Irish Presidency of the EU Council

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    “The experiences of the Irish Presidency of the EU Council in the field of external relations”   By Dr. Aaron Matta, Senior Researcher in EU Law, Academic Programme Coordinator of CLEER (Centre for the Law of EU External Relations) On November 6th T.M.C. Asser Instituut and the Centre for the Law of EU External Relations (CLEER) organised in cooperation with the Irish Embassy in The Hague a special lecture event devoted to the legal review of the experiences of the Irish Presidency of the EU in the field of external relations.   The lecture, chaired by Dr. Aaron Matta, Senior Researcher in EU Law and Academic Programme Coordinator of CLEER, took place in the context of the CLEER special lecture series that look at the Presidencies retrospectively focusing on the role of the incumbent presidency in coordination and leadership in regional and global issues.   Her Excellency, Mrs. H.E. Mary Whelan, Ambassador of Ireland in the Netherlands gave an insightful presentation on the major challenges and achievements in representation, negotiation and coordination at the helm of the EU Council. She explained that the EU Presidency was seen as opportunity to take measures directly linked to Stability, Jobs and Growth which was the central three-pillar theme developed by the Irish Presidency. The Ambassador referred to the main achievements internally aiming to build a stronger Europe at an economic level. With regard to the Union in a wider world, she particularly mentioned the Irish Presidency’s efforts to promote trade and its achievement to secure a mandate within Council to start official negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the EU and the US. She further referred to the progress made on the EU Enlargement and development cooperation which had been key parts of the Irish Presidency’s programme. Regarding the role of the Irish Embassy in projecting the priorities of the Presidency, she presented her reflections on the cooperation with international institutions based in The Hague, especially with the ICC and OPCW which acquired particular attention during the Irish Presidency.   Dr. Elaine Fahey, Senior Research Fellow and Lecturer at the Amsterdam Centre for European Law and Governance (ACELG), complemented the presentation as a discussant providing a critical analysis of the legal impact of Irish Presidency from an EU external relations point of view. She discussed the Irish Presidency’s ‘best’ achievements along with the Irish practice pre and post Lisbon, especially in the area of freedom, security and justice. She further highlighted the Irish Presidency success in concluding the historic negotiations that will allow the Union to accede to the European Convention of Human Rights. At the end of her presentation, she expressed her concerns on the Bulgaria and Romania Schengen entry delay, an issue on which more attention was expected. She further noticed that with regard to the ‘management’ of the situation of a possible UK Brixit Ireland was more vocal only after the end of the EU Presidency.   A general discussion based on the questions from the audience closed the lecture that was followed by a reception afterwards.   The lecture series, initiated in 2011, has been particularly successful in engaging the diplomatic contingent of incumbent Presidencies posted in The Hague, giving them the opportunity to share their experiences with the broad networks of the T.M.C. Asser Instituut and CLEER.   For a more detailed report on the Irish Presidency lecture see http://www.asser.nl/default.aspx?site_id=26&level1=14473&level2=15397&level3=&textid=40833

