E.U. Official Urges Global Structure

While Americans are attuned to the upcoming Nov. 7 presidential elections, European Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy has a much more pressing concern: the need for a strong global government.

In a speech last night to 150 students at the Institute of Politics at the ARCO Forum, Lamy critiqued globalization, arguing that its positive effects were outweighed by the need to help underdeveloped countries.

"To the question, 'Is globalization a good thing?' my answer is, 'Yes, but...'" said Lamy. "Unfettered, unharnessed, globalization can be very dangerous. With a strong system of global governance, however, we can steer it."

Lamy said the World Trade Organization (WTO) is not yet an operational system of global governance. He cited its failure to come up with a set of specific guidelines for international trade in Seattle because of discord between the U.S. and the European Union (E.U.).

"The U.S. thinks that a super-national system of regulations would mean black U.N. helicopters sweeping down over little Midwestern towns, forcing them to comply with laws supported by other countries," he said.

Lamy said he believed the Seattle WTO protests last November had a legitimate point. He said he would like to add labor and environmental policy to the next WTO trade talks agenda.

"Trading policy must be an instrument for change," he said.

Lamy said he believes international governance could help developing countries compete in trade with the U.S., the E.U. or Japan. He said the countries often struggle to meet the rigorous sanitary and ecological demands of developed nations.

"We have to redirect development assistance, so that helping developing countries focuses on keeping them up to date with trade regulations, and not on building costly roads and bridges," he said.

Audience members represented a spectrum of opinions, although European students were a predominant part of the crowd.

"I was extremely interested in Lamy's ideas on which morals the West should impose on developing countries," said Ronaldo Rauseo-Ricupero '04.

One graduate student asked Lamy about the contentious issue of trading British meat.

"I have to know if you'll be eating any beef while you're in the U.S.," the student said.

Lamy quipped that he planned to eat hormone-enhanced American beef to help him buff up for his upcoming marathon.

But Lamy was serious when he discussed the WTO's need, when faced with a decision between a trade opening measure and a health control measure, to always pick the latter.

Lamy said he blames globalization for a growing sense of disenchantment with politics, both in America and in Europe.

"We tend to view globalization as something over which we have no control," he said. "People do not trust government to be able to manage it, or see the need for management, especially in America, with its booming economy."

Another problem with globalization, said Lamy, is that it challenges people's sense of identity and culture, which can lead to a conservative backlash on both sides of the Atlantic.

"Globalization is a radical force, which has had traumatic effects on real people. They are going to have to adjust to a new multicultural way of living," he said.