"Bazaar" Market Mentality Cominates Euro-Med Process

["Greenbase" <greenbas@gb.greenpeace.org>]

"BAZAAR" MARKET MENTALITY DOMINATES EURO-MED PROCESS
Greenpeace urges Euro-Med meeting to scrap polluting investments

Malta,  14 April 1997 - A "bazaar" market mentality will
dominate the upcoming Euro-Med meeting in Malta, as future
investments in the Mediterranean region bluntly ignore
environmental considerations.

The Greenpeace Mediterranean Office said in a statement that it
is extremely worried about the lack of importance given to the
environment in the basin, and it urged the official delegations
at the Euro-Med meeting that will start tomorrow to reject
polluting investments. (1)

"Only lip-service is being paid to environmental concerns," said
in Malta Dr. Mario Damato, Executive Director of the Greenpeace
Mediterranean Office. "What about the incinerator and landfill
projects in countries like Cyprus, Israel, Lebanon and Turkey?
What about plans to set up nuclear power plants in Turkey? These
plans must be scrapped."

"The fact that the European Union's budget will finance
bilateral deals with individual countries means that it will be
very difficult to control. It will rather create a "bazaar"
atmosphere leaving the non-EU countries competing for the
goods," he said.

Lucrative agreements are already being finalised with Tunisia,
Morocco and Israel. Such deals are mostly dependent on straight
business interests. Conditioning financial investments to the
observance of human rights, peace and democracy is not enough.
Greenpeace demands that governments and economists develop
visions to protect the environment when planning investments. 

The Euro-Mediterranean free trade area targeted for 2010 is set
to gradually issue an industrial build-up which is unregulated
by anything like EU laws for environmental protection.

"Unfortunately, most Mediterranean countries have prioritised
economic development above everything else. The lack of controls
is bound to see a shift of polluting technology from Europe to
our region with unscrupulous European investors finding a new
market for technologies that fall out of favour in Europe,"
Damato concluded.

Most of  the industrial pollution in the Mediterranean Sea
originates in the three European states Spain, France and Italy.
But all other countries are rapidly expanding their industrial
production sites at the costs of the environment and the health
of the people.  

Industrial hot spots in the southern and eastern Mediterranean
are among others Izmir in Turkey, Chekka and Mount Lebanon in
Lebanon, Haifa in Israel, Alexandria in Egypt, Sfax in Tunisia
and Annaba/Skikda in Algeria. (2)

For further Information please call in Malta Dr. Mario Damato,
Executive Director of the Greenpeace Mediterranean Office, T
++356-667167 or ++356-803463; or Media Coordinator Fouad Hamdan
in Beirut, Lebanon, ++961-1-785665 or ++961-3-756429. Emails: 
gpmedite@diala.greenpeace.org
gp.med@cyberia.net.lb

NOTES:

1. The second Euro-Med meeting will be held in Malta on April
15-16. The European Union (EU) has already pledged millions in
grants, soft loans and development projects between 1995 and
1999. In November 1995, delegations from the 15 members of EU
and 12 Mediterranean, non EU- countries, met in Barcelona for
the first Euro-Med meeting. They agreed for programmes of co-
operation in three main areas: politics and security, economics
and finance, and social, human and cultural affairs. 

2. Greenpeace has published scientific reports describing
industrial pollution in the Kishon river near Haifa, in
Chekka/Selaata in northern Lebanon and in Izmir, Turkey.
Furthermore, a report on plans for waste incinerators and dumps
in the southern and eastern Mediterranean region is available
upon request.

END