Rethinking water

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By Barend ter Haar, Clingendael Institute of International Relations, former Netherlands ambassador to UNESCO. Think again about water. That is in short the main outcome of the conference on Water Security and Peace that was organised by the Water Diplomacy Consortium* on 14 and 15 November 2013. After attending the conference some security specialists might doubt whether an armed attack is the largest threat against their country. Engineers might reconsider whether technical solutions will suffice to solve all water problems.  Legal experts might be better aware of the limits of a top-down approach, while local stakeholders may have become convinced of the need of a global approach. The meeting of a large number of experts in many different fields and from many different countries helped to clarify a number of key points or at least to bring our confusion to a higher level. Everybody needs clean water, every day of his life, but hundreds of millions of people are still not assured of that. And clean water is becoming scarcer, inter alia because of its growing use for agriculture, cattle breeding, industry and energy production. All this is relatively simple and straightforward. And so is the answer: we need to change the way we manage water. Regrettably, implementing sound water management is not a simple matter at all. Water is such a fundamental part of our culture, of the way we feed ourselves, we produce energy, we wash ourselves and we govern ourselves, that there is no master key to address water in all its aspects at once. What is needed is a bunch of keys or, in the buzzwords of the conference, a multisector and multilevel approach. Multisector means that it is insufficient to deal with water in isolation. Sound water management requires looking also at how we produce food, deal with climate change, and so on. Multilevel means that we have to address water issues simultaneously at local, national, regional and global levels. Assuring the availability of clean water at the local level is the ultimate goal. That means educating and empowering local people as much as possible. But a fair distribution of the available water requires also measures at a national level and at an international level, because rivers and underground aquifers often cross borders. Global cooperation is needed to facilitate and promote action at the local, national and regional level, e.g. by setting global minimum rules for the management of water. Most if not all participants of the conference seemed to agree about the following:
  • Water management cannot be split in separate jobs for engineers, lawyers, diplomats, etc. All stakeholders have to work together and  should therefore make an effort to ensure that they are understood by other types of specialists.
  • More and better information on the state of water should be collected and be made widely available, to prevent misperceptions and to promote a common understanding of the real challenges.
  • A shared vision on global water management should be developed.
  • New coalitions are needed, between different levels of government, between governments and private business, between private business and NGOs, etc.
  • Leadership is needed.
*The Water Diplomacy Consortium consists of five partners that together cover the different aspects of water diplomacy: the Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael, the Hague Institute for Global Justice, the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, UPEACE Centre The Hague and the Water Governance Centre.

Exposition at Museum Jan van der Togt

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  By Drs. Eva Maria E. Mennes. On November 29th, his Excellency Mr. Chen Xu, ambassador of the People’s Republic of China spoke a warm welcome and Mrs. Carolien Gehrels, loco mayor of the municipality of Amsterdam opened the exposition of the two artists Aat Veldhoen and Man Kin Ho at the Museum Jan van der Togt in Amstelveen. Aat Veldhoen, a well known contemporary artist in Amsterdam is a long time friend of the young  Chinese artist Man Kin Ho. The traditional Chinese inkt technics and the special mix of the old Chinese tradition, sometimes with European subjects give a delicate flavour to the work of Man Kin Ho. The Chinese Embassy is well known  for the support of Chinese artists living in The Netherlands and that concerns all sorts of fields from painting to fashion.

Foreign Service

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                            by Abhay K. Foreign service is a journey And all the diplomats merely travellers They have their wits and talents; And one diplomat assumes multiple roles His career spread over many grades. At first the probationer Learning and unlearning at the institute And then the shy third secretary, with his briefcase With curious look, rushing like a bee Earnestly to the boss’s cabinet. And then the first secretary, Ever engrossed in work, with his laptop Still unsure of his place. Then the counsellor Full of strange note-sheets and growing graveness in looks Risk averse, long hours at work, Conscious of reputation, quick temper Seeking new authority Among the seniors and subordinates. And then the minister With a paunch, receding hairline With squint look and harsher commands Full of jargon and clichĂ©s So he gains perfection in officialese. Then plenipotentiary and extraordinary ambassador Into the linen and lace-less shoes With reading glasses and daily jogs Trying to fit into his old suit, Then superannuation. Last journey queuing up to enter the Foreign Office That ends this glorious journey Then second probation-hood, flowing with wisdom Free of protocol, briefs, talking points, telegrams, free of everything. Abhay K., an Indian poet-diplomat, winner of the SAARC Literary Award, nominated for the Pushcart prize, is the author of seven books including five collections of poetry. ‘Earth Anthem’ written by him has been translated into major world languages including Dutch.

