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News - September 2008
► JOINT STATEMENT BY GARETH EVANS AND YORIKO KAWAGUCHI, CO-CHAIRS, INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION ON NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION AND DISARMAMENT
New York, 25 September 2008. We are delighted with the outstanding individuals who have agreed to serve as Commissioners on the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament established by the Governments of Australia and Japan, and with the equally impressive group of Advisory Board members and Associated Research Centres who will be contributing to the Commission’s work, all listed in the attachment.
It is of great international concern that so little progress has been made in recent years on the vital nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament agenda. We hope the Commission can break this stalemate by reinvigorating, at a high political level, awareness of the global need for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, in the context of the 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference and beyond.
To succeed in engaging political decision makers, the Commission will need to recognise, and bring a realistic approach to, the many factors continuing to drive nuclear weapons acquisition and retention. The case for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament will need to be restated in terms that are not only technically sound but also compelling for political decision makers.
In particular the Commission will be seeking, through the credibility of its membership, the quality of its arguments and the effectiveness of its advocacy, to change the formulaic and unproductive nature of much of the current international nuclear debate between nuclear-weapon states and non-nuclear-weapon states, developed and developing country NPT parties, and NPT parties and non-parties.
In support of this goal, the Commission will take an inclusive approach, emphasising the interconnectedness of the challenges in relation to non-proliferation, disarmament and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. It will make practical and realistic recommendations in each of these areas, recognising that movement in each part will encourage progress in others.
The implications of the likely “nuclear renaissance” due to climate change and energy security concerns will be a focus for the Commission, including the need for renewed attention to nuclear safeguards, safety and security.
The Commission intends engaging relevant global actors in identifying the most effective policy approaches. The Commission will also look for ways by which the nuclear armed states outside the NPT can be fully integrated into global non-proliferation and disarmament efforts.
The Commission will carry out its work against the background of a number of major developments of concern in the nuclear landscape in the last decade:
♦ the emergence of India and Pakistan since 1998 as nuclear-armed states outside the NPT, joining Israel (notwithstanding its continued policy of strategic ambiguity);
♦ North Korea’s purported withdrawal from the NPT, nuclear test in 2006, and uncertain commitment to denuclearisation;
♦ Iran’s development within the NPT of proliferation sensitive nuclear activities, including uranium enrichment and heavy water technologies;
♦ accelerated concern post 9/11 about the risk of nuclear or radiological terrorism;
♦ the impact of the internet and black market activity in substantially increasing knowledge of, and access to, sensitive nuclear technology;
♦ the major renewal of interest in nuclear energy for electricity generation generated by concern about climate change and energy security; and
♦ increasing post-Cold War discontent with NPT nuclear-weapon states’ performance in meeting their nuclear disarmament obligations.
But as well as these challenges, the Commission will also be able to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the intense policy and research activity now going on worldwide in the lead-up to the 2010 NPT Review Conference, not least the high-level debate stimulated by the bipartisan and realist case for disarmament recently made by the U.S. statesmen Henry Kissinger, Sam Nunn, William Perry and George Shultz.
The Commission will publish a major report no later than January 2010, in time to help shape a global consensus in the lead-up to the 2010 NPT Review Conference. It will also consider publishing a supplementary report in mid-2010, making such further recommendations as are appropriate in the aftermath of that Conference.
It is envisaged the full Commission will meet about six times in total, at approximately three-monthly intervals, with the first meeting planned for 19-21 October in Sydney, and later venues likely to include Japan, Europe and North America. It is anticipated that several regional meetings, in which smaller groups of Commissioners would participate, will also be arranged during the life of the Commission.
We do not underestimate the magnitude of the tasks facing the Commission. But the many positive reactions since it was announced suggest there is considerable support for a fundamental re-evaluation of the nuclear challenges facing the world and practical ways of addressing them.
We look forward to working with our fellow Commissioners and advisers, and with the broad international community, on this important initiative.
________________________________________
Media Enquiries
Gareth Evans: Contact Andrew Stroehlein (Brussels) +32 2 541 1635; Kimberly Abbott (Washington) + 1 202 785 1601; Ian Biggs (Canberra) + 61 2 6261 9813; or gevans@crisisgroup.org
Yoriko Kawaguchi: Contact Yasunari Morino or Shigeru Umetsu (Tokyo) +81
3 5501 8221; or j-icnnd@mofa.go.jp
COMMISSIONERS
Gareth Evans (Australia) (Co-Chair)
Mr Evans was Australia’s Resources and Energy Minister from 1984 to 1987 and Foreign Minister from 1988 to 1996. He has been President of the International Crisis Group since 2000, and chair or member of several global commissions, including the UN Secretary-General’s High Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change in 2004.
