Activities of the Regional Commissions

Economic Commissions for Europe (ECE)

Best practices in industry and enterprise development

The recent ECE reform resulted in the establishment of the Working Party on Industry and Enterprise Development with a mission to promote industrial restructuring and enterprise development in the region. The work focuses on disseminating and promoting best practices, standards and guidelines in the countries in transition, particularly in areas such as social and economic consequences of industrial restructuring and the development of entrepreneurship including policies, best practices and public-private partnerships. The regional advisors on Small-Medium Enterprises and Gender also report to the Working Party.

The Working Party has established six flexible Teams of Specialists to carry out the activities that the Working Party has included in the programme of work. Some of the teams deal with Business Incubation; Business Advisory, Counselling and Information Services; Internet Enterprise Development; and others

Each team implements its own programme of work and reports annually to the Working Party, which will renew the team's mandate if the member States request further work in the particular area. The team’s work isgnificantly depends on external funding for field activities.

Substantial savings in transaction costs thanks to new UN trade instruments

“The international trade transaction costs in the world can be substantially reduced—by up to 60%—but this requires leadership, knowledge and effort”, said the Chairman of the Steering Group of the UN Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) whose Plenary met in Geneva under the auspices of ECE, 26-29 March 2001.

One of the most important recommendations of the meetings was that UN member States should support the promulgation of voluntary codes of conduct for electronic business so as to facilitate the development of international e-trade. Such codes could contain specific elements linked to transparency, privacy, and reliability of international transactions. For example, with regard to electronic signatures, the signing parties would agree on what reliable forms and technologies to accept for electronic signatures.   Another important result of the meeting was to standardise the UN Layout Key for Trade Documents, which means that trade forms such as invoice, orders, bills, be they on paper or in electronic format, will be the same throughout the world

UN/CEFACT also approved the rapid progress in the emerging international standard, ebXML.  This project, completed on time in May 2001, is a new global standard for electronic business that will especially benefit small and medium-sized companies in developed, developing and transition economies. To support the ebXML initiative, UN/CEFACT also adopted a new strategy for closer cooperation with industry. 

Europe's options on transport, environment and health

The High-level Meeting on Transport, Environment and Health, organized by ECE and the WHO Regional Office for Europe, met in Geneva on 4 May 2001 and examined the legal instruments required for drastically reducing the negative impact of transport on environment and health.  Current trends point that by 2010 passenger car use in Europe will have doubled compared to 1994 levels, and by 2030 it will have increased a further 150%. Road freight transport is expected to increase even more rapidly.  The present levels of air pollutants in European cities are estimated to cause between 40,000 and 130,000 premature deaths a year in adults over 30. Physical inactivity is the second most important risk factor for ill health, after tobacco smoking, in developed countries.

The need to bring together and fully involve the relevant stakeholders including those from transport, environment and health sectors, in finding solutions to the common concerns was initiated by the ECE Regional Conference on Transport and the Environment in Vienna 1997 and was further expanded by the London Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health, organized by WHO Regional Office for Europe in 1999, which added the health dimension to the work on transport and environment.

The High Level Meeting adopted a set of recommendations, which included the possible launching of negotiations of a Framework Convention on Transport, Environment and Health which would pave the way for strengthening integration among the transport, health and environmental sectors and securing the highest possible level of political commitment. The matter will be taken up at the second High Level Meeting, to be convened before the Rio +10 summit in Johannesburg in autumn 2002.  

Regional Workshop on Gender and Labour Markets in Transition Economy Countries

In the ECE countries with economies in transition, economic recession, the closure of plants, restructuring and the financial squeeze have had especially negative effects on women. The female labour force shrank as much as by over one third (Hungary) and one fourth (Latvia). Female jobs cuts in industry were related to the restructuring of light industries, such as textiles, which lost state support already in the early phase of transition (as opposed to male-dominated heavy industry) and the shedding of clerical positions in industrial enterprises.

The Workshop on Gender and Labour Markets in Transition Countries held in Warsaw, Poland from 15-17 January 2001 discussed how these negative trends could be reversed. It gathered over 80 participants from Eastern Europe, the Baltic states as well as from Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and other CIS countries and discussed not only women's losses on the labour market but also new job opportunities related to the development of private sector and entrepreneurship. Three areas of concern included: (i) how to prevent discrimination against women on the labour market; (ii) how to increase women's employability; (iii) how to ensure adequate social protection (unemployment benefits and pensions).

ECE contribution to the workshop focused on women’s entrepreneurship, which is an important avenue to improve the quality of women’s jobs, opening the way to top management positions, higher incomes and access to non-female sectors of activity. The workshop was organized jointly by ECE, UNIFEM and the World Bank.

Memorandum of Understanding between ECE and UNIFEM

On 14 February 2001, Ms. Danuta Hübner, Executive Secretary of ECE and Ms. Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director of UNIFEM signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) whereby they decided to establish a framework for collaboration and coordination based on the comparative advantages of their two agencies.

The areas covered by the MoU include: developing new initiatives aimed at introducing a gender perspective into macroeconomic analyses, policies and practices; improving gender responsiveness of legal and regulatory frameworks in central and eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States; building upon the United Nations norms and standards and using the Acquis Communautaire as one entry.

The first project in which ECE and UNIFEM will cooperate is on women's economic opportunities in central and eastern Europe and the CIS. The project aims to improve women's access to employment opportunities in three countries: Bulgaria, Kazakhstan and Poland within the context of privatization and globalization. 

Preparations for the World Summit on Sustainable Development

The preparations of the regional in-put to the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 are in full swing in the ECE region. ECE and UNEP’s office for Europe are preparing an assessment report on achievements and problems in implementing the Rio decisions. The report will also include priority setting for the future.

The regional preparatory meeting will be held 24-25 September back-to-back with the annual session of the Committee on Environmental Policy, possibly on Ministerial level. A Ministerial panel and a stakeholder forum are envisaged before the decision-making session. Ministers and high-level representatives from different relevant ministries are expected to attend this meeting.  

International trading language for bovine meat products

ECE announced adoption of an international trading language for bovine meat products.  Meat products in international trade have to comply with a variety of veterinary requirements to ensure that they are safe for consumption. However, even if these requirements are fulfilled, international trade remains difficult due to the different terminology and descriptions used in each country.

ECE, through its Specialized Section on Standardization of Meat, has prepared an international trading language for bovine meat products. This language will enable buyer and seller to communicate better and to facilitate trade. The standard also defines a coding system which will allow all relevant information defined in the standard to be easily transmitted electronically and traced.