Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-12-11-Speech-2-256"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20011211.11.2-256"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Madam President, Commissioner, at Doha, the fourth WTO ministerial conference had to set an agenda and a programme. It did this, so from that point of view it was a success. Yet for whom was it a success? It was, no doubt, Commissioner, a success for you, since you proved that you enjoy excellent health and the ability to work through the night. Talking of health issues, Doha was a real success as far as medicines are concerned, but it is chiefly due to Osama bin Laden that the poor people of the world owe their entitlement to access to medicines. In other words, if the USA had not been afraid of anthrax and had not, therefore, had to challenge Bayer’s intellectual property rights, they would not have given in.
Apart from that, what did we get out of Doha? The answer is, two things, a few clichés and a reprieve. The clichés are piling up. First of all there are those clichés about world trade leading to growth, stability, and of course peace. We had already signed a trade agreement in Marrakesh, and everyone knows that that agreement brought about peace in Gaza and in Palestine, and even peace in Afghanistan.
The second great cliché is that Europe would have held out, but was abandoned by Japan. The least developed countries, despite having been given everything except arms, also abandoned it. Korea has maybe stayed with it. The European Union is showing cracks. The French farmers are on their own again, apart from some support from Ireland. However, Europe did obtain a victory on the environment and social affairs. On the environment, the United States, which is not a party to the Kyoto agreement, did not associate itself with us, and on social affairs, all the European trade unions have expressed their highly negative opinions about Doha.
In addition, Europe obtained a reprieve. First of all there was the agricultural reprieve. Until the end of the negotiating round, and therefore until 2005, our farmers will have internal aid and restitutions. After that, we agreed that these will be abolished. However, the French representatives Jacques Chirac and Lionel Jospin called for a stay of execution so that they can get through the presidential elections without any trouble. They obtained that stay of execution for the CAP, which was facing the death penalty, so well, in fact, that when Poland accedes to Europe, Polish farmers will be deceived because they will be joining the Europe of the CAP when in fact, from 2005 onwards, there will no longer be one.
We also obtained a reprieve for foreign investments. The IMA was thrown out of the OECD window only to return through the WTO door. We also obtained a reprieve on pensions. The insurance companies will not immediately be able to appropriate this large market for themselves.
After Doha, therefore, we are left with the following situation: the European agricultural model has been broken up, the European cultural exception has been forgotten, and the long-term European social model is at risk. What will remain of Europe? It will be merely a vast free-trade area, and everyone knows that, according to Adam Smith, free trade equals national poverty."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples