialised countries and developing countries, and on the other hand awareness of the challenges that would result from the potential enlargement of the Association.

During the course of a year which had seen monetary upheavals, an increase in the price of oil, which the Associated States did not produce, and the persistence of the blockade of the Suez Canal, there were trade problems, particularly with regard to decreasing trade between the Associated States, but the most serious fears expressed in the Conference were concerning the generalised preferences extended by the Community, which reduced the special advantages for the Associated States. There was a positive assessment of the activities of the Development Fund and, more generally, financial and technical cooperation, but there was a concern that the existing imbalance between the results of this cooperation and results in the trade sphere would change the Convention into an aid agreement. Particularly significant was the strong demand for a high level of political agreement between the Member States and the Associated States in international forums on development issues.

As usual, the European Parliament associated itself with the conclusions of the Conference, welcomed the Paris Summit decisions on Community development policy, wished to see the trade chapters of the Convention adjusted to meet the needs of the Associated States, and called for consideration of incorporating the Fund into the Community budget. The resolution also launched a debate on the renewal of the convention, stressing its own interest in such a move142_.

The following year, the negotiations on the renewal of the Convention – with the participation of 44 states eligible for association, which were now not only African, but in the main part of the British Commonwealth – had already begun and were at the heart of the Conference. The usual report143 _{expressed satisfaction with the negotiations}

and repeated the observations that had been made on several occasions on the issue of generalised preferences, but this time the subsequent plenary resolution144 _{differed from}

the previous ones in having content other than that in the Conference’s resolutions, whose conclusions it naturally endorsed.

The resolution was based on two levels: the renewal of the Convention and global development policy. On the first subject, it welcomed the fact that negotiations for renewal involved 44 states eligible for association and expressed the hope that the negotiations could be concluded in time for ratification of the new agreement by the end of that year,

141 _{Missing from the quotation, but mentioned previously in the report, was the creation of the Economic Community of West}

African States, set up in Bamako in June 1972. In the absence of more accurate historical information and on the basis of what can be deduced from the ECOWAS website, http://www.comm.ecowas.int, the organisation began operating in 1975 and originally included 14 states (in 1975): Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso).

142 _{EP resolution of 6 June 1973 on the results of the Ninth Annual Meeting of the Parliamentary Conference of the EEC/AASM}

Association, in OJ C 49, 28.6.1973, p. 25.

143 _{EP - Committee on Development...- Report on the results of the Tenth Annual Meeting of the Parliamentary Conference of the}

EEC/AASM Association (Rome, 30 January - 1 February 1974). Doc. 406/73. Rap: Reay.

144 _{EP resolution of 15 June 1974 on the results of the Tenth Annual Meeting of the Parliamentary Conference of the EEC/AASM}

1974. On the second subject, and on the basis of an opinion issued by the Conference, it noted that, because of the global economic crisis, the free trade rules which had until that time governed trade between the industrialised and developing countries were falling short, and called for them to be reorganised on a more balanced, fairer basis. The resolution therefore

10. noted that Europe was not in a position to remedy, by itself, difficulties of these proportions, partly because of the limited options available to it; therefore wished to see put in place wider development aid mechanisms, in which the oil-producing countries with substantial income surpluses would participate

while the Community, it stated, should focus its aid on the most disadvantaged countries and in particular on the 17 Associated States, or states eligible for association, which were among the 25 poorest states in the world145146_.