Interview with Carl Lostelius of the EC

Carl Lostelius, head of the European Commission's office in Eritrea, has spent the last year and a half tracking Eritrea's political and economic development since the end of the war with Ethiopia. Here he tells IRIN about relations between the European Commission and the Eritrean government, as well as the prospects for economic development in the country. QUESTION: What is the European Commission's main objective in Eritrea? ANSWER: Our primary objective is to alleviate poverty and to help Eritrea develop its country. Q: During your time in the country, how successful do you feel the EC has been in meeting its goals? A: You know that Eritrea has undergone some difficult times since independence. During the war with Ethiopia a lot of our development cooperation had to stop. Another obstacle during this period has been the political impasse which has existed between Eritrea and the European Union since the events of last year [including the closure of the private press and the detention of 11 government dissidents]. This has put some of our development projects on the back burner. In spite of these problems I think we have delivered. Only for 2002, up to this date, we have disbursed some 25 million Euro. Much of that has been within the emergency and humanitarian fields. Q: How would you characterise relations between the European Commission and the Eritrean government at the moment? A: Relations between the Eritrean government and the Commission have been tense since the events last year. We have not always seen eye to eye on a number of issues. Different perceptions of the situation might exist; political dialogue as provided for in the Cotonou Agreement is the instrument to reconcile those different perceptions. Both sides have now made important attempts to improve our relations. Q: What, if anything, can be done - or is being done - to foster a stronger relationship? A: Of late there has been a move from both sides to improve the relations. The European Union has since last month been invited by the Eritrean government for a resumption of the, so far, stalled political dialogue. This move from the Eritrean side has been very much appreciated by the Commission. A more formal dialogue, on different levels, will soon resume. In this context I can mention that a delegation from the European Commission is planning to visit Eritrea later on this month, to, among others, sign our Country Strategy Paper and National Indicative Programme (CSP and NIP), covering possible interventions for an indicative amount of 96.8 million euro during the period 2002 - 2007. The practical implementation of this programme will then depend on the progress in the dialogue. Q: Do you anticipate a resumption of development aid to Eritrea from the EU in the near future? A: If this dialogue succeeds, which I hope, a gradual resumption of suspended programmes could be a reality pretty soon. Q: Are there conditions upon which a resumption of such aid would be set? A: We are interested to know the intentions of the Government of Eritrea to move forward in their development. This is very important in order to ensure that our interventions in the execution of the CSP/NIP address the needs of the country and provide the most favourable environment for a successful development of Eritrea. As I said, this is an open dialogue which will cover a number of important areas of concern to the European Union/Commission. Without going into detail I would envisage that areas like the internal political situation, the peace process, and economic development will be on the agenda. The institutional working relations between the EU and Eritrea, as outlined in the Cotonou-agreement, will no doubt also be discussed. Q: What, in the eyes of the EC, are the key structural weaknesses in Eritrea? A: I think Eritrea still has to work pretty hard on a number of issues, like the macro-economic framework, the rate of inflation, a sustainable level of public debt, a strong currency which should be in parity with its real value and an improved fertile ground for the growth of the private sector. In addition, Eritrea is vulnerable to drought and faces a structural food deficit. On the other hand, Eritrea has many comparative advantages in the world market, including a disciplined labour force and its unique geographical setting, very favourable to the export of goods and services. At present Eritrea cannot fully tap into these comparative advantages. Q: What can, or is, the EC doing at the moment to help the Eritrean government eliminate or improve upon those weakness? A: The European Commission can certainly bring added value in the following sectors: transport, macro-economic support, food security, health/education and governance. That said, our country development strategy, mentioned above, takes into account the fact that Eritrea is emerging from war and includes rehabilitation/reconstruction, demobilisation and governance as focal sectors, with transitional support in the elaboration of appropriate policies in the social sectors. Q: Does the EC plan to help the Eritrean government deal with the current drought, and if so, how? A: We have closely monitored the worsening situation this year. No decision on the European Commission's allocation to Eritrea has however yet been released. With our previous track-record in this field, I am fairly confident that we will be amply responding also to the present crisis. We should however also keep in mind the fierce competition for funds from other drought stricken areas of Africa. Q: Is the EC under pressure from member states to push Eritrea to re-institute the private press or implement democratic reforms? A: As I said above, the dialogue has been opened, and it is premature to discuss the outcome of the same. The Commission does not act alone and seeks complementary action with the Member States.