Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-10-06-Speech-3-162"
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"en.19991006.6.3-162"2
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"Mr President, I believe that the question that concerns all of us here is not whether or not multilateral rules are necessary to provide a framework for world trade. We unanimously recognise the need for such rules. The problem, in my view, is to know whether the World Trade Organisation is functioning on the basis of rules which are equitable and able to help the world, and not just Europe, to progress towards sustainable development.
The replies that I have heard from the Council especially, and to a lesser extent from Commissioner Lamy, make me think that it is begging the question. We have started from the hypothesis that there is clearly no contradiction between these two objectives and therefore the desire is to extend the field of competence of this organisation without having answered, through reasoned argument, what seems to me to be a fundamental question. We have five years of experience from which we can say that, in a certain number of significant cases such as hormones in animal rearing, bananas and GMOs, the record is far from brilliant. We note that the consequences are negative upon the functioning of the European Union’s policies and also, I feel able to say, those of certain developing countries. Also, we note a lack of action on the part of the European Commission when it senses the possibility of conflict with the WTO. We therefore in advance give in to certain demands which may be made by trading partners in order to avoid conflicts. So much for internal policies.
As for foreign policy, I think we should insist on the fact that we do not only have commercial commitments, but we are also bound by multilateral agreements on the environment and international conventions on respect for human rights and that these commitments, in my opinion, an opinion which I believe is shared by many colleagues, have a value on both an ethical and a political level which is more important than free trade.
We believe that these values cannot be called into question by the functioning of the WTO. We have no choice but to state that there is contradiction at the very heart of the texts of the WTO, the agreements and the statutes. Two principles form the basis of the functioning of the WTO. On the one hand, the prevention of discrimination between products for which the production processes are different, that is to say in particular the environmental or social conditions under which the product is produced. On the other hand, the fact that it is necessary to reduce to a minimum the negative effects on free trade of any political measure aimed at public health, the protection of the environment or social protection. These are two examples of the basic principles of this organisation which go against the objectives which we are trying to defend.
In conclusion, Mr President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, Commissioner, we believe that an evaluation prior to any expansion of the competences of the WTO is essential and that, otherwise, we are doing nothing more than applying a liberalist ideology."@en1
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