Embassy websites as a commercial diplomacy channel still in its infancy

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By Dr. Huub RuĂ«l, Windesheim University of Applied Sciences – Zwolle.  The use of technology and social media have impacted diplomacy, with all its pros and cons. Online channels can facilitate commercial diplomacy services as well, and can be used to serve businesses in their internationalization endeavors. This is called electronic commercial diplomacy (e-CD) or digital diplomacy. E-CD can enhance the access to and delivery of activities for international business. We conducted a study on the commercial diplomacy service quality of embassy websites. The embassy websites of the countries that rank the highest on e-government were assumed to have the best developed electronic commercial diplomacy services (compared to others). The website of the embassy in a country’s most intensive trading partner was chosen as the unit of analysis. The ten countries included in our study were: The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Denmark, the United States, France, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Singapore, and Canada [Korea was not included as its website in China (its most important trading partner) could only be accessed in Korean or Chinese. Therefore, Canada (no. 11 on the e-government ranking 2012) was included instead.  The overall conclusion of our study was that e-CD is still in its infancy, even among the countries that rank highest on e-government. None of the countries included in this study clearly exceeded the level of ‘presenting’, that is, the presentation of information on an embassy website, but without the option to respond (‘interaction’ level) to that information, for example by signing up to an activity. The UK scored highest on e-CD (1.9 on a 5-point scale, 1 means low, 5 means high), Canada came in second, the Netherlands third, the United States fourth, and Sweden fifth. Finally, the commercial diplomacy services provided best via embassy websites were information on trade fairs, on how to establish a business in a host country, market information, export regulations, and import regulations. However, the level of advancedness of these services hardly scores more than 2 on a 5-point scale (1 means low, 5 means high). The relationship ICT, internet, social media and commercial diplomacy is an open territory in terms of research and definitely needs more follow-up.

Sinterklaas

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By Bonnie Klap. Granted, each country has its own peculiar customs. For example,  the Halloween-parties in the US comes to mind, with its skeletons and pumpkins and ‘trick-or-treat’- traditions. Strange as that may seem, in my opinion, placing a shoe, filled with a carrot and some water and hay ( for the horse) next to the fireplace at night, in eager anticipation of finding  a gift in that very same shoe  the next morning is a lot odder! This brings me to the Dutch tradition of the annual Sinterklaas –festivities. You might be under the impression that this is primarily a children’s feast, but a  surprisingly large number of Dutch  people –children and adults alike  – enjoy celebrating  Sinterklaas. Interestingly, hundreds of years ago Sinterklaas, or Saint Nicholas as he actually was called, really did exist! He was a Greek bisshop in the town of Myra, which is located in present-day Turkey. The Saint-Nicholas feast used to be an occasion to help the poor and needy by putting money in their shoes, a custom, that has  evolved into putting presents in the shoes of children. Sinterklaas rides a white horse ( ‘a gray’), carries a ceremonial gold shepherd’s staff and is accompanied by one or more “Zwarte Pieten,” ( Black Peters).  The Black Peters, who are dressed up in colorful costumes resembling 17th century pages, provide a comical note and throw handsful of gingernuts to the children. Each year Sinterklaas travels by ‘steamship’ ( supposedly loaded with children’s gifts) to Holland. The tradition of travelling by ship can be traced back to the days that St. Nicholas was a famous patron of the sailors. Of late, however, dark clouds have gathered above Sinterklaas, as can be read in the Dutch newspapers. Not only will the continuing economic woes undoubtedly impact the sales of Sinterklaas-gifts and therefore make for more ‘empty children’s shoes” as a journalist gloomily remarked, but more troublesome, the ‘Zwarte Pieten,” themselves have come under attack, as this tradition is viewed by some as a throwback to slavery. The issue has initiated a lively discussion between passionate proponents and opponents of Zwarte Piet  on the internet as well as ample attention for the subject in the press.  It will be interesting to see how this thorny matter plays out.   

