Activity Report This brochure is published by Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation. 2005 Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Contents C Forewords 5 • Karel DE GUCHT, Minister for Foreign Affairs 6 • Armand DE DECKER, Minister for Development Cooperation 7 • Marc VERWILGHEN, Minister for Economy, Energy, Foreign Trade and Science Policy 8 • Didier DONFUT, Secretary of State for European Affairs, attached to the Minister for Foreign Affairs 9 1.Resources 11 1. Internal organisation of the FPS 12 2. Personnel 17 3. Buildings 18 4. Budget and financial resources 19 2.Servingthepublic 21 1. Consular affairs 22 2. Crisis management 23 3.Policy 25 1. Belgium in a bilateral context 26 2. Belgium in the European Union 34 3. Belgium in a multilateral context 39 4. Belgium and globalisation 41 5. Belgium and human rights 45 6. Belgium and development cooperation 46 Annexes 51 • Organisational chart of the FPS 52 • Map of worldwide FPS representations (Belgium and abroad) (December 2005) 54 • Acknowledgements 57 Forewords F Forewords Forewords FForeword by Accordingly, we continue to cham- With its forthcoming chairmanship of the Karel DE GUCHT, pion Central Africa on the international OSCE in 2006, Belgium will have yet Minister for Foreign Affairs scene. The transitions in the Democratic another opportunity to play an important Republic of Congo (DRC) and Burundi, role on the international scene. Thanks Rarely has our Federal Public Service two countries which have made histo- to our assets and expertise, I firmly (FPS) seen such a lively start to a year ric progress over the past year, urgently believe we will be able to rise to the as in 2005. require international diplomatic and occasion. financial aid. Just before the new year, a tsunami claimed the lives of thousands, including Since taking office, I have placed the Karel De Gucht ten Belgian citizens, and destroyed the emphasis on continuing to shore up Minister for Foreign Affairs houses and infrastructure of an entire existing links between Belgium and the region. This was a natural disaster on an EU as well as between Belgium and the unprecedented scale and our reaction United States. In 2005 we continued our had to be equal to the challenge. efforts in this regard. President Bush’s visit to Brussels symbolises the renewed The Crisis Centre and on-site opera- cooperation between our two countries. tions, under the supervision of FPS We organised a ‘transatlantic Gymnich’ Foreign Affairs, displayed great profes- meeting, which appears to have marked sionalism once again. Relief operations the start of a promising tradition. were under way quickly, information was processed efficiently and communica- The year 2005 was also a difficult one tions went without a hitch. for the European Union. Following the failure of referenda in France and the During the past year, other events have Netherlands, the future of the crucial once again forced our departments to European Constitution appears to have give of their best. The Theunis situa- been called into question. The image tion is just one example of the way in people have of the European Union has which our FPS has acted, appropriately declined considerably over the past few and proactively, to defend the rights and years. Integration and enlargement are interests of Belgian citizens abroad. seen as the problem, whereas really they are key parts of the solution. Problems In this context, it is vital to maintain with the EU’s financial resources merely good relations with the countries in reinforced this image problem. Belgium, question. At the bilateral level, particu- which has always been one of the EU’s lar attention has been paid to our con- most ardent supporters, has played tacts throughout the world. In addition, a key role in maintaining the dynamic Belgium’s role within the major multina- that drives unification. For an example of tional institutions is often more impor- this, one need only look at the discus- tant than one might imagine for a such a sions on the accession of Turkey. We will small country. continue to fulfil this role in the future. Forewords Forewords Foreword by • basic education and vocational train- since 1999. Today,F we must continue Armand DE DECKER, ing; to help these countries to ensure that Minister for Development • agriculture and food safety; their democratic transitions are suc- Cooperation • basic infrastructure. cessful and improve the lives of all. While celebrating this, the 45th anni- In allocating 0.46% of the country’s The urgency and the magnitude of versary of Development Cooperation, gross national income to public devel- these challenges should not cause it is striking to contemplate just how opment aid, Belgium ranks 6th in the us to lose hope or conviction – at a much our development aid policy has world per capita and, in absolute terms, time when Belgium