Memorandum of EUrope's Voice 2012

Policy Innovation e.V. | Wilhelmstr. 67 | 10117 Berlin | www.policy-‐innovation.org | www.europesvoice.org

Final Communiqué

Berlin, May 2012


Europe’s Voice 2012

The project EUropeʼs Voice annually assembles the European Youth Delegations to the G8 & G20 Youth Summits. EUropeʼs Voice takes place each year prior to the G8 & G20 Youth Summits, the students’ equivalent to the G8 and G20.

The concept behind EUropeʻs Voice derives from the idea that in the fast globalizing world, a common European position has a higher likelihood of being recognized than individual coun-‐tries’ positions. Accordingly, EUropeʻs Voice is meant to provide all European delegations with the chance to negotiate a common European position prior to the G8 & G20 Youth Summits, which are going to take place in Washington D.C, USA, from the 3rd up to the 9th of June 2012.

The summit took place from the 11th to the 13th of May 2012 in Berlin, organised by Policy Innovation e.V. in cooperation with Youth Diplomacy, Youth Diplomatic Service, Young Am-‐bassadors Society and Youth AEGIS.

Each national delegation encompassed a Head of State, a Sherpa and seven Ministers. Prior to EUrope's Voice, each delegate had to prepare a position paper on the agenda items the delegates had agreed to in advance. The following pages contain the Final Communiqué, which was signed by all Heads of State on the 13th May of 2012 in Berlin, Germany.


Heads of State The Future of the G20 ......................................................................................................... 1

Sustainable Development Framework (SDF) Post-‐2015 ....................................................... 1

Open Government Initiatives ............................................................................................. 2

Global Security Risks .......................................................................................................... 3

Human Rights and State Sovereignty .................................................................................. 4

Foreign Affairs Democratic Aspirations ...................................................................................................... 5

Egypt and Tunisia ...................................................................................................................... 5

Palestinian Territories ............................................................................................................... 6

Syria ........................................................................................................................................... 6

Minority Rights ................................................................................................................... 7

Women ...................................................................................................................................... 7

Children ..................................................................................................................................... 7

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender .............................. Fehler! Textmarke nicht definiert.

Finance Regulation and supervision in the financial system ............................................................. 9

Over-‐The-‐Counter (OTC) Derivatives Markets Regulation ........................................................ 9

Capital Adequacy And Systemic Risk ......................................................................................... 9

Credit Rating Agencies .............................................................................................................. 9

International Monetary System Reform ........................................................................... 10

Commodities Price Stability .................................................................................................... 10


Exchange Rates Regime ........................................................................................................... 10

International Monetary Fund .................................................................................................. 10

Economics Preamble .......................................................................................................................... 11

Global Unemployment ..................................................................................................... 11

Small-‐ and Medium-‐Sized Enterprises and Entrepreneurship ................................................ 11

Education ................................................................................................................................ 12

Gender Equality ....................................................................................................................... 13

Business Transparency ............................................................................................................ 13

Corporate Governance Guidelines .......................................................................................... 13

Public-‐Private-‐Partnerships ..................................................................................................... 14

Defence Ballistic Missile Defence/Strategic Issues .......................................................................... 15

Security of the International Waterways .......................................................................... 16

Afghanistan ...................................................................................................................... 17

Environment Water Governance ........................................................................................................... 19

Right to Water ......................................................................................................................... 19

Pollution / Hazardous Waste ............................................................................................ 19

Marine Protection ............................................................................................................ 19

Green Growth .................................................................................................................. 20

Future of Energy supplies ........................................................................................................ 20


Supply ...................................................................................................................................... 20

Efficiency ................................................................................................................................. 20

Climate Financing .................................................................................................................... 21

Nuclear Energy ........................................................................................................................ 21

Justice International and National Regulation of Communication ................................................ 22

Cross-‐Border Criminal Activities and Migrant Rights ......................................................... 23

Development Human Security ................................................................................................................ 24

Scrutinizing Aid ................................................................................................................ 25

Policy Innovation e.V. | Wilhelmstr. 67 | 10117 Berlin | www.policy-‐innovation.org | www.europesvoice.org | 1

Heads Of State

The Future of the G20

We firmly believe in the potential of the G20 and recognise the positive difference it can make in the global arena. However, we are of the view that with some changes, the G20 can be even more results-‐oriented, inclusive and responsive to the increasingly globalized world we live in. We consider the following observations of the current G20 form:

• Summits fulfil a ceremonial and profile-‐raising objective effectively, however there is limited focus on implementation of policies and direct results,

• While the G20 effectively engages the leading economic powers, it fails to fully draw on and engage the aspirations and interests of all world regions, namely regions with strong developmental needs,

• As the Presidency rotates every Summit, the agenda inevitably takes a short-‐term approach to tackling issues, as opposed to a longer-‐term strategic viewpoint and can often centre around host country interests as opposed to the global interest,

• Unlike other intergovernmental gatherings, there is no formal dialogue between youth and the G20 heads of state and government.

Therefore we propose a new model for governance, which can be seen in appendix A and is underpinned by the principles of inclusion, dialogue, participation and grassroots results. This model ensures a broader global voice and the direct engagement of civil society through the formal participation of regional institutions and the existing Parallel Fora. We support the permanent installation of a civil society forum, as introduced this year as CS20.

We call to establish a G20 Bureau, which would be the political body overseeing the perma-‐nent secretariat and made up of the previous, present and pending host member, alongside two additional G20 members. The Bureau will be responsible for the overall strategic plan-‐ning of the G20, and in particular ensuring continuity between summits, managing stake-‐holder interests and setting agendas. The Bureau should also have a duty to ensure a two-‐way dialogue with political and civic voices with the formal G20 membership.

Sustainable Development Framework (SDF) Post-‐2015

A sustained, ambitious and appropriately focused global plan of action is paramount follow-‐ing the 2015 deadline of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). We propose this should take the form of a Sustainable Development Framework.


