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Name of Intern:
Argee S. Gallardo
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Country: Liberal Party of the Philippines
- Internship
period: 7 November 2006 – 7 December 2006
I was given a great
opportunity to work as an intern at the International Trade Committee of
the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE). I was assigned
as an assistant to the policy advisor, Ms. Barbara Melis.
The assignment proved
to be both rewarding and exciting. My background in business together with
my keen interest in international trade made learning about global markets
easy and enjoyable. I was able to study different globalization patterns
which, with the recent joining of China and Russia, became much more
fascinating.
It was a very brief
assignment albeit a fruitful one. I was able to maximize my few weeks with
the committee since my administrator, Ms. Melis, had to leave for a couple
of trips abroad. This gave me the opportunity to represent her in various
meetings in her absence. It was flattering to be entrusted with the
responsibility of being a representative of such a respected advisor. It
also helped that Ms. Melis’ secretaries, Jill Sevenants and Latifa Afefe,
were kind enough to assist me with anything I needed.
I thank CALD, ALDE and
FNF for creating such a fine program and my heartfelt gratitude to the
Liberal Party of the Philippines for nominating me to be the delegate.
International Trade
Committee Activities
In just a few weeks, I
was able to contribute the following to the Committee of International
Trade:
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Prepared materials
on GSP+ for a plenary session.
Generalised System of Preferences (GSP+)
is a formal system of rules
which provides opportunities for some entities to be exempted
from the more general rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The
classical instrument used for achieving these objectives is tariff
preferences- that is, goods imported from developing countries are not
subjected to the normal customs duties. Tariff preferences provide an
incentive to traders who import products from developing countries and
thus, help these same countries to compete with the international
market.
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Attended a policy
advisors’ meeting to amend the GSP+ resolution.
This meeting was called to discuss amendments to the existing GSP+ joint
resolution. Usually, the various political groups in the Parliament
have different stands on different issues. To ease tension and avoid
disorder, each political group came up with their own resolutions on the
GSP+ issue. The
policy
advisors for each group meet to agree on what provisions
are acceptable by most groups
or through majority vote. Once the groups have the joint resolution
ready, this will then be further reviewed by the respective groups in
consultation of the group members (MEPs). Recommendations and comments
are discussed before coming up with final joint resolution. I attended
the final stage discussions and it was very impressive to see the
different policy advisors raising different concerns to promote their
group’s interest. Further, the final discussion included careful
deliberation on the correct term usage and translation to the different
languages.
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Prepared materials on EU-China trade relations.
China has re-emerged as a major power in the last decade. It has become
the fourth biggest economy, third biggest exporter in the world, and
also an increasingly important political power. Given China's size and
recent phenomenal growth, these changes have a profound impact on global
politics and trade. Europe needs to take these developments in
consideration. To tackle the key challenges, Europe has to leverage the
potential of dynamic relationship with China based on Europe's values.
Furthermore, the EU aims to come up with a strategy that will identify a
clear set of priorities, focusing on the key challenges such as
enforcing intellectual property rights, market access issues and
investment opportunities.
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Attended the two-day
International Trade Committee meeting.
The
International Trade Committee meetings included various trade issues
such as the EU-Central America Association Agreement, EU-Mediterranean
Free Trade Area, Renegotiation of the Government Procurement Agreement,
Macro-economic impact of the increases in energy price and EU-Andean
community association agreement. MEP reporters discussed their own
topics which were assigned to them. The other MEPs can then make
comments, suggestions or even raise questions to the reporter.
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Prepared a voting
list and noted the results of the votation for the various issues.
Three
issues were up for votation,
namely:
financing instrument for cooperation with industrialized and high income
countries and territories; reform of the common organization of the
market in wine; and promoting decent work for all. A voting list is a
record of the resolution’s ‘final’ amendment. Basically, the policy
advisor marks which paragraph is agreeable and which is not by putting +
(plus) sign for “in favor” and – (minus) sign for “not in favor”. The
voting list serves as guide to MEPs during voting time. For the ALDE
group, a maximum of four (4) MEPs can vote on the issues. Their
attendance would help strengthen the group’s stand. During the meeting I
attended, there were only three (3) MEPs who were present. Some of the
resolutions passed were not entirely coherent with ALDE’s
plans. Nevertheless, in the final or overall vote, the
resolutions were all adopted unanimously. It is important to follow the
outcome of the votes to ensure that the final resolution passed contains
the right and approved provisions.
