Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-12-11-Speech-2-271"
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"en.20011211.11.2-271"2
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"Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, before Pascal Lamy sums up the discussion as a whole, please permit me a few remarks on the subject of agriculture. I see the most important success at Doha as having been the formulation now contained in the Doha Declaration, which gives us the chance to decide for ourselves the direction we will take in agricultural policy. That is both an opportunity and a responsibility. It is an opportunity because, unlike in the Uruguay Round, we are not so much standing with our backs to the wall in a situation in which, while we continually just said 'no', the other parties to the WTO Treaty determined the direction of future policy. It is, though, also a responsibility in so far as this outcome does not mean that we do not have to make further appropriate developments to our agricultural policy. It is this task that now faces us, and it is one that we must take very seriously.
The criticism from some quarters has been that we, the rich part of the world, continue to exploit the developing countries with the help of our refunds on exports. I take a somewhat different view of this. I believe we should not ourselves make the mistake of hanging on to old images of a former agricultural policy. Four per cent of the Community budget is hardly going to put the whole world's agricultural trade out of true, and we use no more than 4% of the total Budget for the promotion of exports. I also, by the way, take the view that we really have nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to imports. The European Union alone imports more agricultural produce from the developing countries than do the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan put together.
Various speakers have rightly pointed out that the work is only just beginning, something for which we will have to make proper preparations. It goes without saying that we will make our further preparations in consultation with Parliament. What still matters above all, though, is working at convincing others. We cannot assume that our ideas about the future of agriculture will be accepted elsewhere in the world without needing to be explained. I cordially invite you to join with us in carrying on this work of persuasion together.
Let me conclude with heartfelt thanks for the many compliments we have received today. I see them, though, more as an appeal to us to carry out our responsibilities in the future."@en1
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