Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-11-17-Speech-3-067"
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"en.19991117.3.3-067"2
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"Mr President, as a farmer I declare an interest. I join in the praise for the rapporteur, Mr Schwaiger, who has put much work into this excellent report. As draftsman for the Committee on Development and Cooperation, my interest is naturally on the effect a new WTO round will have on developing nations.
A week ago I was convinced that, with hard bargaining, there was some hope a deal could be struck to give a fair balance between providing reasonable protection to the EU industries and agriculture on the one hand and market access for developing countries’ goods on the other. Now that an agreement has been reached between the USA and China, I wonder what chance small nations like Lesotho or Swaziland have in a globalised free trade market. Only strong regional cooperation will give them a chance of survival.
This round on liberalisation of trade takes place at a time when the gap between developed and less-developed countries is continuing to grow. In fact, for large numbers of people in the least-developed countries, there are no benefits. The agenda of the Millennium Round comprises only agriculture and services, but the Commission rightly wants a much more comprehensive round.
As far as agriculture is concerned, the EU will be unable to avoid further concessions in market access. The EU cannot pay compensation to its agricultural producers and at the same time block market access for third countries. But, in return, the developing countries must improve their core environmental standards and accept that this is not yet another form of protectionism.
The Development Committee wants to see WTO rules that do not hamper eco-labelling schemes and green public purchasing. It also calls for a joint standing working party on trade, globalisation and labour issues to be set up by the ILO and the WTO. It calls for an in-depth revision of the TRIPS Agreement and stresses that the patenting of life must definitely be excluded from the TRIPS Agreement. It wants to see animal welfare included in discussions.
The EU must not be bullied by the USA into accepting an agreement that is detrimental to the developing world. US domination of the WTO must end."@en1
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"draftsman for the Committee on Development and Cooperation."1
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