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Attended hearings on
EU-Russia trade relations and Aid for Trade.
The hearings on EU-Russia trade relation and Aid for Trade were very
informative. The committee invited experts from the WTO, EU government,
NGO, academe and business communities to tackle various concerns. For EU-Russia
meeting, topics discussed were Multilateral and bilateral trade issues;
energy issues; and transacting business in Russia. For Aid for Trade, it
was viewed as a big help for the development of the developing
countries. Aid for trade is development fund to help promote trade
activities. Thus, it was said to be a complement of the Doha Development
Round.
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Prepared briefers
and sets of questions for the Members of the Parliament (MEPs) for the
parliamentary conference on WTO.
There
is an annual parliamentary meeting on WTO jointly organized by
Inter-Parliamentary Union and the European Parliament. In 2006, it was
held on 1-2 December in Geneva.
Participants from 78
countries and parliamentary assemblies and 55 observers composed of
various country representations and intergovernmental organizations
(e.g. AITIC, ILO, FAO, IMF, UNCTAD, World Bank and WTO) joined the
conference. A dialogue was one of the highlights as this would enable
discussions on critical issues that the organization is facing. My
administrator anticipated some issues that would be tackled and
therefore asked me to prepare brief reports and questions to be raised
during the conference. Topics include the suspension of the Doha
Development Round, Aid for Trade, Russian and Chinese trade challenges.
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Researched on the
“MADE-IN” issue.
The “MADE IN”
issue covers the relevance of marking made on the products which
indicates its origin or country of production. The objectives are to
re-establish a level playing field as many trading partners require
origin marking; create transparency about the origin of goods on the
basis of a single standard; allow better informed consumer decisions,
reduce incidence of fraudulent or misleading origin marking; and
contribute to improved competitiveness. At present, the member states of
the European Union have conflicting views and reactions on this issue,
which is still new and will yet to be deliberated on.
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Researched on the
new trade relation called EuroLat.
The Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly is a bi-regional
strategic partnership between the EU and Latin America promoting
transparency in trade process and enabling it to be brought closer to
the interests and expectations of their citizens. Eurolat’s objective is
to support, promote and consolidate in practical terms the Bi-regional
Strategic Partnership by covering its three main concerns: questions
relating to democracy, external policy, governance, integration, peace
and human right; economic, financial and commercial affairs; social
affairs, human exchange, the environment, education and culture.
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Prepared a report on
the parliamentary conference on WTO for Mr. Johan Van Hecke, MEP.
The ALDE group
holds meetings a week before plenary sessions are held to clarify their
stand on a variety of issues that are to be tackled in the session. The
meeting provides an opportunity for the member MEPs to deliberate,
discourse, suggest and comment on issues. It is also the time when
members are to report about the activities they have participated in
behalf of ALDE. Mr. John Van Hecke, MEP, joined the Parliamentary
Conference in Geneva on 1-2 December 2006. Since it was an international
trade related activity, I was tasked to prepare a report for him to be
presented in the group meeting based on the materials given and sharing
of Ms. Barbara Melis, who also attended the said conference.
Non-Committee
Activities
Aside
from the International Trade Committee activities,
I observed the ALDE’s
group meetings held in both Strasbourg and Brussels.
ALDE group meetings
include the report the group’s resolution on the situation in Gaza,
resolution on the banning of biological and toxin weapons, cluster bombs
and conventional weapons, report on fighting human trafficking and secret
procedure on the new EU measures in the field of aviation security.
During my free time, I
also attended activities not related to the international trade like the
Roma in Europe- a dialogue with world renowned flamenco dancer and of
Gypsy decent, Joaquin Cortes, who is promoting and protecting the rights
of the gypsies . Roma is another term for gypsy; hearing on enlargement
issues and the future of Europe; and participated in Friedrich Naumann
Foundation’s (FNF) forum on the introduction of the Euro in Slovenia and
outlook on the development of the Eurozone.
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