What Next For EU Burma Policy?

Burma Briefing No. 9

The European Union has a common foreign policy on Burma, known as a Common Decision. The Common Decision currently has to be renewed every April. EU members are now debating what changes, if any, there should be to the Common Decision, taking into account ‘elections’ held in November 2010, the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, and the publication of the National League For Democracy’s policy paper on sanctions on Burma, following its review of sanctions policy.

This paper looks at the four main demands set by the EU when it last renewed its Common Position, and finds that none have been met.
The paper also looks at how the European Union should respond to the recent National League for Democracy (NLD) review of Burma sanctions, and the failure of the EU to support the recommendation of the UN Special Rapporteur on Burma, that the UN establish a Commission of Inquiry into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma.

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