We call for the G20 members to formally support a broadening of the G20 remit to more centrally discuss public health, international development and social justice matters along-‐side the largely financial paradigms at present.

We recommend that the participants to the 2012 G8 & G20 Youth Summits dedicate some time to develop some messages to send to our youth counterparts attending the Rio +20 Summit ahead of the main G20 summit. We recommend that topics should be addressed which correspond with the priority areas of the EU Rio +20 youth ambassadors process, namely water, education and employment.

While the Sustainable Development Framework should have an all-‐age remit similar to the MDGs, we promote central focus on youth, and correlate around priority areas. We propose these are the four “e’s” of the SDF:

• Youth Empowerment • Youth Employment • Youth Education • Youth and Environment

The SDF, like the MDGs, should engage a broad cohort of stakeholders including government, business, civil society and crucially those who will sustain these goals over the next genera-‐tion, young people.

Open Government Initiatives

We believe that more open, accountable and participative governance around the world is essential to the progressive development of policy and enhancement of civic empowerment through bringing politics closer to the people. If we analyse much of Europe and the world today, many youths do not feel engaged or connected with their governments or politicians. Youths are often the least likely group to vote in many of our societies and cannot often fully participate in democratic life due to age limits, financial barriers, social stigmata or lack of effective information.

Open governance is key on a global level also. We feel our ideas in the “Future of the G20” section, offer some solutions to a more open and inclusive political process.

However, active engagement in the democratic process is most pivotal at a localised level. We believe the G20 have a role to encourage youth empowerment. Therefore we suggest the formation of G20 Youth Charters for each member country. Every member of the G20


must provide a Charter that demonstrates its commitment to youth. The G20 Youth Charters should be based on the topics of:

• Youth Empowerment • Youth Employment • Youth Education • Youth and Environment

Within the Youth Charter, governments must reflect on how they:

• Enable a youth governance body, that independently engages youth in the decision-‐making process and enables their voice to be heard at national level,

• Provide a strong programme of political education and leadership opportunities. Governments must also demonstrate how they can engage youth from all social, fi-‐nancial, belief and geographical backgrounds,

• Offer a range of political engagement tools -‐ namely online methods, • Ensure that young people are heard on all policies across government, not merely is-‐

sues considered as “youth policies” such as education.

One example of good practice is the EU’s Citizens Initiative where citizens (including youth) can directly propose legislation within the EU. This model should be spread across the world and include financial empowerment through youth-‐led budgets.

Global Security Risks

We support the promotion of peace and security around the word. While we recognise that there are a number of global security risks that hold great importance in the world arena, we would like to put forward the following topics for discussion at the G8 & G20 Youth Summits 2012 in Washington DC:

• Resource-‐based conflict • Terrorism • Security consequences of climate change

As our planet continues to face sustainability challenges, and our population increases, con-‐flict resulting from the scarcity of vital resources including water and food is an increasing global security risk. The uncertainty around natural resource availability presents significant vulnerabilities including hunger, thirst, disease, death and degraded eco-‐systems.


Human Rights and State Sovereignty

We note central to this subject is the Responsibility to Protect Principle. We propose that the various tenets of the responsibility to protect principle are discussed in Washington DC.

We note that state sovereignty is very important. At the same time, we note the central im-‐portance of upholding human rights across the world. We observe there is ongoing tension between these two maxims and recommend this forms the basis of discussion in Washing-‐ton DC.

We recall the existing position of the UN:

“The international community, through the United Nations, also has the responsibility to use appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian and other peaceful means, in accordance with Chap-‐ters VI and VIII of the Charter, to help protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. In this context, we are prepared to take collective action, in a timely and decisive manner, through the Security Council, in accordance with the Charter, including Chapter VII, on a case-‐by-‐case basis and in cooperation with relevant re-‐gional organizations as appropriate, should peaceful means be inadequate and national au-‐thorities manifestly fail to protect their populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. We stress the need for the General Assembly to con-‐tinue consideration of the responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity and its implications, bearing in mind the prin-‐ciples of the Charter and international law.”

We believe all states must abide by international legislation, and we must consider also how we collectively hold state leaders accountable to claims of crimes against humanity. This should include local and regional approaches, as well as global inter-‐governmental ap-‐proaches.


Foreign Affairs1

Democratic Aspirations

We recognize the power of the Arab Spring movements and applaud the immense courage of the demonstrators, as well as the important role young people played in the protests. More prosperous and inclusive societies are on their ways. Whilst we recognize that there is no ideal form of democracy, the European delegates support the ongoing democratic pro-‐cesses and people's aspirations in Egypt, Tunisia, Syria and the Palestinian territories.

Equal political participation, freedom, the rule of law, respect for universal human rights, minority rights including religious minorities and women's rights are of central importance. But we are aware that implementing these measures and building democratic institutions requests time and patience. The European delegates lend active support to free electoral processes meant to establish legitimate civil governments.

Egypt and Tunisia

As for Egypt and Tunisia, in the line of the Deauville partnership, we urge our G8 partners to continue and extend the technical, financial and structural assistance to these countries through:

● Supporting the development of new Constitutions formalizing each country's future political arrangements. While fully respecting each state's sovereignty, we are willing to share our technical support in terms of rule of law, building democratic institutions and economy,

● Providing common financial support to independent media and increase access to internet and other means of communication,

● Promoting youth employment through joint actions, boosting initiatives from foreign private sectors in the region on this matter, trade agreements and further extending the opening of the European market,

● Encouraging partnerships for mobility especially for students and workers and further action within the European Union in order to facilitate visa procedures,

1 This negotiation took place without the participation of a delegate from the United Kingdom.


● Recognizing and developing the role of the Arab League as a stakeholder on issues related to peace and security in the region,

● Strengthening the contact groups among G8 nations in order to ensure collective and continuous evaluation of the application of the Deauville Partnership. These contact groups could eventually foster action and constitute a means of pressure in case of non-‐compliance from the countries benefiting of the Deauville Partnership with their engagements in terms of freedom of speech, freedom of manifest and minority rights.