Yoriko Kawaguchi (Japan) (Co-Chair)
Ms Kawaguchi was a MITI Director-General, Managing Director of Suntory Ltd, and then Japan’s Environment Minister from 2000 to 2002, and Foreign Minister from 2002 to 2004. She is currently a member of the House of Councillors and Chair of the Liberal Democratic Party Research Commission on Environment.
Ali Alatas (Indonesia)
Mr Alatas was Foreign Minister of Indonesia from 1988 to 1999. He is currently an adviser to and special envoy of the President of the Republic of Indonesia.
Turki Al-Faisal (Saudi Arabia)
HRH Prince Turki was Director General of Intelligence from 1977 to 2001, Ambassador to the United Kingdom and Ireland from 2002 to 2005, and to the United States from 2005 to 2007. He is currently Chairman of the Board of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic studies in Riyadh.
Alexei Arbatov (Russia)
Dr Arbatov was a member of the Russian Duma and Deputy Chairman of the Duma Defence Committee from 1994 to 2003. He is currently a Scholar-in-residence and Chair of the non-proliferation program at the Carnegie Moscow Center.
Gro Harlem Brundtland (Norway)
Dr Brundtland was Prime Minister of Norway for ten years between 1981 and 1996. She chaired the World Commission on Environment and Development which published the report ‘Our Common Future’ in 1987, and Director-General of the World Health Organization from 1998 to 2003. She is currently the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Climate Change.
Frene Noshir Ginwala (South Africa)
Dr Ginwala was Speaker of South Africa’s National Assembly from 1994 to 2004. She is currently Chancellor of the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
François Heisbourg (France)
Mr Heisbourg is Chairman of the International Institute for Strategic Studies and Geneva Centre for Security Policy, and Special Adviser at the Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique, and was a member of the French government commission that produced the 2008 Defence and National Security White Paper.
Jehangir Karamat (Pakistan)
General (Retired) Karamat was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Chief of Army Staff until 1998 and Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States from 2004 to 2006. He is currently the Director of Spearhead Research.
Brajesh Mishra (India)
Mr Mishra was India’s Ambassador in Geneva, Jakarta and New York from 1973 to 1981, and National Security Adviser and Principal Secretary to former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee from 1998 to 2004.
Klaus Naumann (Germany)
General (Retired) Naumann was Chairman of the NATO Military Committee from 1996 to 1999 and Chief of the Defence Staff in Germany from 1991 to 1996. He is currently a member of the International Advisory Board of the World Security Network Foundation.
William Perry (United States)
Dr Perry was the U.S. Secretary of Defense from 1994 to 1997. He is currently a professor at Stanford University in the School of Engineering and Institute of International Studies.
Wang Yingfan (China)
Ambassador Wang was China’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 2000 to 2003, and Vice-Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chinese National People’s Congress from 2003 to 2008.
Shirley Williams (United Kingdom)
Baroness Williams was Leader of the Liberal Democrat Party in the House of Lords from 2001 to 2004. She is currently Professor Emeritus of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and an adviser to Prime Minister Gordon Brown on nuclear proliferation issues.
Ernesto Zedillo (Mexico)
Dr Zedillo was President of Mexico from 1994 to 2000. He is currently Director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, and Professor in the Field of International Economics and Politics at Yale University.
ADVISORY BOARD
(Eminent individuals who have agreed to be available to the Commission for advice and consultation as required, and in some cases (*) to play a more intensively engaged role as Research Consultants. Additional names may be added as the work of the Commission proceeds.)
Nobuyasu Abe (Japan)*
UN Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, 2003-06.
Shlomo Ben Ami (Israel)
Minister of Foreign Affairs, 2000-01; Vice-President of the Toledo International Centre for Peace.
Celso Amorim (Brazil)
Minister of Foreign Affairs 1993-95, and since 2003.
Hans Blix (Sweden)
Director General of IAEA,1981-97; Executive Chairman of UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, 2000-03; Chairman, Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, 2006.
Lakhdar Brahimi (Algeria)
Minister of Foreign Affairs, 1991-93; UN Under-Secretary-General, Special Representative, Envoy and Adviser 1997-2006.
