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Britain in the World
Britain in the World
Policy Commission work programme 2006
Draft - this document does not represent Labour Party or government policy.
1. Introduction
The Britain in the World Policy Commission deals with issues relating to foreign policy, defence, international aid and development and is comprised of members and stakeholder groups within the party.
The commission Is responsible for engaging with the party on these policy issues, looking at how we address future challenges we face in these areas and building a dialogue with party stakeholders.
The Britain in the World Policy Commission has consistently received a large number of submissions, reflecting the importance of foreign policy to our party, on a range of issues, including: how Labour can take forward its efforts to tackle global poverty and promote social justice; how we can work for peace and security in an increasingly uncertain world; and how we can secure a stronger Britain in a stronger Europe.
The commission maintained a close and open dialogue with the Government and party stakeholders in the previous round of Partnership in Power meaning the party's 2005 manifesto reflected the strength of feeling across a range of issues. These included working for an international arms trade treaty; a goal to provide 100 per cent debt relief for the world's poorest countries and a timetable of 2013 for achieving the UN target of 0.7 per cent of Gross National Income spent on international development.
2. Work programme
The future of Europe
Labour believes Britain's prosperity is enhanced by our membership of the European Union. Under the UK's Presidency, Labour demonstrated Britain's continued leadership at the heart of Europe, helping shape the future of the EU. Accession negotiations have begun with Turkey and Croatia, a priority of our presidency, and the 15 richest EU member states, through Britain's leadership, agreed to commit to reaching the UN target of 0.7 per cent of Gross Domestic Product spent on aid by 2015. The UK Presidency has also achieved an historic deal on the reform of the EU sugar sector, securing a sustainable future for the sector and getting a fairer deal for developing countries. We have also overseen moves towards better regulation in the EU, with the commission scrapping 68 proposals and simplifying another 100.
The enlargement of the EU from 15 to 25 member states by May 2004 was a historic achievement. Bulgaria and Romania are set to join the EU in 2007. The UK strongly supports the membership aspirations of the Western Balkans if they meet the necessary requirements. Enlargement is good for British jobs and trade. The EU is now the largest international single market and nearly 50 per cent of all our trade is with the rest of Europe with two million jobs dependent on it. The European Union has also acted as a powerful magnet for countries seeing the benefits of membership from the outside and each wave of enlargement has demonstrated how the EU can be a great and powerful force for good in helping to spread good governance and human rights. The EU is at the heart of international efforts to rebuild scarred communities in the Balkans and is playing a key role in the Middle East as signatory to the Roadmap. Our membership of the EU also means that we can tackle issues no one country can tackle alone such as illegal immigration and environmental pollution.
But, as the 'no' votes in the Dutch and French referendums on the constitutional treaty showed, many people do not see how the EU is relevant to their lives or how it can help them meet the insecurities they face from globalisation, on job security, pensions and living standards. Now is the time for a period of discussion about the EU's future direction. As recognised in the commission's final document in the previous round of Pip, we must look at economic reform of the EU and its future financing. We must reflect on how Europe can change to ensure security and prosperity for all its citizens within a framework with social justice at its heart in the context of an increasingly globalised economy. We must also consider how Europe's institutions, originally designed for a community of six, are reformed to ensure the EU's decision making structure is more efficient and more effective. To ensure Britain's peace and security, we must look at how we work with EU member states to thwart terrorist activities, and must look at how the EU can strengthen its role on the global stage.
The 2005 agenda on international development and the progress achieved during the UK's Presidency of the G8 and EU:
Next steps in the fight against global poverty
2005 has been a critical year for policy de.velopment. Under our Presidencies of the GB and the EU, we are delivering on our promise to use our leadership role to help secure international action focusing on Africa and climate change. At the Gleneagles summit in July a comprehensive package and plan of action for Africa was agreed.
