European Union and Papua New Guinea celebrate 40 years of partnership

European Union marks 60 years of the Rome Treaties : European Union and Papua New Guinea celebrate 40 years of partnership

On 25th March the European Union will mark 60 years since the signature of the Rome Treaties, the first step towards a united Europe. Since the birth of the European Communities in 1957, the citizens of our Member States have enjoyed six decades of unprecedented peace, prosperity and security. The contrast to the first half of the 20th Century could not be greater.

Two catastrophic wars in Europe between 1914 and 1945 left millions dead, and a continent

devastated, divided and prostrate. For countries that had long been at war, European

integration has been the most successful peace project in our history.

However, we are living in unpredictable times and the 60th anniversary of the Rome Treaties

is the opportunity not only to reaffirm our commitment to the values and objectives on which

the European project is founded but also to take pragmatic and ambitious steps forward.

European Union Ambassador H.E. Ioannis Giogkarakis-Argyropoulos said: "At the time

European Union is celebrating 60 years, we are celebrating 40 years of European Union and

Papua New Guinea partnership. Over these years, our cooperation has evolved beyond

development cooperation. And we share a more holistic approach by enlarging this

partnership in areas like political cooperation, trade cooperation, economic cooperation and

exchanges of people to people contact."

The world is going through a time of great uncertainty: the global balance of power is shifting

and the foundations of a rules-based international order are too often being questioned. The

European Union will be an increasingly vital power to preserve and strengthen the global

order.

The EU is the second global economy. We are the largest global market and the leading

foreign investor in most parts of the globe. The EU has achieved a strong position by acting

together with one voice on the global stage, by playing a key role in removing barriers to

trade as a member of the World Trade Organization, as well as concluding bilateral trade

deals with many important partners around the world – such as the recent CETA deal with

Canada. This allowed EU exporting firms to flourish and create over 30 million jobs.

We invest more in development cooperation and humanitarian aid than the rest of the world

combined. The EU is increasingly active as a global security provider.

The European Union is and will continue to be a strong, cooperative and reliable power. Our

partners know what we stand for.

We stand for multilateralism, for human rights, for international cooperation. 

We stand for sustainable development, inclusive societies, the fight against all inequalities -

in education, in democracy and human rights. For us, this is not charity: it is also a smart

investment in our own security and prosperity.

The European Union is the world's largest financial donor of development aid. We were

instrumental in planning the UN Sustainable Development Goals and are already

implementing them as well as working to update the European Consensus on Development

Policy. EU development aid goes to around 150 countries in the world and increasingly

focuses on the poorest places in the world. In the period 2014-2020, about 75% of EU support

will go to countries which are often hard hit by natural disasters or conflict, something that

makes their citizens particularly vulnerable. In 2016 the EU allocated relief assistance of over

€1.5 billion for food, shelter, protection and healthcare to 120 million people in over 80

countries.

The main instrument for providing European Union assistance for development cooperation is

the European Development Fund (EDF). The EU contribution to Papua New Guinea's

development efforts amounts circa 650 million Kina for the period 2014-2020. It focuses on

three main areas: rural economic development, human resources development and water

supply and sanitation.

The EDF is financed by direct contributions from all European Union countries. Therefore

France and United Kingdom, represented in Papua New Guinea, as well as all other nonrepresented

European Union countries also assist towards the creation of a more inclusive and

prosperous society for all Papua New Guineans.

Summarising 40 years of EU-PNG partnership, EU Ambassador said: "The European Union

has provided scholarships to train some 900 primary school teachers, of which at least 50%

female, who will be ready to be deployed in remote areas. Thus, it will assist with the

Government' priority of education for all.

Another example, a small plot holder of a cash crop such as cocoa, coffee and copra will have

since the signing of the Economic Partnership Agreement (iEPA), see a bigger return on the

sale of the price of their produce to middlemen/suppliers/producers of products destined for

the European Union markets as a result of concessions to export tax.

But these are just very recent examples, 40 years of continuous cooperation have supported

the water supply of hundreds of villages in rural areas, the rehabilitation and upgrading of

hundreds of kilometres of roads, improving mobility and accessibility to markets, health

centres and schools, and the primary, secondary and tertiary education of two generations of

Papua New Guineans – to still; name but a few."

Whatever events may bring in the future, one thing is certain: the EU will continue to put

promoting international peace and security, development cooperation, human rights and

responding to humanitarian crises at the heart of its foreign and security policies.