Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-10-06-Speech-3-152"
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"en.19991006.4.3-152"2
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"Mr President, Members of Parliament, it is a generally recognised fact that the multilateral trading system has, over the last fifty years, guaranteed steady economic growth. The EU’s main priority in foreign relations is to establish and strengthen a multilateral trading system. The new round on the liberalisation of trade is a necessary and natural extension of earlier achievements. The EU has been pushing for a broad-based round of trade negotiations since 1996. In spite of the fact that there have been doubts in many countries about the advantages and benefits of a new round, all WTO Members are now very keen to have a new round. However, we do not agree on how broad-based the round should be
Sustainable development is the common objective of the Member countries mentioned in the WTO Agreement. Trade policy and environmental policy must support each other more effectively. For that reason, the Union considers it important that sustainable development is the basic principle behind the talks and that the environment is taken into account in all aspects of the round.
Direct foreign investment has grown faster this decade than trade. We wish to create a framework for the non-discriminatory use of investment around the world. At the same time that the WTO starts to draft an agreement on investment, which would safeguard the rights of international investors, we think we should also create a mechanism to ensure that investors act responsibly.
It is important for the Union to guarantee the future work of the WTO in the areas of trade and competition. We regard the development of multilateral principles of competition as an important part of the liberalisation of international trade, which we believe will remain limited, unless the WTO can prevent barriers from being erected by private companies and the distortions in trade that they create. In these areas also we must take account of the special needs of the less developed countries and ensure that they are accorded a certain degree of flexibility in the way they make progress.
The Union is strongly committed to the enhancement of democracy, the rule of law, and respect for human rights, which include fundamental employment rights. The EU therefore believes it is important that the next round pays attention to issues relating to the social dimension of trade. We must remember, however, that the less developed countries are strongly opposed to the discussion of so-called standards of employment in the WTO. They fear that debating basic rights of employment in the WTO is an attempt to undo the advantages they enjoy as a result of low labour costs.
It is naturally fundamental to the WTO talks that they should be transparent. If we are open internally we are strong and credible externally. We think it is important that Members of Parliament participate in the meeting of Ministers at Seattle. As the country holding the Presidency, we shall see to it that Parliament is kept informed and we shall take its views into account to the best of our ability. It is also worth noting that communications with NGOs have strengthened both at Community level and within the Member States.
We are living in a historic age. We will be in a new Millennium when the round of trade talks commences. While the new Millennium will bring with it challenges for the WTO, it must also reflect development. Including new subjects for discussion by the WTO is the answer to today’s challenges. They can have an impact on the progress that we hope for.
It is the objective of the country holding the Presidency that the draft conclusion of the Council should be approved in the General Affairs Council Monday. Immediately after the General Affairs Council, I will be reporting in detail to the Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy on 12 October on the common position of the Council in the light of the approved conclusions. Finally, to describe the conclusions briefly, they will by nature be primarily an expression of EU political will, containing a vision for the new Millennium. The conclusions will be directed at the public at large, and they will reconfirm at the same time the common objectives of the EU to commence a round of negotiations that features different topic areas.
The EU’s great challenge is to now convince the less developed countries and civil society of the benefits of a broad-based round. Finland, as the country holding the Presidency, will endeavour to ensure that the final decision on the commencement of the forthcoming round, the form it will take, and its agenda, will be taken at the meeting of WTO Ministers to be held in Seattle in November to December. The Union supports the commencement of broad-based WTO talks to take place in 2000. A round that is as broad-based as possible will guarantee a balanced end result, which will take account of the interests of all. As everyone knows, we will embark on negotiations to follow on from the decisions taken during the Uruguay round, at least on the issues of agriculture and services. This will be known as the ‘built-in agenda’. Unless we can convince other WTO Members of the advantages and benefits of a broad-based round, there is a danger that the talks will focus on agriculture alone, a matter in which the EU has important interests to defend.
The EU is also agreed that the outcome of the round must be approved as one package and by all WTO Members. In other words, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. However, this will not prevent results being achieved more quickly in some areas than others. We also have to insist that the results achieved impartially reflect all the views of the Members of the WTO.
The EU is also united in its call for a round to last approximately three years. We have to bear in mind that the EU objective of a broad-based round must fit in with both the United States’ sector-based and internally structured agenda and its policy to reduce tariffs as well as more qualified positions on the less developed countries. The less developed countries have called for
the Uruguay Agreement to be reviewed and amended to make its terms more favourable to them.
It is enormously important for the success of the Union’s objectives that the less developed countries are convinced of the advantages of a broad-based round and of the EU’s good intentions behind this objective. This means, firstly, that the EU should be able to discuss issues that are difficult for it also, such as dumping and the textiles industry. In other words, the EU must be open to the recommendations of other WTO Members. The industrialised countries must be able to offer the less developed countries concrete benefits rather than promises. The Union has been in the forefront of those pushing for exemption of duty on almost all products from the least developed countries by the time the new round ends. We hope that the other industrialised and better-developed countries, in addition to the EU, will give their approval to this objective.
I will briefly go over the most important topics the EU is proposing for the agenda for the next round.
It is of fundamental importance that agriculture can be practised everywhere in the European area, including regions where there are special problems. It must be made possible to preserve the countryside, protect nature and promote a thriving countryside. These form a part of a concept for which we have used the term ‘multifunctionality’. As an important exporter of food, the Union believes it is also important to improve access to markets and remove trade barriers in this new round. We are also ready to negotiate cuts in aid, provided that the so-called ‘peace clause’, and the ‘special safeguard clause’ remain. In addition, we must be able to respond to consumers’ worries about the quality and safety of wood, the protection of the environment and the welfare of animals.
The Union is also in favour of a broad-based WTO round with regard to services. We consider that no sector should be excluded from the talks. The EU’s position in the talks will be improved commitment to services and a broadening of the existing commitments by sector and by country. The EU believes it is important to support the participation of the less developed countries in the talks, with reference to the provisions of the agreement on services.
The Union believes that a regulated system is of benefit to all, as the effects of unilateral action are avoided. We support the fact that the new round of talks will enable new rules to be made and principles agreed in those sectors that are closely associated with international trade. These would be questions of the environment, investment and competition, for example. Our objective is to review and adapt the rules of trade to meet the demands of a globalised and integrated world economy. The WTO rules of the future must be fashioned in such a way that they enable us to take care of the environment and take responsibility for the non-discriminatory treatment of foreign investment. At the same time, we must ensure that the special needs of the less developed countries are taken account of and that they are accorded a certain degree of flexibility in the manner in which they adopt the new rules."@en1
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