Statemnt of EC

EUROPEAN COMMISSION'S STATEMENT

In line with the statement by the EU Presidency, the European Commission also welcomes the constructive initiative taken by DPRK in asking UNDP to organize this major international Round Table. The European Commission also applauds the excellent preparatory work carried out by UNDP and the DPRK authorities.

In gathering extensive statistical information about the situation of agriculture and the wider economy in DPRK, the Government's documentation and presentations serve to improve the understanding of the international community. This will make a lasting contribution to future discussions about food security in DPRK. Beyond this, the documentation also lays down some valuable initial ideas on the medium- and long-term solutions to the food-security problems which continue to be faced by the DPRK.

For example, the EC programme includes external agronomist support and improved incentives for individual farming households. These households will be allowed to retain an increased share of their production over and above their existing allowance for personal consumption. This additional allocation would be available for sale or barter in peasant markets.

The Government's documentation and presentations do in many respects set a useful agenda for continuing discussions with the international community. However, there do remain important gaps which need to be addressed. For example, it is not made clear how agricultural sustainability can be achieved except in the context of an economic system which is sustainable.

Since this Round Table's purpose is in part to start building consensus on further measures by the authorities, with appropriate assistance from the international community, the Commission believes that it would be useful to flag up these issues (many of which have also been raised by other participants) for further consideration by all concerned.

With the Commission's announcement of a significant 30 million ECU integrated food aid and agricultural rehabilitation package for DPRK earlier this month, the European Union has already shown that it shares some of the premises of the outline AREP programme.

In particular, the new package with its food security component (provision of fertilizer inputs, financing for pilot projects and technical assistance), marks a shift away from support based solely on short-term, reactive responses to food shortages, principally comprising deliveries of food aid products. Instead, the new package lays the accent on more sustainable and preventive solutions.

There is another aspect of the new EU package which echoes the co-operative approach which is set out in the outline AREP plan. The plan entails increased dialogue and co-operation between the DPRK authorities and the international community. In a similar way, the EU's package is also underpinned by complementary support actions which the DPRK authorities have agreed to take in order to ensure that the package's objectives are achieved.

At this stage, the basis for valuing the Government's $1.7 bn contribution and how it will be sourced is not yet explicit and further clarification from the authorities will be necessary for all concerned.

It will also be useful for the international community to have access to full details of the Government's wider medium-term agricultural recovery plan, so that the various linkages with the AREP can be studied in a context of full transparency.

The continuing international discussion should perhaps go back one step to examine the assumptions which underlie the projections of agricultural self-sufficiency by the year 2001. For example, potential yield increases have been factored in, without full explanation of their basis (e.g. rice yields increasing from 2.7 tonnes to 6 tonnes per hectare).

Further, historical levels of agricultural output, which AREP seeks to restore, rested on subsidized inputs and non-market trading terms with COMECON partners. In the Commission's view, further clarity on how DPRK plans to adapt its wider economic structures to this changed context is indispensable for an informed consideration of the AREP Plan, in view of the linkages between the agricultural sector and the wider economy .

This historic Round Table is the very first discussion of this kind to take place between the DPRK authorities, the international agencies and key partner countries from around the world. The fact that we are over these two days having a frank and open discussion of what actions need to be taken by the authorities to overcome these difficulties, and how the international community can assist in this process is already a significant achievement.

Overcoming the problems in DPRK will require consensus among the DPRK authorities and the international community on the actions that need to be taken; building this consensus will inevitably take some time but the process has now started.

The Commission would underline the EU Presidency's remarks acknowledging the important steps which DPRK has already taken, such as improving access for NGOs and other international agencies. Further progress in this area, and the other areas identified by the EU Presidency in its statement, will provide a much appreciated confidence-building signal to the international community. It would also contribute significantly to agricultural rehabilitation. This will be particularly true if technical assistance inputs are welcomed as readily as financial contributions.

The Commission would also like to highlight the constructive offers of co-operation and technical assistance which have been made by a number of participants, in particular by ROK and to commend these offers to the DPRK authorities.

In concluding, the Commission would like to thank UNDP once again. The Commission would also again applaud the vision and courage of the DPRK authorities in proposing this Round Table. It is our hope that this vision and courage can be maintained over the coming months, as discussions continue on how best to deliver lasting solutions to the difficulties which DPRK is facing.

The EU has already shown with its latest programme and with its previous humanitarian support that it is supportive of agricultural and wider recovery in DPRK. Successful implementation of the latest programme and further progress in the wider issues raised during this Round Table (transparency, modernization and macroeconomics sustainability) could be expected to lead to favorable consideration of continuing support for agricultural and wider recovery in DPRK.

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