Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-01-30-Speech-4-012"
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"en.20030130.1.4-012"2
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"Developing countries that are in crisis are a good reason to call for more attention to be paid to the food shortage and its relationship with trade.
The resolution deals with problems that lie at the root of the crisis of which the food shortage is the persistent result. The global economic recession is certainly taking its toll. Economic decline hits poor countries hardest. This concept is extremely relevant to the relationship between hunger and trade, although it is not mentioned in the joint resolution. This omission soon results in poor countries being shown up as being insufficiently willing to liberalise or as having domestic structures that are too weak to cope with healthy economic development.
In addition to this cause of acute food shortages, I would like to mention another external factor: the debt problem. Was debt cancellation not agreed in the context of the ‘jubilee year’ 2000? No more than half of the debt cancellations promised in 2000 have been realised to date. This is directly linked to trade, as exports are often used to pay off foreign debts. As long as a country is not free of this burden of debt, therefore, there will be constraints on the impetus that trade can offer for development in the country itself.
Thirdly, there is the risk of going over the top in the quest for liberalisation. The resolution asks for developing countries to be given the leeway to make their sectors sufficiently strong before tackling international competition, and rightly so. Prescribing one-sided protection measures is going too far, however.
This request for a sensible method and degree of liberalisation shows the sense in controlling the WTO process, a point that the resolution is right to touch on. It would be better if this control was carried out in a national context rather than by international institutions. The minister is, after all, responsible and approachable. The European Commission may be an important player in Europe, but this does not change the principle: the WTO members determine the course of trade liberalisation. Responsibility therefore lies primarily on that level; it is also most clear-cut there and forms part of national policy with which the citizen can identify. Conversely, this clarity is much less evident in international bodies with a large number of players and interests, such as a parliamentary assembly.
Fourthly, there are of course also factors that fall under the sphere of influence of developing countries themselves, such as good management and a strong economic structure. A greater diversity of export products forms part of this. The ACS Agreement has not yet resulted in this diversification in the exports of the least developed countries. I would like to find out what the European Commission’s strategy is with regard to actual diversification and what efforts it is making to achieve this. I am pleased that the Commissioner has arrived, as I would like to address this question to him.
Another point of ongoing concern is HIV/AIDS and the disastrous effects this has on the body, social relationships and the economic structure. In this regard I would specifically like to ask to what extent the European Commission uses the highly preventative effect created by marital fidelity. Incidentally, is the Commission willing to allow the scope for this in its policy on the basis of the highly successful results achieved in various African countries where this forms part of the information strategy?
Finally, I would like to say that the resolution is to a certain extent bogged down in highlighting problems and does not mention any strong approaches to their resolution. Because of the balanced approach to the issues in the problem, the resolution nevertheless gets my support."@en1
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