Palestinian Territories

The Arab Spring represents a historical opportunity to find a solution to the Israeli-‐Palestinian conflict. Therefore the international community must increase the efforts for a peaceful two-‐states solution. The European delegates call on Israel and Palestine to resume negotiations as soon as possible. We urge our G8 partners to recognize that an independent, democratic and viable Palestinian state is the only way to ensure Israel’s security, peace in the region and ensure life-‐conditions in the full respect of universal human rights for Pales-‐tinians. For that purpose the G8 members should:

● Condemn the ongoing Israeli settlement as well as the terrorist attacks in the region, ● Recognize and develop the role of the Quartet as an important mediator and

encourage it to further take into consideration the Palestinian claims, ● Recognize that economic development (securing economic exchanges with Israel,

labour flows and trade) is indispensable to foster democratic aspirations of the Palestinian people,

● Provide further support for the promising democratic institution building process under way in the Palestinian territories and urge all groups involved to create conditions for free elections,

● Provide common financial support to grassroots initiatives (NGOs) trying to promote dialogue among young people in order to enable a future without violence and conflict.

Syria

The European delegates are deeply concerned about the ongoing violence in Syria and wish it to end. We strongly condemn the way the Syrian government manages the uprising. The European delegates urge the Syrian government to entirely implement its international commitments (resolution 2043, the Annan Plan) immediately. We express our support to the UN sanctions (chapter VII). We encourage our partners to recognize the conclusions of the independent international commission of inquiry investigating on crimes against humanity in Syria and provide further financial assistance to the UNHCR in dealing with the huge influx of


Syrian refugees. We express our support to the Syrian opposition in finding a common ground and we more generally support inter-‐ethnic dialogue in Syria. We encourage our G8 partners to unite behind a common plan of action in response to the ongoing violence. Whilst recognizing the UN Security Council's role to safeguard peace and security in the world, the EU delegates are disappointed with the dead-‐lock on the Syrian issue. We en-‐courage the international community to adopt further recommendations (as for example resolution 377), which appear necessary to re-‐establish peace and security in Syria.

Minority Rights

Women

Human rights are of central importance for the European foreign policy and a valuable com-‐ponent to every democratic society.

The European delegates pay tribute to the role that the civil society and especially women have played in the events of the Arab Spring and call for full participation of women and mi-‐norities in the political processes that are under way. We would like to encourage our G8 partners to:

● Advance the efforts of all governments to provide education on gender issues and provide financial support to NGOs engaged in rights-‐awareness training,

● Increase the financial support to the UN Women, ● Advance their efforts to favour equal access of women and men to electoral

mandates and elective positions (as for example the Parité law), ● Establish bilateral and regular dialogue between the G8 nations and China/Iran on

human rights.

Children

The protection of children according to the Convention of the Rights of the Child is of partic-‐ular and immense importance. One of our aims is to protect children from all forms of men-‐tal and physical violence. The European delegates underline the importance of the universal prohibition of child labour. We would like to address the attention to the issue of children in war and to stress that further action should be taken in order to prevent recruitment of child soldiers. We call on our G8 partners to encourage the systematic incorporation of the pre-‐vention of recruitment of child soldiers into humanitarian aid programs and awareness-‐raising programs in the existing refugee camps. We recommend to extend the regional co-‐operation on the prevention of child recruitment among organizations acting in states with complex crises and offer them financial support.


Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender

In the line of the statements made at the last G8 Foreign Affairs meeting in April 2012 in Washington, we are aware that further international action is needed on Lesbian, Gay, Bise-‐xual and Transgender (LGBT) issues. The LGBT community is still discriminated against, crim-‐inalized, attacked and even killed, often without police or the society paying any attention. The European delegates urge all governments to legalize same sex partnership among con-‐senting adults and adopt hate crime laws. We recommend that all member states recognise equal love as a key principle and support the institutionalization of equal union. We encour-‐age the further ratification of the Declaration on Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gen-‐der Identity and we recommend to add sexual orientation as one of discrimination reasons to Article 2 of the UN's Human rights Charter. We urge our partners to support financially the work of NGO's engaged with awareness-‐raising and educational projects and to support the Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Support Fund.


Finance2

Regulation and supervision in the financial system

Over-‐The-‐Counter (OTC) Derivatives Markets Regulation

As the European Commission already decided to standardize the transactions of OTC deriva-‐tives, we call for them to be cleared through CCPs. However, as CCPs specialize in different types of assets, we propose the creation of a database that will collect data linked to CCPs’ clearing prices and volumes, in order to facilitate access to information related to these transactions.

Capital Adequacy And Systemic Risk

Although, we agree that a separation between investment and commercial banking would be desirable, we are aware of the impracticality of its implementation.

We would require trading to be done on traders’ own funds, and not private deposits. Moreover, private banks would not be allowed to speculate on securities from firms they also advise. If these banks were to face particular situations including, but not limited to, market making, take-‐overs, mergers and acquisitions, they would have to either bring their advising role to an end, or appoint a third party.

This leads to the discussion of capital adequacy rules. Since those banks would not be al-‐lowed to use deposits for their trading activities, systemic default risk would be reduced. However, in the context of Basel III requirements, we could face a potential excess of regula-‐tion, on one side by increasing the minimal requirements for financial intermediaries (includ-‐ing GSIFI), and on the other by ring-‐fencing clients’ money from potential trading losses. In order to avoid potential domino effect, such measures should be implemented at G20 level.

