MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

EU approves expansion

The European Commission approved this Wednesday a historic report recommending that ten new countries be admitted into the European Union by 2004. Future members who have fulfilled EU political and economic criteria are Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Cyprus and Malta.

If the plan works out smoothly it will be the main expansion of the European Union, and for the first time in history the peaceful political and economic unification of Europe will include almost the whole continent.

However several obstacles lay ahead, a referendum in Ireland (October 19th), must still adopt the Treaty of Nice, outlining the expansion that was rejected in June 2001. Besides new applicants will also have to hold approval referendums and the enchantment with Europe is weakening is some of these countries.

But the main challenge is the viability of the expansion given the fragility of many of the to-be incorporated economies. The ten new members have a population of 75 million, adding 20% to the EU's 400 million but no more than 5% of the EU total GDP.

This will obviously drain resources from the EU' 80 billion Euro budget and the prospective ten will have to dispute funds with farmers and other poor regions.

Next October 24/25th EU heads of state and government will be meeting in Brussels for the finishing of the enlargement treaty including the global financial aid for the ten.

Nevertheless there's no fixed date for formal membership and the ten prospective members, mostly former communist states, will actually be in probation for the next few years.

Bulgaria and Romania left out of this first group will probably be invited to join in 2007, with financial support increasing as of 2004. Turkey, an associate member for decades however will have to remain in the cold since the European Commission considers the country does not fully meet the political criteria for membership (basically human rights).

Rice cartel

The world's leading rice producers met in Thailand with hopes of forming an unofficial Secretariat that will help boost prices.

Officials from India, China, Pakistan, Vietnam and Thailand agreed that the to-be created Secretariat monitor and oversee world markets and begin considering a minimum price below which none of the five countries will sell the grain.

It is estimated that rice prices have dropped a third since 1997, and the five countries that represent more than three quarters of world rice output fear prices could continue to drop.

However some of the world's least developed countries and highly dependent on rice to feed their people, such as Bangladesh, Cambodia and Myanmar are not so enthusiastic about the project.

Rice market distortions are not limited to Asia. Mercosur rice growers who produce mostly high quality grain regularly complain about price volatility caused by international sales of highly subsidized rice (from United States) and or cheap surpluses mainly from Thailand and Vietnam.