Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-01-16-Speech-3-255"
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"en.20020116.17.3-255"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner Nielson, ladies and gentlemen, the new agreement on cooperation and development, the Cotonou Agreement, constitutes a significantly improved framework for cooperation with the ACP States. It is an agreement that we emphatically support, one in which the significant improvements in terms of content and policy originated in proposals by Parliament. We do not, therefore, share either the rapporteur's highly critical assessment or his reasons for it. Indeed, we take the view that it is something of a caricature.
Let me, in response to the rapporteur's analysis, list three points in favour. Firstly, the establishment of a parliamentary assembly represents genuine progress, in that, after an appropriate preparatory period, ACP States will be represented only by freely elected parliamentarians, rather than by ambassadors, as is still to some extent the case. This principle must not only be incorporated into the new rules of procedure of our Joint Assembly, but also put into practice. We will vote against the admittance of any ACP ambassador if, for example, he displaces freely elected African delegates.
The second is the regional approach to cooperation, also originating in proposals by this Parliament, which puts an end to economic parochialism in Africa. Our cooperative effort must in future be focused on regional free trade and cooperation agreements. We insist that our regional parliamentary cooperation should begin on the ground this very year, for example subsequent to our Southern African meeting in Cape Town in March or our meeting with ECOWAS in the course of the year.
Thirdly, we support the reinforcement of the clause on democracy and human rights, which we believe must be speedily implemented. Let me mention only Nigeria, Togo and Zimbabwe as examples of why this is so. We hope that this will bring about genuine parliamentary partnership with our fellow parliamentarians in Africa and elsewhere in the ACP countries."@en1
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