Credit Rating Agencies

We are willing to extend competition in rating agencies market. We consider the creation of new rating agencies worldwide. We are willing to launch a consultation amid potential cli-‐ents interested in the business. This would require an in-‐depth industry analysis in order to give these new institutions solid foundations and responses to general concerns raised in the

2 This negotiation took place without the participation of a delegate from the European Union.


rating sector. We ask other G20 countries to sustain these ideas. Questions should be linked to funding (both for creation and fees), reputation, standards etc.

International Monetary System Reform

Commodities Price Stability

When addressing the question of commodities, we want to underline that we acknowledge the difference existing between the problems linked to fossil energies and agricultural prod-‐ucts. At the same time we recognize the good results obtained by the Joint Oil Data Initiative that created a database on oil resources. Our proposal is to expand the coverage on other tangible assets, in order to have a more accurate vision of the existing stocks, which may help us anticipate shocks that might affect those commodities. In addition, these databases could be used to better manage shortages and especially to ease pressure on commodities’ prices. High interest rates and recent increasing pressure on inflation in emerging markets lead us to consider higher standards of transparency in the commodities markets. To this extent, we would require to easily obtain information about hedge funds’ portfolios invest-‐ment in order to assess the impact of these entities on commodities’ prices in terms of short selling.

Exchange Rates Regime

We point out the advantages of freely traded currencies in order to avoid distortions of trade balances and foster competition. We would like to underline the advantages the econ-‐omies experience when allowing their currency to float. As far as China’s currency is con-‐cerned, a more flexible exchange rate would allow investors to promote the Renminbi as a currency benchmark and would encourage other G20 countries to lower trade barriers.

International Monetary Fund

We acknowledge the fact that emerging countries should be pro-‐active members of the IMF and we recognize the big effort that is being made in this direction and encourage further action. However we think this may not be the right timing for applying additional measures.

We are aware of the gaps in providing valuable recommendations the IMF is undergoing in its internal structure. Therefore we want to provide the International Monetary and Finan-‐cial Committee with legal basis to gather information in order to be more efficient in its field. IMFC should gather reports issued by other committees, link them and produce one com-‐muniqué underlining potential issues and proposing solutions.


Economics3 Preamble

The European nations seek to discuss the currently pressing problems in the international labour markets first, i.e. set it as the primary topic. Hence, despite its relevance, the issue of corporate translucency has to be placed at the second slot. This is to give credit to the over-‐arching importance of the first topic. Globally especially youth unemployment increased (2007: 11.7%, 2012: 12.7%; adv. econ: 12.5% to 17.9%, respectively). Further, within the OECD only half the workers are adequately matched. A set of constructive solutions is the necessary condition for increasing global and regional prosperity.

Global Unemployment

Though not made explicit in a subtopic, all measures are primarily aimed at young individu-‐als, which are regarded as the creative driving force of our economies and upon which fu-‐ture builds. Further, a multitude of suggested measures aims at a recuperation of aggregate demand, e.g. increasing wages. Local growth effects and spill-‐over effects are expected to take place, further stimulating the (re-‐) employment rates.

Small-‐ and Medium-‐Sized Enterprises and Entrepreneurship

Being the backbone of developed markets, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) have to be supported. Aside from providing employment to a large share of the economies, they are also major drivers for research and development.

Pertaining global unemployment we are convinced that we have to strike a balance of incen-‐tivizing to employ young individuals while not inducing lay-‐off of elders, as their skills and experience are still important to welfare. The sluggish labour-‐demand is at the heart of the labour market’s problems. We seek boosting it by especially focussing on SMEs via wage subsidies, according to sectorial differentiation and regional adjustments (e.g. innovative and regional adjustments as there are different demands and working environments). Though it is a credible measure, it can only be in place in the short run, i.e. targeted at three to five years, extensions conditional on success, which will have to be examined by an inde-‐pendent and qualified entity. Beyond this we seek improving overall working conditions, especially with regard to young employees and the eligibility for the subsidies: (i) The wage



subsidies shall be connected to training of the employees, leading to further long run bene-‐fits and incentives for the employer to keep the worker. (ii) We support a minimum em-‐ployment time for being eligible for the wage subsidies. (iii) The initial working conditions shall orientate at regular permanent contracts. (iv) The subsidies are subject to a marginal support which is decreasing in the total number of total employees. (v) Eventually, we seek further opening the European labour market for foreign high skilled workers.

Regarding entrepreneurship, we strongly believe that by supporting and fostering Entrepre-‐neurship we can not only fight against unemployment but also increase the emergence of innovative ideas.

Henceforth, we see the need to facilitate better access to credits especially for youth and women as urging. The access will be supported by an independent, competent, and recog-‐nized body that will be made up of successful entrepreneurs for accurately assessing the potential of the newly presented innovative projects.

Education

We consider education as a fundamental factor pertaining Global Unemployment Reduction. Therefore we are committed to give young Europeans the chance to receive deeper insights not only on European issues but also and especially on global and non-‐western countries. Thus, we see it as our duty to foster further intercultural programs and social projects for young Europeans in non-‐European countries to give them the chance to participate in the global change and be well prepared for future-‐issues.

Hence, we encourage creating two programs: The “Worldwide Program” and the “Internship Program”. Those two measures are inter alia aimed at enhancing labour mobility, overcom-‐ing labour-‐supply-‐side market entrance barriers such as language and culture, and to facili-‐tate the in-‐situ integration of foreign labour force.

1. Worldwide Program

With the Worldwide Program we are willing to give same possibilities for education for not only students but also non-‐academics under the age of 30. The program will include a one-‐year abroad-‐program, which aims to give the youth the opportunity to broaden their horizon by engaging in civil services. The worldwide program refers to non-‐industrialized countries only. The sending states will be paying the local mini-‐mum wage. Those, who are benefitting from the worldwide programme will become afterwards the promoters of it.