The Dutch learn about Diplomacy in The Hague

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By Alexander W. Beelaerts van Blokland, Justice in the Court of Appeal and honorary Special Advisor International Affairs of the Municipality of The Hague  For most people outside the diplomatic world diplomacy is something they do not know much about. They see expensive cars with chauffeurs and a CD-registration in the streets of The Hague, they see the ambassadors only with a glass of wine in their hands on photo’s in some newspapers and wonder what kind of work they do. That’s why it was a very good thing that the national Dutch quality newspaper NRC Handelsblad had a four page article on ‘Diplomatenstad Den Haag’ on Saturday November 16th. The Ambassadors of Kosovo and Spain, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Mayor of The Hague, as well as I myself (The Hague’s ‘city ambassador’, the paper wrote) were interviewed for it. I think that the readers of  NRC Handelsblad do now have a much better idea about the important work of diplomacy.   The ambassador of Kosovo H.E. Vjosa Dobruna had been chosen because she had to present her credentials to the King on October 16th, in the period that the journalist wrote his article. Other new ambassadors who we welcomed were on October 9th H.E.’s Ms. Liisa Talonpoika (Finland), Mr. Ahmad Mufleh (Jordan) and Ms. Maymouna Diop Sy (Senegal), on October 16th Mr. Taher Ahmed Farahat (Egypt) and Mr. Roman Kirn (Slovenia), on October 30th Mr. Ibrahim Sorie (Sierra Leone), Mr. Petar Vico (Serbia) and Mr. Wilson Masilingi (Tanzania) and on November 6th Mr. Emilian Brenici (Moldova) and Mr. Adani Illo (Niger).   Hopefully they and other ambassadors will learn about the history of our country –in the presence of the King- on Saturday November 30th on the beach of Scheveningen, because basically with the Landing of The Prince 200 years before, the Kingdom started (in 1815).   a.beelaerts@planet.nl

Water Security and Peace

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  By Fieke Maas Geesteranus, Freelance Reporter for UPEACE Centre The Hague and Henk van Schaik, Board Member UPEACE Centre The Hague In a recent article in the September edition of this magazine, Henk van Schaik, Board Member of UPEACE Centre The Hague and Chairman of the international conference ‘Water Security and Peace’, advocated that water security demands water diplomacy. He cited Kofi Annan: “Water is mostly a shared resource that can be a catalyst for cooperation if we work together” (January 2002) and Van Schaik stated that “its realization will require stepping up of the efforts among all stakeholders towards cooperation”. To address Water Cooperation and Peace, the Water Diplomacy Consortium[1] organised the international two day working conference ‘Water Security and Peace’ on 14 and 15 November 2013. The conference was supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Municipality of The Hague and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment. The consortium aspires to become an international knowledge hub for water diplomacy, governance and law, and to contribute to conflict prevention and conflict resolution related to intrastate and transboundary water management. The conference took place at the Academy Building of the Peace Palace in The Hague, the International City of Peace and Justice, and was part of its centennial celebration. Moreover, it contributed to the UN International Year of Water Cooperation, wherein the celebrations on 21 March of World Water Day in The Hague took place as well. Over 200 people from more than 60 countries actively participated in the conference, amongst others diplomats, scientists, civil society leaders, lawyers and other professionals from international, national and local organisations, all dealing with water-related disputes. Alexander Verbeek, Strategic Policy Advisor at the Climate, Energy, Environment and Water Department of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, argued that water diplomacy is an essential tool for the prevention of water conflicts around the world: “Water has no boundaries. Therefore it is imperative that we cooperate on a global scale and promote the two Water Conventions from the UN and UNECE to live up to that ambition.” He continued: “It is a real challenge to take into account multi-level interests while we see water resources becoming scarce – a task for which diplomacy is well-equipped.” However, this takes time. Verbeek concluded: “In the end, it’s about trying to create a win-win situation for all and to develop equitable and sustainable distribution and usage of water.” Sustainable water management links up with one of the main outcomes of the Rio+20 conference which was held in June 2012: drafting a set of Sustainable Development Goals. In order to propose on these goals, an Open Working Group of the General Assembly has been created. Its first session in March 2013, was co-chaired by the Permanent Representative of Hungary. BalĂĄzs Attila Heincz works at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary and as organizer was present at the Budapest Water Summit last October, that strongly recommended the development of a dedicated and comprehensive Sustainable Development Goal on Water. Speaking to him, Heincz said: “I see many parallel processes between the Budapest Water Summit and this conference organized by the Water Diplomacy Consortium. At the Summit, water diplomacy was emphasized as a tool to build trust and to harness opportunities for shared benefits as well.” Heincz mentioned that he was pleased to hear that the Dutch Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation announced on the margins of the UN General Assembly this year, that a Sustainable Development Goal for water within the post-2015 development agenda is imperative. He added: “It is very important that the member states are aligned and that we share knowledge.” The importance of knowledge sharing on Water Diplomacy was well illustrated by Carel de Villeneuve, Senior Policy Advisor for the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment. Within the UNECE Water Convention, which he chaired in the past, the Netherlands has organized several training sessions on transboundary monitoring, and took the initiative for creating a Task Force on Water and Climate Adaptation, stimulating mutual research and interactions between policy and technical developments. “The importance of such lies in its transboundary effect: the mutual research and extensive discussions on water and climate adaptation lead to a guidance document which is followed by a number of pilot studies, and besides, is being consulted outside of the European region as well.” This fostered a global outreach; even South-Asia for example is interested in the workshop outputs and lessons learned. De Villeneuve added: “Global knowledge sharing has a positive impact on the international water debate and should be a continuous process.” This conference on water security and peace aimed exactly to do so, addressing the growing needs for water conflict prevention and resolution. As water resources are becoming scarce and further polluted in the years ahead, the participants of the international conference ‘Water Security and Peace”, indeed made a strong case for international cooperation to strengthen resilience and to find ways to ward off future water conflicts.
  • ·         The key note Opening presentations and the final plenary of the conference can be viewed on: www.thewaterchannel.tv/peace
 