John Carlson (Australia)
Director General of Australian Safeguards and Non-Proliferation Office since 1989.
Nabil Fahmy (Egypt)
Ambassador of Egypt to the United States,1999-2008.
Louise Fréchette (Canada)
Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations,1998-2006.
Lawrence Freedman (UK)
Professor of War Studies at King's College London since 1982.
Han Sung-Joo (Republic of Korea)
Minister of Foreign Affairs, 1993-94. Professor Emeritus of International Relations at Korea University.
Henry Kissinger (U.S.)
Secretary of State from 1973 -77; National Security Advisor 1969-75; Chairman of Kissinger Associates Inc.
Shunsuke Kondo (Japan)
Chairman of the Japan Atomic Energy Commission since 2004.
Martine Letts (Australia)*
Former Australian Ambassador; Secretary General of the Australian Red Cross 2001-04;
Deputy Director of the Lowy Institute for International Policy.
Patricia Lewis (Ireland)*
Director of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), 1997-2008.
Sam Nunn (United States)
Senator from Georgia, 1972-97; Chairman of the Senate Armed Service Committee, 1987-1995; Co-Chairman and CEO of the Nuclear Threat Initiative.
Robert O’Neill (Australia)
Chichele Professor for the History of War at Oxford University, 1987-2000.
George Perkovich (United States)*
Vice-President of Studies and director of the nonproliferation program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Michael Quinlan (United Kingdom)
Permanent Under-Secretary at the British Ministry of Defence, 1988-92.
V R Raghavan (India)*
Director General of Military Operations, 1992-94; Advisor, Delhi Policy Group.
George Robertson (United Kingdom)
Secretary of Defence 1997-99; Secretary General of NATO, 1999-2004.
Michel Rocard (France)
Prime Minister, 1988-91. Member of the European Parliament.
Yukio Satoh (Japan)
Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations from 1998 to 2002. President of the Japan Institute of International Affairs.
George Shultz (United States)
Secretary of State from 1982-89; Distinguished Fellow at the Hoover Institution for War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University.
ASSOCIATED RESEARCH CENTRES
(These Centres will, as required, produce specially commissioned research on particular subjects; convene expert workshops and roundtables, drawing on other research institutes and think-tanks; and host regional meetings bringing together groups of Commissioners, Advisory Board members, experts and civil society and industry representatives.)
Carnegie Endowment, Washington D.C.
President: Jessica T. Mathews
Vice President for Studies: George Perkovich
Website: http://www.carnegieendowment.org/
Delhi Policy Group, New Delhi
Chairman: Shankar Bajpai
Advisor: Lt.Gen. (Retd.)V R Raghavan
Website: www.delhipolicygroup.com
Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique, Paris
Directeur : Camille Grand
Conseiller Spécial du Président : François Heisbourg
Maître de recherché: Bruno Tertrais
Website : www.frstrategie.org
Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO), San Jose, Costa Rica
Secretary General: Francisco Rojas
Website : www.flacso.org
Japan Institute of International Affairs, Tokyo
President: Yukio Satoh
Website: www.jiia.or.jp/en
King’s College London
Vice-Principal (Research): Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman
War Studies Group
Website: www.kcl.ac.uk/schools/sspp/ws
Lowy Institute for International Policy, Sydney
Executive Director: Allan Gyngell
Deputy Director: Martine Letts
Program Director – International Security: Rory Medcalf
Website: www.lowyinstitute.org
► Australia and the European Commission complete historic deal on emergency management
Australia and the European Union will work more closely together on emergency management challenges, following the completion of an historic agreement.
The Memorandum of Understanding, signed by Mr Jos Delbeke, Acting Director-General of the European Commission and Mr Tony Pearce, Director General of Emergency Management Australia on 19 September, will allow for the regular exchange of personnel and information on emergency management issues.
Australian Attorney-General, Robert McClelland said, “Our two regions know all too well the ravages of natural disasters. This historic agreement will help achieve greater cooperation in the area of emergency management, ensuring better communication and sharing of knowledge, training and research to improve public safety.”
Head of the European Commission Delegation to Australia, Ambassador Bruno Julien, said both the European Commission and Australia have a wealth of experience in disaster management. “Timeliness of response is of supreme importance in reducing disaster risks to both Australian and European communities,” Mr Julien said. “If we can share information speedily and facilitate coordination when required, this will go a long way to minimising the effects on both our populations and our infrastructure.”