We foster setting up an online-‐platform that will include all necessary details regard-‐ing the civil services and important information on the NGOs. This online-‐platform will be provided not only in English but also in the receiving country's language. It will be administered by a young team to effectively meet the needs of the youth. This platform is aimed at being expanded towards the general labour market, because an integral step to improve the current labour market situation is first of all awareness. Supply and demand has to know of each other’s needs and capabilities for establish-‐ing a market in the first place. Thanks to ever-‐accelerating technologies it is possible to provide both sides with necessary information on a rather broad geographical scale.

2. Internship Program

This program aims at fostering further international mobility of interns. The receiving company will be paying the local minimum wage (hence avoiding the problem of un-‐paid internships) and any mandatory expenses beyond that (e.g. visa costs etc.) will be paid for by the sending state of the intern to close the gap. All necessary infor-‐mation will be provided by a centralized online platform.

Gender Equality

The central slogan has to be: Same pay for men, doing the same work as women. This shift of paradigm will make wage-‐setters hopefully more aware of the striking and disturbingly state-‐dependent gender-‐inequality. Given the down-‐ward rigidity of nominal wages it can be hoped that the effect will eventually be a crack-‐down of the current glass ceiling for women. Beyond the too narrow focus on income, other discriminatory practices pertaining internal and external labour mobility have to be overcome swiftly. It is needless to elaborate on the importance of gender equality, as it is obvious pertaining domestic and non-‐domestic eco-‐nomic bargaining power, independence, and the striving for freedom of opportunity.

Business Transparency

The European nations are convinced that business transparency is an integral part for suc-‐cessful business and sustained trust between the different parts within an economy. We seek stressing three major areas of attention.

Corporate Governance Guidelines

A very salient example of how missing translucency may lead to undesired outcomes is ob-‐servable when considering the practices of Credit Rating Agencies, with regard to corporate


as well as sovereign ratings. Despite unambiguous (quantitative) evidence of the extraordi-‐nary poor performance of Credit Rating Agencies their business model did not become al-‐tered. It is imperative and in the interest of all market participants to intervene and foster business transparency, especially also for those agents who are supposed to facilitate the flow of information in the market themselves.

Another pressing aspect of lacking transparency can be found pertaining pharmaceutical companies. The pricing mechanism in this industry is not translucent, even though the granted monopolies lead to (globally) highly undesired welfare outcomes, as also mentioned in the 2010 and 2011 G8 & G20 Youth Summits Communiqués. Increasing transparency is one first major step towards improving global access to medication; the extractive industries transparency initiative might be an example for improvement.

Public-‐Private-‐Partnerships

Eventually, we observe a longstanding conflict of interests between the public and privates, when engaging in PPPs. We suggest to set up an independent and competent authority for observing and controlling the bidding processes. We especially seek to overcome corruption in this regard.


Defence4

Ballistic Missile Defence/Strategic Issues

We have identified two particular concerns. The first is the threat posed by the ballistic de-‐velopment programmes of states contravening the Non-‐Proliferation Treaty. This has been highlighted in recent months by increasing concerns about Iranian efforts to procure nuclear military technology and the North Korean Missile tests. They pose a threat to their respec-‐tive regions and the world.

The second concern is the increasing tension between NATO and Russia over the proposals for a European Shield. Relations have become strained since the announcement at the NATO 2010 Lisbon Summit that the Organisation had decided to develop ballistic missile defence capabilities.

We strongly believe, to address all concerns about ballistic missile programmes, that a com-‐mitment to transparency, communication and compliance with international law is absolute-‐ly vital.

In particular, we have highlighted specific proposals to help tackle the following issues: NATO–Russia tensions and a coordinated sanctions scheme for countries developing nuclear military capacity.

Observing the difficulties in the NATO-‐Russia relationship, we believe that it is in the inter-‐ests of all G8 nations that both parties resume the dialogue. As both parties have demon-‐strated notably in Afghanistan, when their efforts are united, they are more effective at de-‐livering security for the world. We hope these efforts will continue and deepen in the future.

• To rebuild trust and confidence, we propose an immediate return to full cooperation and communication at all levels of the NATO-‐Russia Council. To make clear that the US European Phased Adapted Approach (EPAA) has been designed “to protect all NATO European populations, territory and forces.” This is particularly critical at a time when Iran has shown intent to procure nuclear weapons and a medium range missile programme.

4 This negotiation took place without the participation of a delegate from the European Union.


In November 2011, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) report raised concerns about developments in Iran’s nuclear programme. In response, members of the internation-‐al community individually imposed sanctions on the Iranian regime. Whilst they are becom-‐ing unified in their purpose, this has taken time, undermining the effectiveness of the measures. To make this more effective going forwards, we propose to:

• Establish a voluntary international graduated sanctions scheme against countries that contravene the Non-‐Proliferation Treaty. This would specify the triggers when sanctions should be imposed and coordinate the timeframes of implementation of such sanctions. The perceived level of the threat would then be reflected by the ex-‐tent of the sanctions. This would range from focussed sanctions to diplomatic, finan-‐cial, trade and military in the last resort. The International Atomic Energy Agency would have sole control over determining how far a state had contravened the NPT. This would serve to make sanctions more effective and would increase the reactivity of the international community and the strength of the message sent to the con-‐travening country.

We reaffirm the right of Israel to defend itself against any external aggression aimed at its territory, its population or its assets.

• We declare that we would not support any unilateral military action against the Is-‐lamic Republic of Iran. We strongly urge the Islamic Republic of Iran to return to ne-‐gotiations with the E3+3 in order to find a diplomatic solution to address the interna-‐tional community’s concerns.

Security of the International Waterways

We are seriously concerned by the significant problems posed by security on the seas. We have identified three key areas that we will address: piracy, flags of convenience and ensur-‐ing access to international waterways. This can be achieved by updating the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. It was concluded thirty years ago and needs to be re-‐freshed to address the problems we face today.

