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Q. Where is the best place to be on the evening of 19th November? A. The 2009 Quiz for Children at the Concert Noble in Brussels! Last year we had Eurovision song contestants, dancing bears and magicians BUT the 2009 Quiz will be even bigger and better, with more than a few surprises. This year we will be raising money on water issues for children through UNICEFs WASH programme, to help halve the number of children without sustainable access to safe water and basic sanitation, and the BBC Children in Need Appeal. Please see the website for further information on how to register a team for the Quiz and sponsorship opportunities: www.quizforchildren.eu Issue 296 19 October 2009 Democratic destiny Morgan Tsvangirai on Zimbabwes crisis of confidence, and why every citizen must stand up and join the struggle for democracy Once a country begins the transition to democracy, change becomes inevitable European development days Margot Wallström, Annika Sö Issue 296 19 October 2009 newsanalysis 6 The final hurdles The commission says Croatia is in the home straight in its membership application but shadows of the past still loom over the Balkan state. Francesca Ross reports 28 Live aid Europe has its work cut out if it is to meet the millennium develo catherinestihler Editorial team Managing editor Brian Johnson Martin Banks Martha Moss Francesca Ross Louise Tait International Press Centre Boulevard Charlemagne 1 Box 2 Brussels 1041 Tel +32 (0)2 285 0828 newsdesktheparliament. www.theparliament.com Editorial board Editor Catherine Stihler MEP Edi CROATIA AND THE EU The final hurdles The commission says Croatia is in the home straight in its membership application but shadows of the past still loom over the Balkan state. Francesca Ross reports The country also needs to further reinforce its administrative structures and develop the capacity n newsanalysis Setting an example Croatias EU membership bid can move forward following moves on a border deal with Slovenia, as Hannes Swoboda tells Francesca Ross uropes push towards bringing Croatia into the EU fold is a task being taken on not just for Croatia and for the EU but for the entire reg data protection Terror tactics MEPs are concerned that tracking financial data could lead to an abuse of personal privacy, says Martyn Bond T he Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Transactions (Swift) is a Belgian-based banking data company which records money movements between banks across t newsanalysis not Lisbon, with the European parliament still denied over- sight. There will be another agreement within 12 months, assured Swedish justice minister, Beatrice Ask, and under Lisbon, the European parliament will be involved. And com- missioner Jacques Barrot assured MEPs the protection parliament NEWS Opposition mounts to Blair EU presidency a senior British Labour MEP, is another who appears to be less than enthusiastic about the increasingly likely prospect of Blair landing the post of president of the European council, effectively the face of the EU. Howitt told this magazine, ne wsanalysis Klinz calls for EU-wide action on downturn The chair of parliaments new special committee on the economic crisis, Wolf Klinz, says it will have a much broader remit than was initially intended. The committee on financial, economic and social crisis (Cris) was set up on 7 October to ass parliament NEWS EU parliament drive to safeguard future of MRI scanners A campaign has been launched in parliament to highlight the serious risk posed to patient safety by a draft EU law. German centre-right deputy Peter Liese told reporters that the physical agents directive severely curtails the u newsanalysis Open dialogue resident de Gasperi was fond of saying that politics means achieving something. And it is precisely with that aphorism from the father of Europe in mind that I would like to launch the activities of the delegation that it is my great honour to preside over. The practical b China-EU relations Human rights have raised alarm signals in the form of social unrest and represent the litmus test for measuring the level of freedom in every state, as the events that occurred in July in the Xinjiang region demonstrate only too clearly to stem the flow of the unfair competition t MORE CHARITY LOTTERIES NEEDED IN EUROPE In the Netherlands charity lotteries disburse more than 350 million euros to various non- governmental organisations (NGOs) each year. If more EU countries had charity lotteries over 10 billion euros a year could be mobilised for these organisations. The World European development days Women at work The EU must do more to educate women about climate change or risk widening existing gender and societal inequalities, says Margot Wallström T It is our responsibility to help to empower these women, to share our knowledge and give them the tools to adapt to ch C OVERSTORY A woman works in Ngiresi, near the Tanzanian town of Arusha who will have to work with renewable forms of energy such as biomass, biogas and solar. More importantly, as mothers and educators they have an important role to play in the promotion of behavioural change in economic and societ European development days The transition to a true democracy is more likely to be successful with the support of the global community These differences do not mean that we from the south have nothing to learn from the states of central and eastern Europe that transitioned from communism to democrati COVERSTORY Sound investment Annika Söder says international land acquisition investment guidelines would help address domestic food security and rural development concerns T he world is experiencing a surge of interest in foreign investment in agriculture in developing countries. The main form of re Speaking with one voice An African Union Authority will enable the continent to compete on the world stage A Erastus Mwencha Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC) The vision of the African Union is to achieve a prosperous Africa, driven and effectively managed by its own citizens www.africa-union.org Africa, he argues, must devise appropriate policies to mitigate the effects of rising food prices on living