The new agreement will enhance cooperation in a number of areas, including:
• the exchange of information;
• emergency management best practice;
• emergency service personnel involvement in communication exercises;
• industry conferences and workshops;
• research in the field of emergency management.
► Speech by The Hon Stephen Smith MP, Minister for Foreign Affairs
“A new era in Australia-EU relations”
Thank you, Alistair [Alastair Walton - Chairman Central Rand Gold, EABC President & Leader of the EABC delegation to Canberra] for that kind introduction.
I welcome the distinguished members of the Business Delegation to Canberra and thank the European Australian Business Council for organising this event.
The Council does excellent work in promoting business interests between Australia and Member States of the European Union. This work supports Australia’s healthy trade and investment relationship with Europe.
That relationship is one the Australian Government values very much and wants to develop further. Tonight, I would like to set out for you how this Government is taking our relationship into the future.
Strong historical foundations
Australia’s relationship with Europe has strong historical foundations, forged through our colonial history and developed through over two centuries of trade, diplomacy and, even at times, armed struggle.
Our colonial ties with Britain were particularly strong. In fact London, through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, ran Australia’s foreign policy until Federation in 1901. Well after Federation, Australian soldiers fought and died under British command on the battlefields of Africa, Europe and the Middle East.
At the end of World War II millions of Europeans were displaced from their homelands. At the same time, Australia was experiencing a desperate shortage of labour and concerns over our low population growth.
In these circumstances, Australia looked beyond our traditional British links and signed migration agreements with continental European states including Italy, Greece, Turkey, West Germany and Spain.
By 1950, 200 000 people had arrived.
More than a million migrants arrived in Australia in each of the following four decades, including significant numbers from Czecheslovakia, Hungary and Yugoslavia.
These new immigrants brought new cultures, new skills and new businesses.
Growing up in Perth, I experienced first hand the vibrant contribution to Australian society made by post-War European migrants. Places like Northbridge, Highgate, Leederville and Fremantle were changed for ever by new European communities and businesses.
But the new migrants didn’t just change suburbs or towns. Their links to continental Europe became our links. Australia’s relationship with Europe inexorably shifted from its Anglo-Saxon foundation to embrace a more complete engagement with the continent.
A changing trade relationship
The post-War migration of continental Europeans to Australia also brought new and important links to international business and markets.
Australia’s trade with Europe, previously dominated by Britain, began to open up to opportunities in the new migrants’ former homelands.
But at the same time, Europe’s own outlook was changing. Ravaged by 150 years of wars on the continent, Europe looked inwards and began to build the internal economic and political structures that would ensure mutual peace and prosperity.
By seeking a shared sovereignty beyond normal notions of international relations, European countries made an historic decision.
European integration since 1950, starting with the Coal and Steel Union, has led to peaceful inter-state relations, considerable political stability, and growing economic prosperity.
Europe has consolidated as a trading bloc of very significant economic power which has contributed to world prosperity and, in many instances, freer trade. The European market is now worth over $3 trillion and encompasses some 320 million citizens.
Over the same period Australia has increased its focus on our immediate Asia-Pacific region and the vast trade and investment opportunities in those markets.
Today, China and India are adding their enormous energy to the already considerable economic strength in the region, embodied by Japan and Korea.
By 2020, it is forecast that Asia will account for around 45 per cent of global GDP, one-third of global trade, and more than half of the increase in global energy consumption.
Australia’s modern trading profile reflects this regional strength. In 2007, Australia’s total global merchandise trade stood at over A$350 billion. Of that, over A$200 billion, nearly two thirds of our merchandise trade, was with Asia.
But, at the same time, the EU as a bloc remains Australia’s largest trading partner, accounting for approximately 18 per cent of our total trade.
The EU is also our largest foreign investor with foreign direct investment totalling $136.4 billion as at the end of 2007, up 18 per cent on 2006. Australia’s direct investment in the EU totalled $56 billion in 2007.
The Australian Government remains strongly committed to further trade liberalisation through the conclusion of the WTO Doha Round, to the benefit of Australia and Europe.
Although the recent WTO ministerial meeting in Geneva did not reach final agreement, real progress was made, with only a few issues left unresolved.
I’m pleased to see that you are meeting Mr Crean tomorrow and he will take the opportunity to discuss recent developments with you further.
A new beginning
The Prime Minister has signalled the Government’s interest in a “new era” of engagement between Australia and the EU, an approach that has been welcomed across Europe.
