Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-11-14-Speech-2-156"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20001114.6.2-156"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
". – Mr President, there is as you know a saying in English that when the star does not appear in a show it is rather like a performance of Hamlet without the first grave digger. In the temporary, but wholly understandable, absence of my honourable friend at the beginning of this debate I was tempted to say that this would be like Hamlet without the prince, but I am delighted that he is with us in order to contribute his wisdom and good sense to this extremely important debate which is taking place at the honourable Member's initiative.
We all have an interest in ensuring that MEDA is tightly focused on the right objectives. We intend to do that through a close dialogue with partners at all stages. But there is no escaping the fact that the partners who have faced up to the challenges inherent in the association process are the ones who should get most support.
As far as human rights are concerned, we propose a structural approach looking at the performance of countries over time. But here again we should be frank. A country which has serious doubts raised about its record on human rights, democracy and the rule of law and is not prepared to discuss these matters transparently will not find it easy to fit into the new world pattern and it will be less likely to prosper in the longer term.
I just want to say one more thing about MEDA and the reform of our external aid which is relevant to debates which Members are having elsewhere.
In order to ensure that we deliver more rapidly in the Mediterranean and elsewhere in the world, we need – as Members accept rationally and intellectually – more resources to actually manage our programmes and the Commission has put forward what are sensible proposals for doing that. There are some Members who think that we should put those extra resources into the reserve until we have accomplished certain other objectives.
I say to Members of Parliament, in all good faith, that there comes a moment when you have to trust us and when you have to let us try to do the job, because we cannot conceivably implement our plans more effectively if the people we need to manage them are not made amiable until we have actually demonstrated that we can manage things more effectively. It is a crazy situation to put us in so I beg all honourable Members who have any influence on these matters to recognise that, if we are to be serious about the reform process, then you have to give us the opportunity to demonstrate whether we can be as good as our word or not. If we cannot we will have to take the consequences, and the Commissioner for External Affairs will have to take the consequences in due course, but do not put us in a position in which the ends are willed but you do not give us the means until after we have demonstrated that we can achieve the ends. It makes no sort of sense whatsoever. It is an issue which is extremely important to all the Mediterranean countries and I hope I will be able to assure them this week that it is our firm intention to do a great deal better in the delivery of our programmes in future.
I hope that all the Ministers who gather in Marseilles will recognise the need to agree on this set of realistic proposals to reinvigorate the Barcelona process precisely now that the Middle East is suffering serious difficulties.
I will be glad to inform Parliament about the results of the Marseilles meeting at the earliest possible opportunity. We have committed in the past huge resources to this partnership. We have not managed them as well as we should have done but we have committed huge resources and that reflects the priority which Parliament, the Commission and the Council give to strengthening the partnership around our "middle sea".
In the next few years the success of that partnership will be even more important than ever and I hope that, at Marseilles this week and in subsequent weeks, we manage to ensure that this whole enterprise has even more impulse and energy in it than it has had in the past.
(
)
As the Minister said a moment ago, the Euro-Mediterranean Conference in Marseilles this week takes place against the background of the persisting crisis in the Middle East peace process. We had all hoped that the circumstances would be a great deal better, and they almost were a great deal better. Many of us were delighted, even surprised, by the extent of the progress which seemed to have been made this summer at Camp David and we gave a great deal of applause to President Clinton and his administration for all they had done to move things forward. We came so close, which makes the difficulties, the tragedy of recent weeks, all the more sad. With the agency reports this morning and this afternoon the news continues to be grim. The current difficulties should encourage us to redouble our efforts to promote cooperation in the Euro-Mediterranean framework.
Nobody would seek to deny that the Barcelona process and the Middle East peace process are interconnected. The breakthrough in Euro-Mediterranean relations at Barcelona was made possible partly by the breakthrough at Madrid and then the Oslo Accords. It is also true that setbacks in the pre-peace process have slowed down the progress of Barcelona. That is a fact that, alas, we have to live with. But we should not forget that the Barcelona process has progressed over five years. This has happened despite all the difficulties in the Middle East.
One thing is abundantly plain. We must not allow the Barcelona process to become a hostage to the Middle East peace process. Barcelona has its own momentum. It has its own objectives which remain wholly valid. We all have an interest in demonstrating both resilience and ambition in Marseilles this week.
The Commission has been encouraged by the generally positive reaction to the proposals that we set out on reinvigorating the Barcelona process, both in the European Union and among the Mediterranean partners. Perhaps I can just touch on some of the main elements in the strategic approach we have suggested that I hope will meet some agreement at Marseilles.
Firstly, speeding up negotiation and ratification of the association agreements. First of all with Egypt but also Algeria, Syria and Lebanon. We in fact completed our negotiations with Egypt almost 18 months ago and I wish that we could now rapidly proceed to initialling the agreement and then in due course to full signature.
I would also like to see us commencing more serious negotiations on association agreements with the other countries. We put forward the argument that we should tackle the sensitive issue of agricultural trade. We should review, in our judgment, what needs to be done to ensure that the agreements are fully WTO compatible by the end of the transitional period. We argue for enhancing south-south trade by encouraging the signature of free trade agreements between the partners. In this context the Commission undertakes to provide technical assistance on crucial items such as rules of origin and customs matters. We want to see the bringing together of policies on single market issues and agreement to introduce cumulation of origin side-by-side with the sub-regional free trade arrangements for all partners entering into free trade with each other and adopting the harmonised protocol on rules of origin.
We also want to see an increase in the attractiveness of the region to investors. In addition to economic reforms, the newly created networks of cooperation among investment promotion agencies and among employers' federations will help, as should the introduction of a new regional risk capital facility. Reaching agreement on a new regional programme on justice and home affairs covering migration in the widest sense, the fight against organised crime and cooperation on judicial matters is another subject on which we hope we can have a good exchange of views.
Then there is the issue which I know we had many opportunities of debating in this Chamber: that of improving the delivery of MEDA. The revision of the MEDA regulation and the reform already announced of the Commission's external aid system will help to achieve this and will also lead to more human resources being available. By decentralising the delivery of aid, we shall involve partners much more in all stages of policy formulation and implementation."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples