an inter press service feature

by john roberts

hanover, dec 3 1993(ips) - europe needs to develop new ways ofgoverning itself and to bridge the gulf between the rich nations of the west and their relatives in the east, said a statement issued by a club of rome conference here friday.

these were the two prinicipal conclusions as the influential club of rome ended a three-day meeting in this german city friday.

it was a meeting at which a group of 100 international businessmen, together with invited experts from government, science and the arts, attempted to chart a new course for the continent.

"we recommend that the european community sets itself the target of ensuring that living standards in 2020 are equitable both in the east and west of europe, and so combat the poverty which is now growing throughout the continent," the club said in its final communique, dubbed 'the declaration of hanover'.

the club was trading on the contracts of its members, and on its reputation as a body of of wise men able to think seriously about the future, when it convened the hanover conference to consider what europe might look like in the year 2020.

its secretary-general betrand schneider, spoke of the dream of the club's members that by 2020 there might be a "europe stretching from reykjavik to vladivostok".

but while there were calls for radical reform of the way in which europe is governed, there were fewer specific proposals than might have been expected.

one of the principal speakers was former soviet president mikhail gorbachev, who used the final day on friday to launch an appeal for the creation of new pan-european institutions that would embrace both halves of the continent.

"we need new pan-european structures. i realise how difficult that is to achieve, but the situation demands it," gorbachev said.

yet gorbachev in a 30-minute address gave no indication whether these institutions should be political, economic or environmental or related to defence or culture or anything else. nor did he expand on the call he had made on the first day of the conference for a 'european security council'.

the club itself declared that a new 'institutional framework' was indeed vital to europe, and that this "requires a fresh approach to governance".

it added: "we must not be bound by traditional concepts. innovative forms are required." it would be putting forward a report on the subject stressing the need for "educating politicians to the european and global challenges" and recommending the creation of a "european policy college" modelled on the french grands ecoles.

there were other themes at the conference. the need to conserve resources and to protect the environment was raised by speaker after speaker.

in this, the club's members were stressing the role their group had played in raising environmental consciousness 25 years ago, when the club's first report on "the limit's to growth" was published.

there was a persistent effort to consider european issues in a global context. addressing the controversial issue of how far europe should be considered to extend, professor jose angel sanchez asiain, the head of the bbv foundation of spain, said: "we must understand that what we consider to be the east and south of europe could also be called the west of asia and the north of africa."

he was backed in this appeal by a former director of unicef's activities in uganda, akilu lemma, who issued a heartfelt plea for europe not to forget the needs of africa. debt forgiveness was vital -- and so was educational aid, lemma said.

and while lemma also stressed the need for assistance to combat the spread of aids in both africa and asia, ali haribou, of ethiopia, noted that bleakly that more than 100 children were dying each day in africa from other diseases eradicated in europe, such as cholera and typhoid.

one common theme was the way in which speakers persistently sought to consider inter-relationships: "there can be no europe without africa," noted haribou.

it was also pointed out that one should not necessarily assume that europe's best day's were past. it was still the richest continent, but it was also a testing ground for the argument that economic growth was not neccessarily the best way of assessing true progress. maybe, the club of rome thought, a new definition on human well-being should be considered.

The fact that the club's members include leading industrialists from both the developed and developing world means there may be some prospect that some of their more socially oriented may be eventually pout into practice.(end/ips/ip/jr/mf/93)

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