Many of Labour's 2005 manifesto pledges, building on agreements reached in the previous round of Pip, were met at the Gleneagles GB Summit in July. These include an extra $50 billion of aid for all developing countries by 2010 and a doubling of aid to Africa by $25 billion per year; cancellation of 100 per cent of multilateral debts of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries which could amount to a total of $55 billion of relief; by 2015 all children will have access to good quality, free and compulsory education and to basic health care, free where a country chooses to provide it; as close as possible to universal access to treatment by 2010 for HIV/AIDS; funding for treatment and bed nets to fight malaria, saving the lives of over 600,000 children every year by 2015; and full funding to totally eradicate Polio from the world. Up to 25,000 extra peacekeeping troops were also pledged to support the African Union to deploy its forces and resolve conflicts and enhanced support for greater democracy, effective governance and transparency in Africa and to help fight corruption and return stolen assets.
Progress was also made on the challenge of climate change, an issue on which world leaders have been divided on in recent years, as we recognise that a key element to poverty reduction is also ensuring sustainable development. GB leaders agreed that climate change is happening now, that human activity is contributing to it and that it could affect every part of the world. They also agreed an action plan for Climate Change and, crucially, a new dialogue involving the GB, emerging economies and key international institutions which creates a new space to discuss both new actions and long-term policy options. This dialogue will report to the GB, culminating under the Japanese Presidency in 200B. The Prime Minister spoke at the first meeting of the group, which was held in London on 1 November.
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial meeting in Hong Kong on 15 December gave a real opportunity to build on the agreements on trade, domestic subsidies and agricultural export subsidies made at Gleneagles and make trade freer and fairer. The Prime Minister announced that the UK is to treble its support to help poor countries trade their way out of poverty to £100 million per year by 2010. But this is just part of the ambitious and comprehensive package of measures that Labour in government pursued in Hong Kong. At the talks, the Government pushed for a cut in barriers to trade in the three key areas agriculture, non-agricultural market access, and services. The Government also pushed for poor countries to be allowed the flexibility to decide, plan and sequence trade reforms with no forced liberalisation - all supported by the aid for trade package to assist poorer countries developing their capacity to trade.
We must now look at how we maintain the momentum behind the debate on international development, and continue to engage with our members, the public, Non Governmental Organisations (NGO) and other organisations to translate the agreements made this year into action. We have to examine how we will turn the pledges agreed at Gleneagles into action to meet the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 and take particular action to tackle the barriers people, particularly children and women, face in access to education and healthcare.
We must look at how we can engage with the party and wider community around the DFID White Paper which sets out the key issues in the development debate including whether the current international system for development works as well as it can.
The party must consider how, within the context of an increasingly globalised and interdependent world, we can continue to push for further progress on aid and debt relief for Africa. How can we take forward innovative financing mechanisms such as the International Finance Facility, and continue to work for trade justice so that developing countries can achieve the economic growth that is essential for tackling poverty?
We must also continue to work for increasing effectiveness in global institutions such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the UN and allow the voice of developing countries in the international system. We must reflect on how we take forward the dialogue on climate change and sustainable development and how we build on the G8 commitment to work in partnership with Africa to improve standards of governance, transparency and accountability.
Tackling the threats posed by global terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction
Tackling the challenges of poverty, disease and hunger and tackling threats to our security from terrorism and weapons of mass destruction are not alternatives. To effectively tackle terrorism, it is vital that we address the conditions where terrorism can thrive. AI Qaeda and its associates have committed horrific attacks in dozens of countries over the last 12 years, most recently with the attacks in London, Egypt and Jordan. The threat posed by the proliferation of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, and their use by rogue stages or terrorist groups, also poses a pressing threat to our peace and security. And global terrorism and weapon proliferation requires an international response.
With the UK's lead, steps have already been taken to strengthen the role of the UN in this area, including the establishment of the Counter Terrorism Committee. In addition, UN Security Council Resolution 1624, adopted in September of this year, reaffirmed the condemnation of terrorist acts, condemned the incitement of terrorist acts and reaffirmed the imperative to combat terrorism in all its forms. With our European partners, we have also stepped up efforts and following the London bombings the EU Council agreed to accelerate implementation of the EU Action Plan on Combating Terrorism and other existing commitments.
In addition, Labour has a long tradition of working to alleviate the threat from the world's most dangerous weapons. As a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), we recognise our responsibility to work towards the goal of the global elimination of nuclear weapons.