[1]The consortium consists of five partners: The Hague Institute for Global Justice, UPEACE Centre The Hague, Clingendael, UNESCO-IHE and the Water Governance Center.

Royal Sunset and the Anastasia Controversy.

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   By Malcolm McEwan. The World War of 1914-1918 brought to an end three powerful European Imperial Dynasties  – the Romanovs, the Hohenzollerns and the Habsburgs. What was the role of these dynasties in bringing about their own demise? This is the topic of a fascinating book by Gordon Brook-Shepherd and the subject of a recent talk I presented to the IWC in the Hague. Alliances between the major powers changed dramatically between 1870 and 1914: Germany was close to Russia until Bismarck was pushed aside by Emperor Wilhelm II in 1890. Russia then sided with France. When Queen Victoria died in 1901 and her successor Edward brought about the “Entente Cordiale “ with France,  Germany and Austria were “surrounded ”.  The assassination of the Austrian Crown prince Frans Ferdinand in Sarajevo led to a chain reaction: Austria declared war on Serbia, Russia mobilised and Germany declared war on Russia, and attacked her ally, France, through Belgium. The families of the British, Russian and German dynasties were very closely linked – for example King Eward VII (ruled 1901-1910) was seen as the “Uncle of Europe and a photo shows a family gathering of the Russian and British royal families on the Isle of Wight in 1909. During the war brothers, sisters, cousins, uncles etc found themselves on opposite sides. During the revolution in Russia of February/March 1917  the position of the Tsar was undermined  by divisions among the Romanovs. When the Russian Imperial family were imprisoned by the new Provisional Government asylum in England was refused by King George V, the cousin of Tsar Nicholas, with tragic consequencies. But did all of the Imperial Family die? In my talk I review the life of “Anna” – she appeared in Berlin in 1920 and died in America in 1984. She claimed to be Anastasia, the youngest daughter of Tsar Nocholas. She shocked and divided European royalty and was, I believe, the media sensation of the 20th century – headlines, Hollywood films, Broadway Plays, Cartoon films and controversy – over more than six decades. She was positively recognised as Anastasia by Romanovs and others who knew Anastasia from before the revolution, and a German expert testified in court that photos support her claim – for example:  Anastasia 1917  “Anna” in New York, 1928 DNA evidence has been produced that “proves” she was a factory worker born in a peasant family in Poland who escaped from a Berlin asylum in March 1920.  Do we believe this or do we trust our own eyes?

