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Germany

Spiegel-Online: March 12, 2002
By: Jan Lehmann

GLOBAL ALLIANCE AGAINST THE GERMANS

will Hermes "stop sitting it out"?

The German government is not choosey when it comes to allocating export credit guarantees. Questionable projects in developing countries are secured through the state budget and often end as unaffordable ruins. Critics of this mis-guided globalization are calling on the red-green coalition to fulfill its reform promises.

Berlin: The demonstration in front of the German Trade Ministry is made up of unusual characters this Monday morning. They are sitting on folding chairs and the jumble of languages indicate that they have come from all corners of the planet. The demonstrators are wearing white caps with two wobbling yellow angel wings. Their masquerade is remniscent of Hermes, messenger of the gods and also namesake of Germany's official export credit agency.

These godly messengers, however, belong to ECA-Watch, an international NGO network from 32 countries which is calling for a reform of the industrial countries' export credit agencies (ECAs). These government-backed agencies secure exports to developing countries. If importers from poor countries are unable to pay their bills, the Finance Minister of the exporting country covers the deficit through the public purse. In 2000, Germany's Hermes provided guarantees of about 38 billion Deutsch Marks.

A single job in Germany is more important

The globalization critics had good reason to pick Berlin as the site of their protest. Germany is one of the bad guys in the export credit arena.

The German Government has given guarantee after guarantee for senseless large-scale projects. Mammoth dams, nuclear powerplants and papermills which cause debt, environmental damage and excerbate conflicts in developing countries.

This doesn't seem to bother Germany's Trade Minister, Werner Müller, despite the promises of his coalition Government. One new job in our owncountry still counts for more than its destructive effects somewhere beyond prosperity's border. Here is no trace of the environmental leadership role that Chancellor Schröder likes to claim for himself.

Heffa Schücking, director of the environmental organization 'Urgewald', describes these problems via megaphone while standing on the street in front of Müller's office. "We demand obligatory worldwide standards for Export Credit Agencies", echoes through the Scharnhorststrasse in the middle of Berlin. Germany is at the tail-end of the ECA-reform scale, she declares.

It is true that the Federal Republic of Germany does not uphold any of the criteria which have become international standards: the Hermes AG does not undertake environmental impact assessments, when guaranteeing individual project components. As the export of an entire dam or factory is rare, this clause almost always provides a loophole. Project information is only published with the consent of the exporter. Thus, data on controversial projects are kept secret. There are also almost no criteria for the exclusion of projects. Only nuclear power plants are to be excluded from future coverage. But a current case in Brazil raises doubts whether even this policy will be applied.

Nuclear phase-out only in Germany

Ribiero

"We do not want your obsolete technology", scolds Ribeiro

into the megaphone. Vladimir Slivyak wholeheartedly agrees. " The Germans do not want dirty energy at home anymore but support their companies to build reactors elsewhere", the Russian activist complains and intones the slogan:

"No more Tschenobyls!"

Heffa Schücking of Urgewald formulates her disappointment correspondingly: "In the case of Hermes, it seems that there was no change of government in 1998". Although a comprehensive reform of Hermes was envisioned in the red-green coalition contract, the government only passed luke-warm and woefully inadequate environmental guidelines in April 2001. Environmental organizations criticize that Germany lags far behind international developments.

But the story goes further. At the negotiations of the OECD, the club of the rich industrial countries in Paris, the German delegation ensured that the reform-minded Americans refused their signature. The Germans refused to allow any obligatory guidelines; the result was a non-binding agreement.

The Briton Nick Hildyard from ECA-Watch demonstrated what he thinks about the OECD-agreement. He tore up the document. "It is a charter which allows the violation of local laws. It is worthless," the environmentalist proclaimed.

Germany not willing to be accountable

The Americans therefore declined to sign the agreement as they fear trade distortions due to the lack of a level playing field. In the US there are strict guidelines for export credits and ECA-critics therefore praise the US-model as a good example. The Americans are calling on other ECAs to provide the same degree of transparency and environmental standards that is already practice in their country. The Germans disagree and are involved in questionable projects throughout the world.

Many activists in front of the Trade Ministry mentioned such German investments in their home countries. Alok Agarwal from India spoke of Siemens' involvement in Tehri. The German company is contibuting to the completion of a gigantic dam in a seismically active region of the Himalayas. 100.000 people will lose their lands; the entire city of Tehri with its historical treasures will be submerged. Adrian Goh from Malaysia described the plan to build the Bakun dam under participation of the German company Holzmann. 70.000 hectares of rainforest would be flooded and the lands of an entire Nomad tribe destroyed.

Many Hermes-backed projects only make sense for the German firms. If a company gets a state guarantee it is always a profitable business. An easy calculation: private profit - public risk. Even if the project fails, the company gets paid and the taxpayer has to foot the bill.

The Trade Ministry ignores the protests

"We are dealing with the heart of the Germany AG here" explains Schücking. The real problem is the fine-spun web between German politics and German companies. And Trade Minister Müller sees himself as a deputy of big business.

The Trade Ministry simply today's protests against Hermes. State Secretary Axel Gerlach declined a discussion offer of the activists. ECA-Watch offered four different dates but Gerlach had no time. "That is a joke. In the past three years he has not been willing to meet us" says an annoyed Schücking.

The Ministry justified itself with technical discussions:" We already had a dialog with Urgewald people a short time ago", a speaker explained. Also, Minister Müller generally receives environmental organizations. He is not deaf on that ear, the speaker persisted.

"Stop sitting it out - Hermes get a move on!" the demonstrators chanted at the end of their action. Maybe the activists should reconsider this slogan.
Hermes is after all only the messenger - it is his master that truely needs to move.