We are also active participants in other international organisations working to stop the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons and missile technology. We recognise our wider responsibilities to continue to work bilaterally and through the UN to urge states not yet party to the nonproliferation treaties, notably the NPT, to join.
Our 2005 election manifesto committed us to retaining our independent nuclear deterrent, as a recognised nuclear state under the NPT, and we have reduced the UK's nuclear deterrent to a minimum. This commitment underpins our encouragement of renewed and improved dialogue between the two existing nuclear states of Pakistan and India, our call for Iran to return to talks with the E3/EU on the basis of the Paris Agreement and our support of the six party talks aimed at making progress in tackling North Korea's possession of weapons of mass destruction.
In recognition of the role that the trade in conventional weapons plays in undermining peace and security in many parts of the world, and particularly its harmful effects on development in Africa, Labour has taken unprecedented steps to make the UK's arms controls more transparent and effective culminating in our 2005 manifesto commitment which reaffirmed that we would work actively for an international treaty on the arms trade. We have now embarked on a work programme with other countries to ensure that this issue will be on the agenda of the UN General Assembly in 2006.
We must now work towards the recommendations made in the UN High Level Panel report and press for the UN Security Council to take greater action to counter these threats to make the UN more effective in tackling terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, set in the wider context of UN reform. We must also consider how we can further press for improved co-ordination on policing and intelligence gathering and sharing to stem the flow of weapons proliferation. In working with our European partners, we must reflect on how we build on the existing strong EU framework for pursuing and investigating terrorists across borders. We must also examine ways of continuing to push and campaign for an international treaty on the arms trade. We will facilitate an informed debate with regards to the UK's future strategic challenges, including the role of Trident - our independent nuclear deterrent, and we will engage with the public, experts and other bodies.
Labour Party members will be encouraged to have their say and the commission will play an important role in engaging in debate across the party. A crucial challenge we face following the UN Review Conference this year is how to work towards a stronger Non-Proliferatrion Treaty and to ensure that its signatories follow the example of the UK and implement their obligations.
Promoting human rights, peace and democracy around the world our role in peace building, peace keeping, conflict prevention and our response to humanitarian crises
Promoting democracy and human rights is at the heart of Labour's foreign policy. This commitment was reaffirmed both in our final policy document of the previous PiP round and in our 2005 manifesto. Recent events have shown the desire that all people share to be free and we will continue to work for a global response to these international issues.
Democracy is taking hold in Africa through the strengthening of institutions such as the African Union and the New Partnership for Africa's Development. Recent elections in Liberia, leading to the first elected woman Head of State in Africa, and the progress being made in Sierra Leone with UN troops withdrawing this year are also positive indicators of the shift to democracy.
And as previously mentioned, at the July G8 meeting, the G8 nations have pledged enhanced support for greater democracy, effective governance and transparency in Africa and assistance to fight corruption and return stolen assets.
However, one of our most pressing priorities must be to make every effort to bring peace to the Middle East. We will continue to work with the governments and peoples of the region in their processes of change towards genuine and peaceful democracy. We will also continue to develop our support for the Afghan government through our participation in the UN-mandated International Security Force (under UNSC resolution 1510) and through cross-departmental government support to continue to assist the Afghan government in maintaining a stable and secure environment to allow the country to rebuild itself following the parliamentary elections of September 2005.
However, to realise the full potential of the region we must build on the steps taken to resolve the conflict between the Palestinians and Israelis. Working to this end will be one of the highest priorities of our foreign policy and we will continue to work with our partners internationally and through multilateral institutions to achieve this.
One encouraging sign of progress was the agreement for an EU Mission to observe the Rafah border, allowing the border to be re-opened between Gaza and Egypt, following the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and parts of the northern West Bank in August. This is the first time that the Palestinians have had control over one of their own borders and it will have a real impact on the lives of Gazans - improving the economic prospects of the Palestinian people and allowing them greater freedom of movement.
