European Parliament Supports Treatment Access in Developing Countries.

On March 15 the European Parliament adopted the following resolution on access to HIV and other treatment in poor countries. It is not widely known in the U.S., so we are reprinting it here.

Paragraph number 6 (see below), on the TRIPS agreement, was particularly fought for by international AIDS activists. TRIPS (the agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) is the part of the WTO (World Trade Organization) treaty dealing with intellectual property.

Note: The European Parliament, also not well known in the U.S., is in fact a model for democratic governance in an age of growing globalization. For over 20 years it has been directly elected by citizens of different countries, bypassing national governments (one person one vote, but with some weighting to help small countries). Today it has significant power, with veto authority over about 80% of European Union legislation. For more information (in your choice of 11 languages) see http://www.europarl.eu.int/.

For a look at the development of international civil society today, and a call for a popularly elected world assembly, see "Toward a Global Parliament" by Richard Falk and Andrew Strauss, Foreign Affairs January/February 2001, volume 80 number 1. Both authors are professors of international law, but the article is written for nonspecialists.

Note: As this issue went to press, the April 19 withdrawal of the pharmaceutical industry lawsuit against South Africa made headlines around the world -- marking a milestone in the development of international civil society.