is celebrating its changed over the course of the last 11th among countries contributing to 175th anniversary and the 25th anni- half century. Born out of decolonisa- the international development aid effort. versary of federalism. At a time when tion, for a long time it was a key cha- we are also celebrating the 45th anni- ritable measure by which European The Millennium Development Goals versary of Belgian development coop- countries, which were in the throes remain the common thread running eration, we know that we can build on of economic development, could ease through all our development actions. our experience and on the quality of their consciences by coming to the The adoption of these eight goals has our officials. We also believe that the aid of the world’s poorest countries. marked a major turning point in our ideas of freedom, democracy, justice, Today, Belgium’s development aid efforts to achieve a more humane soci- equality and generosity will triumph. policy, like that of the entire European ety. Not least because it has provided Union, has completely altered its pro- a harmonised framework to universal file. It has become a key compo- development action; also because – as Armand De DecKer nent in a strategic measure whereby Stanislas Geremek said at the Doing Minister for Development cooperation development aid is incorporated into Business in Central Africa confer- an overall policy of stabilising the ence which we organised in Brussels world and making it more secure. this year – these Goals have created ‘a sense of guilt at not acting’; and finally Belgium’s cooperation policy for sustain- because they are comprehensible for able human development is based all and quantifiable and constitute a primarily on the concepts of part- commitment by all. Not only rich coun- nership and geographical concen- tries which have pledged to fund the tration of bilateral and multilateral aid realisation of these goals, but also the and complies with the relevance cri- countries that receive our aid, which teria for development by, in particular, have undertaken to establish conditions remaining separate from any natio- in which these goals can be achieved. nal economic interest and by focus- ing on priority sectoral themes: Central Africa remains a priority area for Belgium. The unquestionably posi- • conflict prevention and community tive trend we are seeing today – with building with a view to good gover- the stabilisation of Rwanda, the success nance; of the electoral process in Burundi and • basic health care including reproduc- changes in Congo – is, to a large extent, tive health and combating tropical due to the policy Belgium has been diseases and the AIDS virus; pursuing in the Great Lakes Region Forewords Forewords F Foreword by crease alongside economic growth. This Marc VERWILGHEN, means that consumerism in Asian coun- Minister for Economy, tries will also increase proportionally and Energy, Foreign Trade and the positive effects of this will rebound Science Policy on Belgium. Asian peoples will learn to recognise Belgium as a country in which The global economy is going through dif- people have a good life. In this context, ficult times at the moment. The months Asian tourists will come to see Belgium and years ahead will be decisive for our as a country famed for its fine cuisine prosperity and its future. Consequently, it and broad cultural diversity. Belgium must is important that we boost our economy’s also pose a challenge for Asian entrepre- resistance and enhance our competitive- neurs. In fact, Belgium has an excellent ness and industrial fabric. This is a task infrastructure and a high level of produc- for every country in Europe. tivity. It is the gateway to Europe. Due to the globalisation of the economy In addition to the royal economic mis- and the enlargement of the EU towards sions, it is important to organise an inten- Eastern Europe, Belgian companies are sive and ongoing campaign to promote facing increasingly stiff international com- Belgium’s permanent visibility throughout petition. the world. In the context of the assistance given to Belgian interests abroad, an eco- During the past year, the goal of foreign nomic mission was organised in 2005 to trade has been to strengthen defence of take Belgian fashion to Saint Petersburg Belgian interests in the world, a defence (Russia). As a result, Belgian fashion accompanied by the provision of effec- designers will now be able to take part in tive financial tools to assist Belgian com- the annual event Fashion Seasons. panies. In conclusion, I am pleased to announce Economic missions to India and Japan, that in 2005 investment agreements led by members of the Royal Family, took were concluded with Uganda, Congo, place during the first half of 2005, bring- Guatemala, Nicaragua, China, Peru, ing the Asia tour to a close for the time Madagascar and Sudan.