Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-12-11-Speech-2-047"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20011211.3.2-047"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, Madam President-in-Office of the Council, ladies and gentlemen, in order to convey a realistic impression of what the Doha agreement means for agriculture, I would like to very briefly touch upon the individual points of the Doha declaration. The first part of the declaration concerns the general objective of agricultural negotiations within the framework of the WTO, that is to say the creation of a fair and market-oriented trading system. At the same time it also acknowledges the work that has been done since the beginning of 2000 under the ‘Article 20 negotiations’.
I would like to conclude with the comment that the satisfactory outcome of the Doha Conference does not necessarily mean that the forthcoming agricultural negotiations will now be straightforward. The objectives of the other major WTO members are in some cases very different indeed from our own, but we will do our utmost to secure the European agricultural model and at the same time to negotiate a fair and more market-oriented trading system for agricultural products.
Things will very much depend on our continuing success in achieving a common approach on the part of the Member States, and your support will assist us in this respect. Another thing that will help us is continuation of the excellent cooperation that we have had with the Council and also within the Commission on this issue.
The next section deals with the traditional three pillars of trade: market access, exports, and competition and domestic support measures. In the case of market access, the text settled on was "comprehensive negotiations aimed at substantial improvements in market access". This reflects the conclusions of the Agriculture Council on 27 September 1999, in which the importance of further liberalisation of agricultural trade as a contribution towards sustainable economic growth was recognised.
The term ‘comprehensive negotiations’ means that all agricultural products can be covered by the negotiations, and also that all issues should be covered. In this connection we also made it clear that geographical information should also be included here.
With regard to export subsidies, the declaration talks about reductions in all forms of export subsidies, in other words exactly what this House called for in its resolution in October. It is also stated that the negotiations should aim to phase out all forms of export subsidies completely. However, the text also clearly indicates that none of the statements on the three pillars should anticipate the outcome of the negotiations. There is therefore at present no commitment to negotiate the total elimination of export subsidies during this round.
However, we also know that there is a broad coalition against continuing export subsidies. The Cairns Group, the USA and the 77 Group of developing countries all spoke out against continuing export subsidies. As regards domestic support, the text refers to substantial reductions in competition-distorting domestic support. This is also in line with your own resolution, which called for the rejection of competition-distorting measures, and it corresponds to our own mandate, which commits us to negotiate on domestic support while retaining the concept of the blue box and green box. We consciously chose the word ‘concept’ to indicate that we are perfectly willing to negotiate on the details of the blue box and the green box. The extent of distortion of competition will be a key element of all discussions relating to domestic support.
Another important point is the special and differential treatment of the developing countries. I know that one of your own priorities is to integrate the developing countries in international trade. The wording of the Doha declaration is in accordance with this objective and it also matches the Council mandate of 1999.
Lastly, the text deals with non-trade concerns. The proposals that the WTO Member States put forward in Geneva in this area are specifically recognised. As you know, the European Union too presented a raft of proposals on the most important non-trade concerns, such as the environment, the development of rural regions, food security, consumer affairs, labelling and animal protection. By specifically recognising non-trade concerns, the Doha declaration allows us to pursue these objectives further in forthcoming negotiations. The last section contains the timetable for agreeing on methodology, 31 March 2003, and the deadlines for presenting the comprehensive drafts. This is to take place before the next WTO ministerial conference, so that agreement on agriculture can be reached at the same time as the overall package, by 1 January 2005.
Apart from the purely agricultural part of the text, I would also like to point out that the section on the TRIPS Agreement also deals with the issue of geographical information. This will enable us to pursue our objectives in the negotiations on geographical information and in the agricultural negotiations, and also in the TRIPS negotiations.
Finally, in parallel to the decision on the start of the Doha development round, agreement was also reach on the ACP waiver, which allows us to conclude the solution negotiated with the USA and Ecuador to bring an end to the banana war. This means that the proposal the Commission has already put forward can be accepted, as soon as you here in the European Parliament have adopted your position on this, which I hope will happen in the course of this week."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples