New International Economic Order

The New World Economic Order ( NWWO, English New International Economic Order - Nieo; French Nouvel ordre économique international - Noei ) refers to a plan for reforming the international economic relations between developing countries and industrialized nations in favor of developing countries.

The steadily rising foreign debt and the existing differences in economic power and living conditions between developed and developing countries have led to the demand for a change in the world economic relations. The original idea goes back to the Havana Conference in 1948. A list of demands was drawn up by developing countries since the early sixties. The demand for a New International Economic Order was first formally expressed by developing countries in 1973 according to UNCTAD III in Santiago de Chile in response to the oil crisis. On May 9, 1974, the UN General Assembly adopted the "Declaration on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order", in which the developing countries themselves more favorable conditions in the raw material policy and international trade, increased industrialization, a general debt relief, a change in the world monetary system, increased development aid and a new law of the sea demand. On December 12, 1974, the " Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States " was adopted by the UN General Assembly by Resolution 3281. UNCTAD convenes this every 4 years.

An essential element of the claims is the " Integrated Programme for Commodities ", to be achieved by the more stable and more appropriate for 18 commodities prices. From a common fund two tasks should be addressed:

• The formation of buffer stock (so-called "buffer stocks" ) to offset price fluctuations, which the same is to be achieved at high world market price by buying up raw materials at low world market price and selling.
• Research, development and production improvement for raw materials, for which no buffer stocks eligible to be funded to improve the market structure and competitiveness

An agreement to stabilize prices through buffer stock exists at present only for rubber, which, however, expired in 2001 (see German Bundestag 2002, p.3). There are conventions, the olive oil, beef, wheat, jute, tropical timber, sugar, coffee and cocoa concern, but they do not contain provisions regulating market, but serve the market transparency and the exchange of information.

Criticism

Developed countries see in the Integrated Programme for Commodities, especially the high financial requirements for storage, the risk of overproduction, the artificially high cost of raw materials, with corresponding disadvantages for end users and the punishment of the resource-rich developing countries at the expense of poorer ones. Therefore, the Federal Republic of Germany has developed its own model for the stabilization of commodity revenues. According to all developing countries that derive their export revenues to more than 50 % of raw materials and can have a decline in exports that exceeds a certain threshold show, especially get cheap loans. However, criticism of the NWWO also comes from developing countries, as they see it as a solution for the existing shortcomings, because in their eyes the current world economic integration of developing countries is the cause of the problems. They therefore call for a disengagement from the world market and an independent development in the economic, social and cultural fields, based on the use of national resources ( decoupling strategy).