In the past, it was not uncommon for an Australian Prime Minister to visit Brussels, engage in some combative discussions with the Commission, and go home.
We are determined to bring a new approach. We want to shift the focus from issues that have divided us to those that strengthen the bonds that pull us together.
One of our primary goals in this “new era” of the relationship is to develop a new Australia-EU Partnership Framework. The Framework will be a vehicle to take forward the re-invigorated partnership.
The new Partnership Framework will be the context within which we will pursue practical engagement on five broad areas of interest. These are:
• foreign policy and global security interests;
• the multilateral trading system and bilateral trade and investment relationships;
• cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region;
• increasing cooperation on energy issues and climate change; and
• research, education and innovation.
Negotiations are continuing apace and I anticipate it will be ready for launch at the Australia – EU Presidency consultations with France in Paris later this year.
Spurred on by the Partnership Framework negotiations, we have seen marked improvements by both sides in the pace and quality of some long-standing bilateral negotiations.
We have recently concluded the Australia – EU Passenger Name Record (PNR) Data Agreement.
Our long-standing efforts to persuade the EU to negotiate a comprehensive air services agreement with us have borne fruit with formal negotiations due to begin with the EU in November.
Bilaterally, this agreement promises to be a good example of the practical gains of a renewed partnership: it will replace 17 air services agreements with one, generating considerable economic efficiencies for business.
More broadly, the new Partnership Framework will reflect the increasing intersection of our interests and values in the sphere of foreign policy and global security.
Australian and NATO servicemen and women are serving together in Afghanistan. They are there to bring a measure of stability and prosperity to the Afghan people and contribute to broader peace and stability in the region.
Closer to home, Australia and the EU are the two largest donors of aid to the Pacific. We have agreed on the need for closer development assistance cooperation to promote shared goals of a stable and more prosperous region.
A key emerging foreign policy pre-occupation for the EU is the growing economic and strategic importance of the Asia-Pacific region, an issue on which Australia is well positioned to share its expertise.
The EU’s successful engagement in the reconstruction of Indonesia’s Aceh Province, and its significant contribution to the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation (JCLEC), are two examples of the considerable overlap of our interests in the region.
From a public policy perspective, there are other synergies on which we can build.
The EU’s Lisbon Strategy, focusing on jobs, competitiveness and innovation, has strong parallels to the Australian Government’s reform agenda.
The proposed Lisbon Treaty and the EU’s current “financial perspectives” review also have parallels and, potentially, intersections with the Australian Government’s reform agenda, including the Mortimer Review of trade policy.
The important role of business
Let me turn now to the important role businesses play in building and reinforcing Australia-European relations.
Australian companies are successfully operating in Europe in a wide range of sectors including financial services, energy, transport, mining, waste recycling, medical products, information technology and in structural and civil engineering.
In response to the shift in the Australia – EU relationship, Australian firms are realising the potential of the European, and especially the continental, market.
The opportunities Australian companies are following in Europe seem to be more than matched by the opportunities seized by European companies in Australia.
Europe, taken as a whole, is by far the largest investor in Australia, contributing more than 30 per cent of our stock of foreign investment.
European companies are increasingly recognising Australia’s potential as a platform for their operations in Asia.
The EC Delegation estimates that 2,300 EU companies do business in Australia, with a total turnover of about AUD180 billion.
According to the same estimates, 400,000 Australians are employed by EU companies in Australia and as many as 775,000 additional jobs are created by flow-on effects.
There can be no denying the importance of EU investment into Australia.
Conclusion
As the Asia-Pacific region grows in importance globally there will be significant implications for Australia-Europe business relations.
By working towards a new era of cooperation between Australia and the European Union, this Government is determined to ensure that enhanced business relations are reflected across all areas of the bilateral relationship.
Many European businesses will find that their offices in this region grow in importance as Australia’s profile is raised along with that of our Asia-Pacific region.
This increase in business focus will enhance opportunities for an Australian business perspective to be put before European policy makers.
Business leadership and vision can help give impetus to Australia-Europe relations because bilateral business relations amount to much more than the sum of the goods and services exchanged.
With the requisite political will on both sides, a renewed Framework for the relationship should help create opportunities for increased cooperation, in business and government alike.
Australia stands ready, as a close and like-minded partner of the EU, to build on the strong foundations of the relationship as we move forward together in the 21st century.
Speech given at the European Australian Business Council Dinner, Parliament House, on 16 September 2008