While we recognise that views on the decision to take military action in Iraq differed, we are united in our support of our troops and the bravery of the Iraqi people as they seek to build a stable, democratic and free Iraq under a renewed UN Mandate 1637. The Labour Party welcomes the high turnout of Iraqis who voted in the January elections and recent referendum on the draft constitution and the commission will continue to play a key role in engaging with the party as we focus on helping Iraqis build democracy with the security they need; devoting effort to reconstruction and the building of durable institutions in Iraq. While NATO remains the cornerstone of Britain's defence and security policy, we are also leading efforts to enhance Britain's military capabilities for crisis management operations where NATO as a whole is not engaged. The UK is now faced not only with conventional military threats but with failed states, environmental disasters, humanitarian crises such as the Boxing Day tsunam'i and recent earthquake in Pakistan, organised crime and terrorism and we must respond to this changing environment.
The range of tasks our armed forces will need to perform will be increasingly broad from peacekeeping, humanitarian and confidence building operations through to counter-terrorism and combat activities against a diverse set of opponents. To face these new threats and challenges, our armed forces must adapt and Labour is shifting the emphasis to support more flexible, light and medium weight forces that can be deployed at short notice; while backing our reforms with increased investment.
Under our Presidency of the EU, we have made EU security and defence policy more capable, active and coherent through steps including agreement on 18 EU Battlegroups involving 26 nations to provide rapid response forces of 1500 troops for early intervention to prevent potential crises from escalating. These groups will be deployed for humanitarian and rescue tasks, peacekeeping and peace-making, conflict prevention and military advice and assistance. EU troops are now engaged in nine civilian and military missions around the world, including in Aceh and Rafah which were launched under the UK's Presidency, and in Darfur, and the development to rapid response force capability is key to ensuring a fast response to save lives in humanitarian crises.
Labour sees the UN as key in promoting human rights, peace and democracy around the world. However, to enable it to respond to the challenges of today more effectively we wish to build on the High Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change proposals for reform.
At the recent World Summit, clear progress was made as resources for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) were doubled; a detailed mandate was established for a Peacebuilding Commission; a decision to establish a Human Rights Council was taken; the first steps towards a reformed UN Secretariat were agreed and there was an unprecedented recognition of the responsibility to protect - that in the name of humanity there is a common duty to protect people where their own governments will not.
Yet despite these steps, the UN will need to continue to adapt and modernise if we are to create a collective security system that ensures our safety and prosperity and which protects our human rights.
We are now working in the UN General Assembly to ensure that the decisions taken at the Millennium Summit are translated into concrete action. We must consider what more can be done to build on the progress made in UN reform to ensure that the UN can effectively confront the issues that the world faces today. We must also contemplate how we can work with our international partners to continue to support new freedoms in countries such as Burma and how we can encourage greater democracy as part of our continuing relationship with major parties such as Russia and China.
We must continue to consider the impact of conflict on women and their participation in conflict prevention and resolution, including peace negotiations, as well as continuing to raise awareness of the positive role that women can place in peace-building and reconciliation; following our support and adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 3125 in October 2000 on Women, Peace and Security.
What further action can we take to support the role of organisations, including trade unions, in promoting democracy in other nations such as China? How can we work with our NATO and EU allies to ensure we have the ability to respond to crises effectively and how can we continue to work to ensure that our armed forces, an unrivalled force for good in the world, are best prepared to perform the increasingly varied range of tasks abroad that they face? And what more can we do to work with the international community to ensure our response to humanitarian disasters is coordinated, swift and effective?
3. Next steps
Conference 2005 agreed new proposals Improving Partnership In Power. The improvements give policy commissions a crucial leadership role in ensuring the success of the next PiP cycle by, for example, providing better engagement on topical issues, building an ongoing relationship with party stakeholders who have made policy submissions, as well as looking at innovative ways policy commissions can work to help with their thinking on future policy development.
This work plan outlines the policy challenges and the topical issues facing the Britain in the World Policy Commission in the year ahead. They provide a focus for the commission's work and help party members understand the current work of the National Policy Forum.
The policy commission will consider how to manage the engagement on these issues with party stakeholders which will include prioritising the policy areas, putting forward a timeframe and proposing the best method of engagement depending on the policy issue under consideration.