Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-09-02-Speech-1-070"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20020902.7.1-070"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
". – Mr President, the Commission very much welcomes Mr Deva's report on trade and development for poverty eradication and food security. The report is timely because of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, which is taking place at this moment in Johannesburg. It should also be seen in the context of the commitments made at the Doha Ministerial Conference last November and the Monterrey Conference on Financing for Development last March.
I am convinced that the Doha negotiations will make a great contribution towards making the multilateral trading system and its rules more development-friendly.
In relation to the third aspect – mainstreaming trade in development cooperation – the European Union has already made important progress over the past few years. The Community's development policy, based on the Commission's communication of April 2000, identified trade as one of six priorities for its development assistance. I would also like to draw your attention to the Commission's communication in February of this year on a global partnership for sustainable development. Furthermore the Commission is at present working on a communication on trade and development, which will describe how mainstreaming trade should go well beyond technical assistance and embrace capacity building, training, institutional support, the preparation of fiscal reform and assistance for adjustment on the supply side.
The involvement of civil society and the private sector, including large corporations, which figures prominently in Mr Deva's report, is also essential.
I am pleased to say that over the past years around EUR 640 million were allocated by the Union for trade-related assistance, of which about 61% went to the ACP Group, 14% to Latin America and 12% to the Mediterranean. For the current ACP programming exercise for the ninth EDF, between 40 and 50% of the regional indicative programmes – EUR 280 to 350 million – is earmarked for trade-related assistance in the broad sense. In addition, up to EUR 50 million have been pledged for new programmes with ACP-wide scope. The Union is also the main provider of funds for the Global Trust Fund created for technical assistance provided by the World Trade Organisation in support of the Doha development agenda.
For the Commission, regional integration is very much part and parcel of a strategy of opening the economy and taking advantage of trading opportunities. Regional integration initiatives among developing countries, South-South integration, can contribute to their effective integration into the global economy and to the multilateral system, provided that they are outwardly oriented and lead to lower external barriers. Therefore the Union is committed to continuing its support for realistic South-South integration. At the same time it is stepping up its efforts to use North-South integration to stimulate deeper and more effective integration within the South. This approach should be reflected in the economic partnership agreements between ACP regional groupings and the Union.
Among the industrial countries, the European Union took a lead last year with the Everything But Arms initiative. All exports from the least-developed countries, except arms, can enter the EU market without restriction. Only for three products – rice, sugar and bananas – is there a transition period. The benefits of this initiative for the least-developed countries would be greatly enhanced if the other industrial countries, as well as the larger trading nations among the developing countries, were to make a similar gesture.
In conclusion, I should like to say that Mr Deva's report makes a constructive and far-reaching contribution in helping to define strategies to allow developing countries to take advantage of trade and globalisation in order to attain the fundamental development objectives of poverty eradication and food security.
The Commission can benefit from this analysis and assessment during the forthcoming multilateral and regional negotiations. A regular dialogue on this with Parliament is most welcome.
It is also timely as negotiations on economic partnership agreements will be launched with the African, Caribbean and Pacific States at the end of this month. The European Union, as the largest trade bloc in the world and the largest source of foreign direct investment and official development assistance, has an important role to play.
I am pleased to note that the Union's imports from developing countries have been rising by 15% per year over the past seven years. This is much faster than the imports from other countries. At the same time, I am aware that many developing countries, particularly the least-developed countries, have not fully shared in this growth. Much more needs to be done.
The motion for a resolution and Mr Deva's report are broad in scope – and rightly so. The Commission welcomes the overall thrust of the analysis and recommendations. Indeed, while there is no doubt that trade can potentially contribute to development, poverty eradication and food security, the actual contribution depends on enabling policies and institutions being in place.
I can assure you that the Commission will pay close attention to honouring the negotiating commitments made towards the developing countries in Doha. The Doha development agenda will address the improvement of market access, new trade rules that take into account the needs of developing countries and the further mainstreaming of trade matters into development and cooperation.
As to access, and the area of agriculture which is of particular interest to many developing countries, the Doha Declaration states that 'Building on the work carried out to date and without prejudging the outcome of negotiations we commit ourselves to comprehensive negotiations aimed at substantial improvements in market access; reductions of, with a view to phasing out, all forms of export subsidies; and substantial reductions in trade-distorting domestic support.'
For non-agricultural products, the Doha Declaration foresees: '... negotiations which shall aim ... to reduce or as appropriate eliminate tariffs, including the reduction or elimination of tariff peaks, high tariffs and tariff escalation, as well as non-tariff barriers, in particular on products of export interest to developing countries.'
Needless to say, this is an ambitious negotiating agenda, but one of great relevance for developing countries. As regards rule-making, several subjects of great importance for developing countries will be covered: intellectual property, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, competition, trade facilitation, government procurement and investment.
The provisions applying to regional trade agreements are another subject of negotiation. These negotiations will need to take into account the developmental aspects of regional trade agreements. Furthermore, the provisions for special and differential treatment in favour of developing countries will be reviewed with a view to strengthening them and making them more precise, effective and operational."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples