Friday, March 11, 2005

Mandelson, Boeing & Airbus

The debate, much less heated now, rages on between the US and the EU over Boeing and Airbus. The crux of the argument has to do with subsidies, and it appears, accoridng to this article from Seattlepi.com that

" The United States and the European Union gave themselves until April 11 to agree on new subsidy definitions and avoid mutual arbitration at the World Trade Organization, which may have outlawed financial supports for both Boeing and Airbus"

Mandelson claims he wants to resolve the issue, (whilst he busily liberalises elsewhere--cf Ukraine...see below).

Mandelson & Ukraine Textiles

According to an article by United Press International, the EU and Ukraine signed a bilateral agreement Wednesday to "remove remaining restrictions on trade in textiles"

Mandelson argues that:

"This agreement is an important step in strengthening and liberalizing the economic and trading relationship between the EU and the Ukraine," and that

"It should pave the way for more far-reaching economic links that can benefit both partners."

more: http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20050309-034729-8960r

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

On Zoellick, CAFTA, and...hey, here's Mandy!

Well, not surprisingly, Mandelson -- true to form as EU Trade Commissioner -- is calling for the US to nominate their trade person, short of the Doha round of trade talks failing come Hong Kong in Dec 2005:

"Last month, Peter Mandelson, the EU's chief trade negotiator, warned that a serious breakdown in the Doha talks was a possibility unless rapid progress was made. He urged the Bush administration to quickly appoint a replacement for Zoellick"

Meanwhile, the article provides some interesting pointers:
  • During Zoellick's tenure, Washington completed free trade agreements with Singapore, Chile, Australia and Morocco. The U.S. is also targeting free-trade pacts with India, Panama, the Southern African Customs Union and a United Emirates and Oman.

  • Josette Shiner, deputy U.S. Trade Representative is in consideration for the post. Gary Edson, a former White House economic and national security adviser is also seen as a candidate.


  • Not that any of this domestic stuff has much to do with Mandelson really, but still, a re-united US-EU position at the WTO will do plenty to wreck things for the AU-LDCs-ACP group.

    from: http://www.investors.com/breakingnews.asp?journalid=26338538&brk=1

    Tuesday, March 08, 2005

    Mandelson is in Kenya

    According to IRIN news, featured on ALertnet.org, Mandelson is urging the issue of agriculture to still be placed in the table :

    ""On agriculture, there is still a lot of discussion and negotiation to go and I want that to continue," Peter Mandelson, the European Union's (EU's) trade commissioner, told a news conference."

    Also, to give the impression to developing country officials that he does care about those countrie's needs he has "called on all industrialised countries to join the EU in committing themselves to providing duty and quota-free market access to the least developed countries (LDCs)."

    This meeting is one of many scheduled meetings that will "give political guidance and cement political will in the trade negotiation process ahead of another major ministerial conference in Hong Kong later this year"

    Amen.

    http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/cf4a9e1a72fb2ce3f8b44513265e2f3e.htm

    George Monbiot hits hard against Eurocrats...

    ...and Mandelson is yet again cited:

    "Men like him, and Mandelson and Jose Manuel Barroso, have done a better job of sabotaging the European project than any number of Kilroys or Le Pens."

    from: Even scarier than Kilroy //A coup against social Europe has been foiled - for the time being ; http://politics.guardian.co.uk/columnist/story/0,9321,1432821,00.html

    An article in the "Guardian" reminding us about Mandelson's past

    ---SNIP
    ------------->
    "He expressed frustration with the failure of government ministers to accept accountability for their mistakes or scandals, and cited Peter Mandelson - twice forced to resign from the Cabinet - and the war in Iraq as reasons why the electorate had lost faith in politicians.

    He told SocietyGuardian.co.uk: "Had Margaret Hodge and others like Mandelson shown recognition of their past behaviour then I wouldn't be standing for election"

    Oh dear. Tut tut. Now and again, something to remind us of Peter Mandelson's past...

    I strongly suspect someone, somewhere, is probably waiting for him to live up to the "bad things happen in threes" adage, and be forced to resign from his EU Trade Commissioner post, too...

    from http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,11026,1432286,00.html

    An interesting article on PR--Who pays the bills for spinning the news?

    Who pays the bills for spinning the news? Mar 8 2005
    By Andy Kelly, Daily Post


    PETER MANDELSON, Alastair Campbell and Jo Moore - perhaps the three most infamous purveyors of government "spin" in the last decade.

    The latter, of course, took her profession to new heights of cynicism by suggesting September 11, 2001, would be a good day for civil servants to bury bad news. An appalled nation made sure she paid for it with her job.

    But you do not have to go as far as the halls of Westminster to see the art of news management and "spin" in action.

    READ MORE here