In Support of “Silent Night”

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    In a  series of “wonderfully awful” decisions which have seemingly sprung straight from the pages of ”How the Grinch Stole Christmas”, Dr. Seuss’ beloved mid century children’s story, the news  broke on Friday, November 15, that “Silent Night” had been scrapped from the Dutch Catholic Churchs’ newly published song book (liedboek).  One day later, in a brief, but well placed  announcement in the “Nieuws” section of  the NRC Handelsblad, readers learned that  “Silent Night”, or “Stille Nacht”, as it is known in Dutch, was “redacted” by the Dutch bishops from the approved song list along with 300-400 other “traditional songs”.  As is commonly known, the media, especially the Dutch media, is often dismissive, if not outright contemptuous, of the Catholic Church, so one must first ask, can it really be true?  Has a surreptitious attempt been made to secretively silence the singing of “Silent Night”? If asked, Norbertine monk, Joost Jansen, director of the Berne Abbey in Heeswijk-Dinther, where the song books are published, would likely respond positively.  In fact, he already has. In recent interviews, he has cited a number of reasons for the bishops’ decision to scuttle the song, but is courageously singing  it out, for there will be no silencing of  the joy of “Silent Night” in his abbey during Advent!  The Christmas carol controversy shows no signs of being quelled. Two days ago, Bishop Jan Liesen of Breda, in an open letter published on the official website of the Roman Catholic Church (RKKerk.nl), clearly stated that “folk” songs require approval by both the Dutch Bishops Conference, presumably in the form of a valid decree, and the Holy See and that this has been the case since 2001. Conspicuously absent from the letter, however, is any  reference to the “Directory on Popular Piety and Liturgy”, published by the Holy See’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of Sacraments, which is available for review on the Holy See’s official website. To date—it seems that none of the parties weighing in on the matter have referred to the guidelines.  In stark contrast to the various opinions being expressed locally, on the subject of traditional songs such as “Silent Night, Holy Night”; the directory, formally introduced by papal decree and in a 21 September, 2001 address by His Holiness, Bl. John Paul II, actively encourages the use of popular devotions and pious practices such as the singing of traditional songs during Advent. In fact, bishops have been called  to take a “positive and encouraging stance with regard to popular religiosity, unless there are patently obvious reason to the contrary”. While all of this may sound like “much ado about nothing”, serious singers should be asking, why has “Silent Night, Holy Night” become a subject of so much discussion?  According to Michael Neureiter, President of the Silent Night Society , in a press release published electronically on the society’s website;  Silent Night,  is above all, a “Carol of Peace”.  Nearly  200 years after the song was performed for the first time before an appreciative public;  it has spread across the world and been translated into more than 300 languages and dialects.  In the process, it has become a “fixed part of festivals and celebrations” during the Advent season.   In 2011, the Silent Night Society successfully applied to UNESCO to have the song included on Austria’s national list of UNESCO’s Immaterial Cultural Heritage.   More recently, the society applied for the European Cultural Heritage Label, an EU initiative, which in the words of the Society’s  spokesmen Michael Neureiter and Eva Reinecker, “has evolved to commend historical sites and places of cultural interest, which symbolize and emphasize European integration, the ideals and history of the European Union”—reason enough, it would seem for the “universality” of this cherished Christmas carol to warrant safeguarding it as a symbol of both Christian and cultural heritage by continuing to include it in the Dutch song book.   Â