standards, especially for vulnerable groups. He said, Although Africa has enormous agricultural potential, it still remains a net food importer. The majority of Africans l COVERSTORY Stake your support limate change, one of the most pressing develop- ment issues, will feature high on the agenda of the European development days (EDDs) and rightly so. With only a few weeks left until the Copenhagen climate summit, it is key that we take a long hard look at what is on t European development days Climate control F Policymakers must recognise the connection between climate change and development policy, as Satu Hassi tells Martha Moss nations must do and how much they should pay to reduce emissions and help poor countries cope with the effects of climate change. Wi C OVERSTORY You cannot realistically discuss development issues without taking into account both the need to adapt to climate change and the need to mitigate as an important landmark in overcoming the dispute about how much industrialised countries should pay, but environ- mentalists claimed the amo THE FORUM FOR FORMER AFRICAN HEADS OF STATE AND GOVERNMENT (AFRICA FORUM) E stablished in 2006, The Forum for Former African Heads of State offers an informal network of former African Heads of State and Government and other African leaders. Often referred to as The Africa Forum its members include AFRICAN FORMER HEADS OF STATE Executive Secretariat: 7th Floor, Metro Park Building, 351 Schoeman Street, Pretoria P.O Box 6541, Pretoria 0001, Republic of South Africa Tel: +27 12 354 8073 Fax: +27 354 8161 E-mail: webmasterafricaforum.o Website: www.africaforum.org European development days The Estonian city of Tartu Live aid n invitation to present a Kapuscinski lecture at the University of Tartu earlier this month as part of European development days gave me a welcome opportunity to explore the millennium develop- ment goals (MDGs) and other innovations from COVERSTORY Harvesting potential Motlatsi Everest Musi sets out his experiences of trialling Bt maize on his South African farm y name is Mr Motlatsi Everest Musi. Like many black South Africans, my first experi- ence of agriculture was as a young boy, working as a farm labourer. My first real big st Interested in information on food composition? Dont miss this EuroFIR stakeholder event, Thursday 25 March 2010, Brussels. he EuroFIR Network of Excellence, funded under the FP6 Food Quality and Safety Thematic Priority 5, has nearly completed five very successful years, and has met, and even exceed INSIDEEU Sign of the times enate Sommer played host at the Parliament Magazines recent food labelling round table, as MEPs and industry stakeholders gathered to discuss whether commission proposals should be given the green light. Sommer, parliaments lead rapporteur on the food labelling proposal, t Food labelling that the commissions proposal to include non-prepacked foods within the ambit of mandatory regulation is unworkable and imposes an unfair burden on Europes small and medium sized enterprises, which she argues dominate the sector. But during a lively question and answer session, Mathio INSIDEEU the EUs food and consumer policy committee, who offered an industry perspective on the labelling debate. The European food industry plays a key role in the EU economy, he said. Furthermore, when it comes to food pack- aging, we need to meet customers demands. Its necessary for the wellbeing The Parliament Magazines Promoting best practice and innovation within the EU read online - regionalreview.eu INSIDEEU The question of information overload for consumers was also raised and, on this, Trollope says, My personal view is that consumers want useful nutritional information which enables them to make healthy choices whether they are eating out or at home. She says companies should give the number Education All systems go The speed of Europes recovery from the economic downturn depends on the quality of our education system, argues Ján Figel T he issues which I was privileged to work on from 2004 education and training, culture, youth, citi- zenship, multilingualism and sport are becoming m Specialreport Europe will not build the kind of knowledge-based economy which it needs for sustainable prosperity and social cohesion in the future unless it can modernise its education systems and make them open for truly life-long learning challenges we face and promote the cultural and social dev Education Get mobile Participants came together for a conference in Sweden to discuss student mobility and the Erasmus programme. Barbara Nolan explains T he recent conference on Erasmus the way forward and the green paper on mobility of young people, was highly successful, bringing together 450 pa Specialreport consultation, which runs until December, will allow the com- mission to prepare a focused follow-up in 2010, such as a white paper or an action plan. The responses will also feed into the discussions on the follow-up to the lifelong learning programme and in the related budget discussi A European Tempus program managed by the IUP Management at the University of Auvergne: The IUP Management et gestion des Entreprises of the University of Auvergne Clermont 1 manages the MODEP (Modernisation and Development of Professional Classes) Tempus Program (ETP-JP-00408-2008), which includes t Specialreport Balancing the books Coordinated action on funding is needed for Europes universities to flourish, says Thomas Estermann T Thomas Estermann is in charge of funding and financing at the European University Association his is an extremely challenging time for higher edu- cation across Eur Education Live the dream have a dream a beautiful dream about trouble-free mobility of young people. A dream where everyone who is interested in this enriching academic experience has the possibility and resources to make their plan a reality. A dream where study and learning results are properly r Q. Where is the best place to be on the evening of 19th November? A. The 2009 Quiz for Children at the Concert Noble in Brussels! Last year we had Eurovision song contestants, dancing bears and magicians BUT the 2009 Quiz will be even bigger and better, with more than a few surprises. This year we w