Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-03-10-Speech-1-063"
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"en.20030310.4.1-063"2
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"Mr President, I will try not to read any sinister political motivation into that.
Commissioner Lamy, you say that plenary debates like this are to fully inform Parliament about the progress of GATS negotiations but, in the absence of the document that would tell us precisely what is being demanded of whom, this exchange is almost entirely academic. If, in order to find that information, the majority of parliamentarians have to resort to leaks on NGO websites, then really we are a very long way from exercising parliamentary scrutiny. So, while I am grateful to you for speaking to us tonight, I would like to make clear that this does not constitute any kind of political scrutiny.
You have made it clear that you believe that you have gone as far as you can, as Commissioner, to make GATS texts available to us. You tell us that you are trying to be open but that you have limited room for manoeuvre. Well, as parliamentarians we are doing what we can to increase that room, but can I ask you specifically what you are doing to increase that room for manoeuvre?
In your letter last October to the Chair of the Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy, you accused Parliamentarians of making false claims about what you called the alleged intransparency of the EU decision-making process. You went on to say, and I quote, 'the current rules of access allow the European Parliament to fully exercise its task of political control'. Can I ask you whether you still genuinely believe that the current rules are sufficient?
Secondly, the mandate. Since the level of public awareness about the implications and complexities of the GATS process has grown enormously over the past few years, can you tell us why you believe it is still appropriate to negotiate within the WTO on the basis of a Council mandate granted back in 1999? Would it not be more appropriate to adopt a new mandate and in it make explicit the rights of public authorities and institutions at all levels to regulate public services in order to maintain social and environmental standards free from challenge under GATS?
Finally, development. DG Trade's press release announcing the EU-GATS offers says they are all about helping developing countries. Let us look at the figures. The EU made 109 requests and received just 27 requests back. Only half of those were from developing countries and just one was from a least developed country. Let us not fool ourselves with the rhetoric that this is favouring the poorest. The figures show that it clearly is not."@en1
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