Study Guide - World Model United Nations

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The mandate of the OECD covers economic, environmental, political, and social issues. The precursor of the OECD, the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC), was established in 1957 to administer American and Canadian aid under the Marshall Plan for the reconstruction of Europe following World War II. “Determined to avoid the mistakes of their predecessors in the wake of World War I, European leaders realized that the best way to ensure lasting peace was to encourage co-operation and reconstruction, rather than punish the defeated.” 1 The OEEC functioned to promote co-operation between participating countries, develop intra-European trade, study the feasibility of creating a customs union or free trade area, study muli-laterlisation of payments, and achieve conditions for better unitilization of labor. Organized along fifteen vertical and five horizontal technical committees, the 18 Harvard WorldMUN 2012 nation committee was responsible for handling a variety of European economic concerns including food and agriculture, iron and steel, and even balance of payment coordination. Inspired by OEEC’s cooperative achievements, the Rome Treaties created the Convention on the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, which enhanced the OEEC and extended membership to the United States and Canada. Since it superseded the OEEC in 1961, the OECD has moved beyond a focus on its own countries and has aimed to achieve the highest sustainable economic growth in its member countries, to improve market system efficiency, to encourage industrialization among developing countries, and to expand free trade. 2 For instance, in May of 2001 the Organization has launched a Green Growth Strategy initiative, which provides a practical framework for governments to boost economic growth while also Signing of the OECD Convention, 1960. (http://www.oecd.org) OECD 8
protecting the environment. In South Africa, the OECD is establishing a sovereign debt management center in order to create a stronger securities market. Meanwhile, in Europe the OECD has been helping EU government’s design and implement deficit reduction strategies. 3 Not only has the Organization expanded its policy area considerations, but also the OECD has come to analyze how various policy areas interact with each other, across countries, and beyond the OECD. For instance, in considering interactions between social and economic operations, the OECD analyzes how globalization opens new growth opportunities and triggers new social attitudes such as trade protectionism. Undoubtedly, “as it opens to many new contacts around the world, the OECD will broaden its scope, looking ahead to a post-industrial age in which it aims to tightly weave OECD economies into a yet more prosperous and increasingly knowledge-based world economy.” 4 The OECD consists of three major bodies: the Secretariat, OECD committees, and the Council. The OECD Secretariat collects and analyses data, after which committees discuss policy, the Council makes decisions, and then the Secretariat helps governments implement recommendations. In order to discuss and formulate ideas, representatives of the 34 OECD member countries meet in some 250 committees, working groups and expert groups to advance and review progress in specific policy areas. Approximately 40,000 senior officials from both member and nonmember countries attended OECD committee meetings each year and relay information back to their national governments. The decision-making powers of the OECD, however, are exclusively vested in the Council. This body is made up of delegations from each member country plus a representative of the European Commission. At the level of permanent representatives, the OECD meets regularly and takes decisions by consensus. At the ministerial level, the OECD meets once a year to set OECD priorities. All the work discussed by the committees and mandated by the Council is implemented by the Secretariat. This branch, headed by Angel Gurría, is made up of some 2,500 economists, lawyers, and scientists who collect data, support the activities of the OECD committees, Harvard WorldMUN 2012 and prioritize OECD objectives. 5 The OECD differs from other intergovernmental organizations and in particular from the United Nations because it has neither supranational legal powers nor financial resources, and therefore functions to solely direct co-operation among Member countries. Co-operation means that, using soft-law provisions, the OECD motivates Member countries to adapt domestic politics to minimize international conflict. In other words, the OECD is a forum that facilitates discussion, negotiation, and collaboration. “Discussions at OECD committee-level sometimes evolve into negotiations where OECD countries agree on rules of the game for international co-operation. They can culminate in formal agreements by countries, for example on combating bribery, on arrangements for export credits, or on the treatment of capital movements. They may produce standards and models, for example in the application of bilateral treaties on taxation, or recommendations, for example on crossborder co-operation in enforcing laws against spam. They may also result in guidelines, for example on corporate governance or environmental practices.” 6 The implementation of OECD proceedings is stipulated in Article 5 of the bylaws, which enables the OECD to take decisions that may be binding on all of its Members, to make recommendations to Member countries, and to enter into agreements with Members, non-members and international organizations in order to achieve its aims. Thus, the primarily enforcement mechanism is based on mutual examination, mutual surveillance, and peer review carried out at committeelevel. Using this collaborative process, OECD participants, which account for 80% of world trade and investment, regularly turn to one another to identity, analyze and solve international challenges facing the world economy. t o p I c A: e c o n o m I c d e v e l o p m e n t I n t H e europeAn unIon Statement of the Problem Productivity is a measure of output per input of production. For instance, labor productivity is the ratio of production output per labor hours worked. OECD 9
Page 1 and 2: Organization for Economic Cooperati
Page 3 and 4: KATHLEEN TANG Secretary-General SAM
Page 5 and 6: KATHLEEN TANG Secretary-General SAM
Page 7: 3. Third, the OECD is looking to fo
Page 11 and 12: some progress, it would not reach i
Page 13 and 14: ICT. In Europe, a lag can be explai
Page 15 and 16: pressure to reinvigorate its econom
Page 17 and 18: goals, it must increase transparenc
Page 19 and 20: What should the European community
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Page 23 and 24: development in host countries. On t
Page 25 and 26: epatriate. Yet, restrictive-investm
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Page 31 and 32: and East Asia, MNCs have “diversi
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Page 35 and 36: Consequences and Responses, Brussel
Page 37: 23 Opening to the world: Internatio

Study Guide - World Model United Nations

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