– by Tarartia

Charmerout IV – Trantalis. The Charmerout Heads of Government Annual Meeting (CHOGAM) is scheduled to commence tomorrow on Charmerout IV. The week-long event is being hosted in the diplomatic district of the system capital, Trantalis, and political leaders have been arriving from all over Charmerout System during the last few days.

Last year, the meeting was held on the Federal Administration station over Charmerout IX, and covered such issues as the growing number of economic migrants from both the Cladari State and Minmatar Republic fleeing the ongoing factional war, and the local increase in Serpentis activity within the system.

This year, the main topic of discussion will be the effects of Universalisation and the impending ratification of the Planetary Improvement (PI) clause under the wider Gallente Federation Free Trade Agreement (GAFFTA). The PI clause formalises into one agreement the numerous treaties between the Federation and individual star systems that hold that the rights to under-utilised natural resources are administered by Federal authority. This includes the multitude of the uninhabited planets in the Federation that have until this point languished for want of investment incentives, especially in the lower security regions.

Critics of the PI clause have dubbed it the ‘Tyranis’ treaty, due to provisions that give industrial barons amongst the capsuleer class privileged access to claim and develop planetary resources almost without any oversight by the Federation. This provision is highly controversial and many fear the growing power being granted to the newest emerging class in Gallente society. The welfare interests of billions of planetary inhabitants are literally being handed over to a few thousand elites, with little governmental regulation to enforce ethical standards of treatment.

The Planetary Improvement bill will also have immense ramifications for the individual system governments and the interstellar corporations, albeit with more regulatory restrictions than have been imposed upon the capsuleers. Ratification of the controversial bill is set to open up for exploitation many of the planetary resources that are held in public trust by the Federation. Individual systems effectively lose discretionary rights over the economic development approval process, and in return system governments will be granted an ongoing gratuity proportional to the estimated value of the under-utilised planetary resources contained within their systems. This gratuity will be supplemented by a tax levied against resource developers. Additionally, the Federal Treasury is underwriting taxation offsets aimed at improving cash-flow for systems governments compliant with the ratification deadline.

The deadline for Federation-wide ratification of the PI clause is set for mid-next week, although Charmerout is said to be compliant and ready for the transition now. System President, Claudius Farn-Roth, stated last month: “Charmerout is ready for PI. This agreement merely formalises the existing treaties with the Federation under the GAFFTA, and introduces additional controls. Actually, it plugs up some legislative loopholes that have allowed disreputable operators to evade responsibility in the past, and introduces incentives for the sustainable development of resources in Charmerout”.

Oitus Jamril, leader of the Progressive Liberal Party, has called for a delay to the Charmerout ratification of PI to conduct a series of impact studies to determine social and economic effects of the changes, and to legislate regulatory controls for capsuleer industrialists operating within Charmerout space.

But resistance to the looming ratification of the ‘Tyranis’ treaty seems unlikely to gain political traction within Charmerout. The President has emphatically had the last word. “Ratification of PI will happen for Charmerout in accordance with the timeframe laid out by the Federation. Any talk of delay is nonsense!”

PI Debate Continues As Ratification Date Approaches

Wider afield, critics of the so-called Tyranis treaty claim that the Federal protection measures do not go far enough to ensure that development projects will not adversely affect indigenous populations and delicate natural environments. It is feared that by opening up planetary improvement rights in a single stroke Federation-wide, there will be a rush by large interstellar corporations and independent industrial barons to exploit these resources without regard to human rights or environmental impacts.

Others anticipate numerous unpredictable economic consequences arising from the resource rush, the burden of which will inevitably be borne by the least privileged in Gallente society. This concern is felt with extra-special anxiety in the Low-Sec regions, where the influence of Federation authority is less pronounced.

Charmerout’s-own delegate to the Federal Human Rights and Justice Commission, Gillian Hugoparez, said of the PI clause: “Big business has everything to gain and the little guy has everything to lose under this arrangement. PI has the potential to subjugate billions of people to corporate slavery in a tidal wave of greed. Forcing this down our throats is like something we would expect to occur in the Caldari State, not the Gallente Federation!”

Federation Treasurer, Waldron Swallsomne, has been critical of dissent, saying “PI will bring immeasurable prosperity to the Federation by blowing out the cobwebs of administrative red-tape, as represented by the total hodge-podge arrangement in place where the systems held the power of discretionary approval, while the Federation administered the rights to the resources”.

Stopping short of accusing the system governments of corruption, Swallsomne added “The old arrangement didn’t work, as there was no incentive for the systems to approve projects when there was nothing in it for them. What we had were numerous local approval processes that were impossible to regulate as a central authority. Put simply, the old way retarded economic growth, while the new system will bring about a well-deserved golden age for the Federation”.

Linking the PI clause to the ongoing conflict with the Caldari State, Swallsomne continued with a thinly veiled threat: “This is a vital economic measure that will enable our society to prosper in these times of conflict. Any system that fails to implement the clause by the ratification date endangers its claim to a share of the Treasury gratuity, and will be viewed in the harshest of possible terms”.

The GAFFTA reforms are being closely watched by the other Empires of New Eden. It has been reported in interstellar media that the other three powers are considering adopting similar measures in the face of depressing economic conditions due to the ongoing state of interstellar conflict. But with the ratification date for PI drawing close, Charmerout has seen a flurry of speculative survey activity take place, and clearly, as many people are looking forward to the new opportunities as there are those who look on with trepidation.