90 per cent of international trade is transported by sea. In 2008, nearly $1 trillion of trade, to and from Europe travelled through the Gulf of Aden. However, in the five years since, there have been 540 pirate attacks in that area alone, with 3,600 seafarers taken hostage. Some estimates suggest that this costs the global economy $12 billion per year.

We already make a significant contribution to tackling the symptoms, through Operation Ocean Shield, Atlanta and the EU Regional Maritime Capacity Building Mission, and are mak-‐


ing efforts to address the causes. However, the international community needs a more com-‐prehensive approach that helps; bring pirates to justice, regulate the use of Private Military Security Companies aboard vessels, combat financing of pirate activities and improve eco-‐nomic opportunities in coastal regions. We propose to:

• Re-‐invigorating the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, by creating a Cham-‐ber for Acts of Piracy empowering the Tribunal to prosecute those suspected of such acts,

• Ensure that any use of Private Military Security Companies complies with interna-‐tional humanitarian law as clarified in the Montreux document. Any breach shall be investigated in the appropriate court,

• Ensure that states share information on the financing of illegal activities to combat kingpin pirates. Using this information to tighten control of the revenue streams funding piracy whilst urging and assisting neighbouring states to do the same,

• Direct state overseas aid towards coastal regions to offer alternative livelihoods to piracy and encouraging the private sector to do the same as specified at the London Conference on Somalia in February 2012. Given the importance of the fishing indus-‐try, we also call on all nations to support the ban on international fishing in Somali waters.

Flags of convenience (the practice of registering a merchant ship in a sovereign state differ-‐ent from that of the ships owners) need to be addressed. A lack of transparency surrounding ownership has created significant issues including money laundering, poorer operating prac-‐tices and trafficking.

• We strongly encourage all ships to adhere to safe and open operating procedures as set out by the International Maritime Organisation. If significant progress has not been made by the next Summit, we will discuss restricting access for flags of conven-‐ience ships to our ports.

The European nations are united in their belief that freedom of movement should be guar-‐anteed in all international waterways.

• We are resolute that any threat, attempt or act to close any waterways will be con-‐demned in the strongest terms and will be countered with an appropriate response.

Afghanistan

We reaffirm our commitment to improving stability and security in Afghanistan. It is vital for security in Afghanistan, the region and the world. We are all major contributors to the NATO


led, UN-‐mandated, International Security Assistance Force and have said that this commit-‐ment will continue until the planned transition to Afghan control. Significant progress has been made, especially in recent years, but we recognise that there is still work to be done.

We have reached the following conclusions, which restate the pledges made at the Afghani-‐stan Conference in Bonn, December 2011, which will ensure that the conditions continue to improve, both before the transition date and beyond. These proposals include:

• A commitment that the overall transition will occur progressively until the end of 2014, and that the planned drawdown of coalition forces, until then, will be deter-‐mined by conditions on the ground.

At the end of March 2012, the Afghan National Army and Police had both exceeded their target strength. The total stands at 344,108. This is welcomed, but there has to be a contin-‐ued improvement in both the capability as well as the capacity.

• We have pledged our support to the development of the Afghan National Security Forces and also that this will continue after the 2014 transition date. We strongly urge other nations, in particular those with a Muslim majority, to contribute to this effort in any way they are capable.

Drug trafficking accounts for a significant portion of GDP with over half of the population directly involved in Opium cultivation. A United Nations Report from October 2011 stated that 90 per cent of the worlds opium is produced in Afghanistan. Progress has been made to tackle this and to diversify crops produced. However, more needs to be done. We will:

• Continue our efforts to reduce the production of Opium in Afghanistan both by offer-‐ing farmers alternative crops and by strengthening programmes, such as Demand Reduction Action Teams in Afghanistan, and others more broadly in the region which tackle the demand issue.


Environment

Water Governance

Right to Water

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), about 1,5 billion people lack access to clean drinking water and more than 2,6 billion people lack adequate sanitation. The Millen-‐nium Development Goal to halve those without access to safe water for drinking was met early, as 2 billion people have been given access between 1990 and 2010. However, many nations are still classified as 'not on track' to meet these goals. As defined during the 6th Wa-‐ter Forum in Marseille in March 2012, access to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation should be implemented as part of the human rights obligations. 84 government ministers have agreed on accelerating this implementation by all appropriate means as part of the efforts to overcome the water crisis at all levels.

The European delegations want to stress the importance of the recognition of water as a human right and the necessity to guarantee the implementation of this right and make uni-‐versal access to water a reality. G20 member states should provide assistance and expertise to governments suffering water shortage by developing sustainable and integrated water management plans.

Pollution / Hazardous Waste

• London convention on marine dumping, • Global programme for action for the protection of the marine environment of the UN • Island of garbage • Impact of fertilizers and pesticides on wetlands

G20 member states should implement marine pollution reduction targets for all G20 mem-‐bers, to be defined by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). In addition, G20 member states should limit the use of fertilizers and pesticides by promoting sustainable agriculture.

Marine Protection

• Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-‐sharing, Objective 6 • Global programme for action for the protection of the marine environment of the UN


The European delegations propose the creation of an international biodiversity action plan on prohibiting the fishing of endangered species and certain fishing methods (bombing, trolling). Considering the impact of oil spills on marine biodiversity, G20 members should create a framework to effectively penalize negligence on the part of responsible bodies and ensure compensation for the damage caused. We note that this should be alongside and not contradicting the EU’s existing fishing policies.

Green Growth

Future of Energy supplies

Environmental issues at the international level are now managed through a legal approach: a large amount of principles and standards have been made and are embodied in a series of over two hundred treaties linked to specific environmental issues.

The European delegations strongly underline the necessity of the creation of a World Envi-‐ronmental Organization (WEO) whose role would be to coordinate existing local, regional and national treaties.

Supply

The European Union has already put in place strong targets for the future of energy supply in its Sustainable Energy Directive, by requiring that on an average, the part of renewables in the energy production in all Member States will multiply by two. Europe stresses that com-‐plete decarbonisation of our energy supply in the long term is needed at the global level.

