Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-05-17-Speech-3-203"
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"en.20000517.11.3-203"2
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"Mr President, I gather that this question refers to the issue of culture within the WTO. As you will be aware, when the Council’s mandate for the Seattle Summit was being prepared, many Member States were particularly careful to stress cultural aspects and, above all, the European Union’s need to adopt a very firm position in these negotiations on protecting the specific nature of culture. I would therefore remind you that in the conclusions of the Council meeting on 26 October on the preparation of the Seattle Ministerial Conference, the idea was expressed that during the forthcoming WTO negotiations, the Union would try to ensure, as it did in the Uruguay Round, that the Member States which comprise the Community would be able to preserve their cultural diversity by maintaining their own cultural and audiovisual policies.
Honourable Members will be as aware as I am of the fate that befell the launch of the new round of WTO negotiations in Seattle, which has, of course, led to delays in addressing issues of this kind. Nevertheless, it is worth noting that within the specific framework of the GATT agreement, that is, of the General Agreement on Trade in Services, it was specified that negotiations on the so-called built-in agenda would have to begin on 1 January 2000. These negotiations have begun, but there has been no substantial change of position so far – which is something of an understatement – with regard to progress on these issues, given that this whole process is obviously linked to the start of the overall negotiating process. I can also tell you that the Council believes that there is no way that a satisfactory start can be made to the process this year."@en1
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