ENAAT Meeting 2003
The ENAAT meeting in Barcelona, September 2002, decided that the next meeting will be arranged by Campagne Tegen Wapenhandel and will be held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, at june 27-28.
For more information please contact Frank Slijper at:
Phone: + 31 (0)6 28504778
E-mail: rosaboek@xs4all.nl
More practical details at the very end of this page!
Background information
Dear people,
The Transnational Institute (TNI), Solidarity Fund XminY and 'Campagne tegen Wapen-handel' (CtW; Dutch for Campaign against arms trade) are organising a conference on the arms industry, arms trade and globalisation in Amsterdam, the Netherlands on Fri-day the 27th of June 2003.
This public conference will be held in connection with a meeting of the European Net-work Against Arms Trade (ENAAT) the next day. ENAAT is a group of European anti-arms trade organisations that work together for over 15 years now.
As we see it, there are numerous links between the globalisation movement and the peace (and anti arms trade) movement ("People not Profit - Peace not War", as a ban-ner in Florence during the European Social Forum stated). After 9/11 and the following wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, there has been more contact and cooperation, but still we think both don't know each others very well. We therefore think that it would be very good to have anti arms trade and globalisation activists together in a one-day confer-ence in which we want to explore what we have in common, how both could learn from each others and how their cooperation could be expanded.
In this conference we want to discuss the role that governments and the defence indus-try play in the discussion on 'security' and a social and just globalisation.
Issues we think that could come along are
- Internationalising structure of the arms industry: takeovers both within and between Europe and US;
- Changing production patterns (e.g. increasingly dominant role of dual use ICT sector; PMC's);
- The role of the arms industry within the economy in general (en-gine or hurdle for sane R&D and economic growth);
- Exceptional position of the arms industry within WTO, EU and other (trade) agreements;
- Increasing defence budget;
- The lowering of arms export control standards after 9/11 and in-creased arms exports to 'sensitive' areas as part of the 'War on Terrorism';
- The costs of arms production and trade for the people both in the the North and the South: debt issues; social vs. military devel-opment.
Draft program
Conference plus Meeting European Network Against Arms Trade (ENAAT)
Amsterdam, 27-28 June 2003 (27 June: public conference, 28 June: ENAAT
meeting)
26 June: arrivals; from about 18.30 hours dinner etc. (place to be announced in a later message)
Friday, 27 June: Conference: The Arms Industry, Arms Trade and Globalisation
(in: Zaal 100, De Wittenstraat 100, Amsterdam)
Conference: The Arms Industry, Arms Trade and Globalisation
| 09.00 | doors open |
| 09.30 | opening |
| 09.45 | The economics of weapons and war. Defence industry, military
expendi-ture, arms trade and globalisation. Frida Berrigan (Arms Trade Resource Centre - World Policy Institute, USA): a US perspective Otfried Nassauer (BITS - Berlin Institute on Transatlantic Security): a Euro-pean perspective |
| 10.25 | Questions |
| 10.40 | Coffee/tea break |
| 11.00 | Linking the arms trade movement and the movement for a just and social globalisation - Vision from the globalisation movement (to be invited) - Vision from the anti-arms trade movement: Gideon Burrows (journalist, writer of "The No-nonsense Guide to the Arms Trade" and ex-CAAT cam-paigner, UK) |
| 11.40-12.30 | Discussion, questions |
| 12.30-13.30 | Lunch |
| 13.30 | Two workshops: 'Export Credit Agencies and arms trade' and 'JSF and Eurofighter: future world-weapons' |
| 13.40 | 'Export Credit Agencies and arms trade' - General introduction on ECA's - ECA's and arms as seen from the South - ECA's and arms export promotion as seen from Europe Wiert Wiertsema (Both Ends, NL) and someone from Indonesia. Chair: Ann Feltham (CAAT, UK) |
| 13.40 | JSF and Eurofighter: 'world-weapons'. Current European fighter procure-ment programmes as examples of - internationalising arms production (incl. export control implications) - European-US arms competition - using taxpayers money for subsidising the arms industry. Krista van Velzen (Dutch Socialist Party MP) and Boris Lechthaler (Keine Fighter fur die Euro-Armee/Friedenswerkstatt Linz, Austria); chair: Frank Slijper (Campagne tegen Wapenhandel) |
| 14.30 | Plenary discussion, questions |
| 15.00 | Break |
| 15.30 | Follow-up: conclusions and planning - Plenary reports from the workshops, questions; - Other related topics (e.g. NATO, EU enlargement; war and plunder of resources in Africa); - Proposals for participation in European Social Forum in Paris; - Preparing of a pamphlet on globalisation and military economics; - Action methods: targeting arms fairs, AGM-actions; political lobby work etc. Viktor Piorecky (Nesehnuti, Czech Rep.), Mich Crols (Forum voor Vrede-sactie, Belgium), Peter Custers (XminY). Chair: Marie Jose Vervest (TNI). |
| 17.00 | Closing |
| 19.00 | Dinner |
ENAAT-meeting
Saturday, 28 June ENAAT meeting
(at TNI: P.Potterstraat 20 (close to Van Gogh museum)
| 10.00 | Country Reports |
| 12.00 | ENAAT tasks; next meeting (in connection with ESF Paris, or…?) |
| 13.00 | Break |
| 14.00 | EU and NATO enlargement: Central and Eastern Europe: - procurement programmes: military spending for new weapons - arms exports and arms export policy - anti-arms trade initiatives, possibilities for cooperation with western European groups Introduction by Viktor Piorecky (Nesehnuti, Czech Rep.) |
| 16.00 | Follow-up yesterday's conference: ENAAT themes: EADS, ECA's, Frame-work Agreement & DTSI. |
Practical information
For ENAAT people accommodation will be arranged with collegues and friends at home. For others and those who prefer accommodation in a hotel, we can provide you information if needed. All are requested to send a mail to Frank Slijper (rosaboek@xs4all.nl) to let him know that she or he will come to Amsterdam plus whether you prefer a hotel or private accommodation. He will answer other questions as well.
For those who arrive on Friday: we will let you know as soon as possible where we will meet on Friday night for dinner and a drink.
To get an idea of where you are and have to go: check out www.amsterdam.nl, then go to “english site” and then to either “traffic and transport”, where you can see for example that both Friday’s and Saturday’s meeting are at or close to tramline number 3. To search for specific streets, go “city map”, also at www.amsterdam.nl site.
Hopefully seeing all of you in Amsterdam the last weekend of June!
Martin Broek en Frank Slijper,
Campagne tegen Wapenhandel
PS: Whenever you may get lost or whatsoever it may be handy to have our mobile numbers at hand: Martin Broek (00 31 6 12919679) en Frank Slijper (mobile: 00 31 6 28504778) (and if you call from a Dutch telephone it will be without 00 31, but with an extra 0 before the 6!)