Therefore European delegations call on taking steps forward to improve significantly the energy mix in all G20 countries, by multiplying the use of renewables in all G20 countries by two by 2020. This energy responsibility should extend to all countries, developed or other-‐wise. The contribution of each G20 member should be based on both a common level and on the country’s GDP. In addition, the European Union calls for reducing CO2 emissions by 20% by 2020 in all G20 countries (based on 1990 levels). However, the state of development in emerging countries among the G20 members in 1990 should be taken into account.

Efficiency

The European Delegations stress that using available energy resources efficiently is crucial in order to reduce CO2 emissions and to meet the increasing need for energy in the whole world. The “Sustainable Energy of all” initiative from UN-‐Energy has set up an objective of multiplying the ratio of improvement in energy efficiency by two on a global level by 2020.


Furthermore, the European Union as such has already given strong targets in its Energy Effi-‐ciency Directive for its Member States, setting the goal to reach a 20% raise in energy effi-‐ciency by 2020.

We should strongly address the need of improving current infrastructure and upcoming ones, and stress the importance of smart grid in our future networks. We also suggest to phase-‐out inefficient appliances (e.g light bulbs), improve energy efficiency standards for new buildings and existing ones and educate consumers to be more energy efficient.

Climate Financing

In 2009, the G20 members made the commitment to “phasing out fossil fuels subsidies in the medium term”.

The European Delegations call on the G20 countries to strengthen their commitment with regards to phasing out subsidies for fossil fuels and call on the fulfilment of the objective by 2020.

In line with the goal to reduce CO2 emissions, we put forward the idea of taxing states that do not meet their emissions goals based on how much they exceed the target. Tax income will be collected by and assigned to projects by the Global Climate Fund.

Nuclear Energy

We agree to let the IAEA exercise its powers, by refusing the construction of a nuclear power plant if all safety criteria are not satisfied. In addition, independent studies and surveys should be carried out to estimate the economic, social, and environmental costs for nuclear safety and to provide more transparency.


Justice5 The EU Justice Ministers represented at the 2012 Europe’s Voice summit in Berlin, having consulted on the two agenda points set for the upcoming G8 Youth Summit in Washington DC, have agreed to the following common position of France, Germany, Italy and the EU:

International and National Regulation of Communication

Emphasising the unalienable right to freedom of expression and communication as laid out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Politi-‐cal Rights, the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and our respective national constitutions, we solemnly affirm the necessity to ensure that such right be upheld on the Internet, while at the same time having legitimate limitations such as the harm principle (including defamation and hate speech) and national security in-‐terests.

We therefore declare to:

• Enhance civil society (NGOs) participation within the International Telecommunica-‐tions Union through accreditation to its events and the establishment of working re-‐lations with particular departments or programmes of the said organisation. In addi-‐tion, international NGOs in the field of communication may seek to obtain consulta-‐tive status.

• Promote the universalization of the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime (2001) and its Additional Protocol concerning the Criminalisation of Acts of a Racist and Xenophobic Nature committed through computer systems.

Recognising the need to respect the fundamental right to protection of personal data as en-‐shrined in the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data (1981), while tackling emerging threats to security, we:

• Strongly encourage each State to establish one central responsible authority for cyber security at national level,



• Urge to create an International Cybercrime Centre at INTERPOL which will centralise information emanating from national cyber security centres, the European Cyber-‐crime Centre at Europol and internet private-‐sector companies, thereby engaging in a collective and coordinated approach to combat cybercrime.

Cross-‐Border Criminal Activities and Migrant Rights

Recalling the need to aim for a fair balance between the protection of personal data and ensuring security in cyber space, we stress that such principle is equally applicable to other transnational criminal activities.

Bearing this in mind, we:

• Call for closer coordination between G8 national operational centres and propose to increase the direct exchange of information by means of mutual legal assistance re-‐quests for DNA, profile information and fingerprints with sufficient personal data protection safeguards.

Aware of the interconnection between transnational organised crime and terrorism, we:

• Support the universal ratification of the United Nations Convention against Transna-‐tional Organized Crime; the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children; the Protocol against the Smuggling of Mi-‐grants by Land, Sea, Air; the Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Traffick-‐ing in Firearms, Theirs Parts and Components and Ammunitions, while seeking to strengthen their effectiveness.

Noting with deep regret the fact that more than 1,500 migrants died in the Mediterranean Sea in an attempt to reach Europe in the year 2011, we:

• Reaffirm the general principle of non-‐refoulement, • Call on States to recognize the need to protect victims of armed conflict found at sea

and recommend to offer them legal temporary protection in our national jurisdic-‐tions as long as they cannot be returned to their home country,

• Express support for concerted refugee resettlement plans among G8 nations and their partners in cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refu-‐gees,

• Request swift and effective sanctions to be imposed on criminal organised groups in-‐volved in people smuggling at sea.


Development6

Human Security

“Human security … means… safety from such chronic threats as hunger, disease and repres-‐sion. [It also] means protection from sudden and hurtful disruptions in the patterns of daily life – whether in homes, in jobs or in communities. Such threats can exist at all levels of na-‐tional income and development.”7

It can therefore be considered to have several core concerns, which are interlinked: eco-‐nomic security, food security, health security, environmental security, personal security, community security and political security. Given the urgent need to address food scarcity and the belief of this committee that the members of the G20 have it in their power to cre-‐ate practical solutions to ensuring food security – the availability of sustainable sources of food and the ability of people to access them – we have chosen to focus on this issue.

We propose that:

A new idea of agriculture able to ensure food security has to be focused on local capabilities. In order to provide production security to local farmers, we believe that a small-‐scale ap-‐proach can be an effective strategy. A practical tool to prevent crisis is the creation of per-‐manent sustainable local food reserves. These reserves are not the answer to emergency crises, but they are long-‐term solutions to guarantee continuous food production. In devel-‐oping countries, food reserves can create work opportunities and represent permanent food stocks. Concretely we propose to establish a community field in rural villages where every family grows different crops, ensuring a system of subsistence. The food provided from the field will be stocked in local food reserves. To ensure sustainability a correct agricultural ed-‐ucation needs to avoid monoculture, agro toxics and non-‐safe GMOs. Choosing local materi-‐als and renewable energies we promote new infrastructures that can improve food produc-‐tion (including drip irrigation and natural fertilizers). The objective of promoting small-‐scale agriculture is also to ensure land availability to local communities. The protection of proper-‐ty rights can prevent the increasing trend of land grabbing by multinational companies.

6 This negotiation took place without a delegate from France. 7 United Nations Development Programme, ´Human Development Report 1994’ (New York: Oxford University Press) p.23


The G20 needs to take into account that there are certain regional food market mechanisms that put local food security under threat. Hence we recommend reviewing the setting of global food markets with a focus on the effects of regional market strategies. This commit-‐tee affirms its willingness to continue their phasing out strategy as far as agricultural subsi-‐dies are concerned and demands other export nations of agricultural products to do so. Giv-‐en that subsidized food products can destroy local markets in developing countries it is the responsibility of all G20 members to review their national subsidy policy in order to offer a stable environment for providing sustainable food security on a local level.

Food scarcity is at its greatest in humanitarian crises. In those that result from conflict, it is the responsibility of governments to ensure the human security of their citizens and thus their access to food. Often however, they not only fail in this duty, but are also the principal source of threat to the civilian population. This was apparent in Syria, where the govern-‐ment’s refusal to allow aid agencies to gain access to affected local populations, compound-‐ed food scarcity. This committee therefore implores the G20 to utilize diplomatic pressure to ensure that humanitarian principles are respected and that, as a consequence, food security can be ensured in humanitarian crises resulting from conflict. The scale and suddenness of emerging humanitarian crises is a challenge to the effectiveness of the international re-‐sponse, but they are far from unpredictable. By monitoring meteorological data it is possible to gain early warning of impending crises, including drought and floods, which often precipi-‐tate food scarcity. This committee recommends that the capacity to manage early warning systems be built at a regional level, so as to guarantee that at-‐risk countries have ownership of the tools to mitigate such crises.

This committee recognizes food price volatility as one of the main causes of food insecurity. For this reason we believe that a complete and common understanding of the origins and causes of food price volatility, which also incorporates a macroeconomic perspective, is fun-‐damental. In fact, it will give G20 countries the possibility to manage effectively the food security issue through practical, realistic and innovative solutions. Food reserves and small-‐scale agriculture can solve the problem of lack of quantity and the related problem of price instability. However, we believe in the possibility of other and supplementary solutions in order to manage high food price volatility now and in the future.

Scrutinizing Aid

The purpose of scrutinizing aid is to engage in a detailed examination of how international aid budgets are spent, what they are spent on and why. The guiding concern of this process is that whilst sustainable development must always be the ultimate goal, the amount spent on international aid -‐ 133.5 billion USD by the OECD DAC alone in 2011 -‐ merits scrutiny, as


the utility of aid can only be realised if it is transparent, effective and reflects the changing geopolitical context.

In order to find public support for, and increase awareness of, development needs state and non-‐state organisations to provide transparency. Given that development agencies run by the state highly rely on tax revenues and NGOs depend on the citizen’s readiness to donate, the credibility of cooperation techniques is crucial. Bad examples in the misallocation of fi-‐nancial and material resources in the past decades of development aid show the urgency of transparent flows and dismantling the black box of donor and recipient links. By increasing the transparency of G20 aid flows coordination of activities and policy coherence within this panel will then be much easier to supervise. It will also make an impact on development programmes in the long run and will certainly bring more effectiveness to the cooperation methods in the G20 round.

It is critically important to examine why aid is given and what donor states expect to achieve in doing so. In Afghanistan, a large portion of international aid was (and continues to be) funnelled through military actors in support of the International Security Assistance Force’s counter-‐insurgency campaign. Development projects implemented in this way are intended to achieve rapid results and many have been poorly implemented and prove unsustainable. We recommend that this practice be ended. In other settings, conversely, donor countries have attached conditions – compelling beneficiary countries to improve their human rights records for example – to giving aid. We recommend that the G20 adopt a position on the conditionality of aid and its desirability in these contexts.

The rise of new donors and their important role in developing countries demonstrates the new constellation of actors in development as well as the need for dialogue on common development policies and strategies. Given that many former developing countries have profited from rapid socio-‐economic growth in the past decades and know the challenge of pro-‐poor growth from their own experience, they have an excellent knowledge on how to tackle transformation processes. This committee seeks to strengthen a global development dialogue between traditional donors, uprising donors and partner countries to ensure policy coherence and complementarity of action. Furthermore, in order to increase the effective-‐ness of multilateral aid organisation an outreach programme of the OECD might be desired in order to provide a joint platform for best practice of development strategies and a mutual assessment of development policies.

Public-‐private partnerships are a possible alternative to aid that links private investment with government cooperation that can hence raise new capital and innovative ideas for de-‐velopment projects. Furthermore trilateral development projects that go beyond traditional


bilateral aid cooperation by involving traditional donors, new donors and partner countries have the advantage of combining resources, technical capacities and create synergies in de-‐velopment practices with all relevant partners. The recent rise of new donors in the south has shown the potential for cooperation in the region and proves the importance of involv-‐ing them in a global development dialogue as equals.


Signatures

European Union:

France:

Germany:

Italy:

United Kingdom:


Supporters

On behalf of all organizers and participants, we would like to express our gratitude to the following institutions for their support to realize EUrope's Voice 2012:

Documents

Memorandum of EUrope's Voice 2012