Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-12-18-Speech-4-033"
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"en.20031218.2.4-033"2
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"Commissioner, honourable Members, I would like to start by thanking Mr Harbour very warmly for leading the initiative, together with STOA, Parliament's Scientific and Technological Options Assessment group, to ensure that the European Parliament could participate in this World Summit. We all know that in the Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy, we have promoted the Internet and the liberalisation of telecommunications in Europe very intensively. Europe has taken on a leading role in the world here. I think that we must also make our contribution to the globalised process, and this contribution naturally means promoting free competition first and foremost.
In my view, it is the Internet, above all, that will finally enable family companies and small and medium enterprises to participate in world trade as well. We have learned that in ‘customer to customer’ services in particular – that is, business to consumer and business to business – the Internet opens up totally new opportunities. Through
bay and other systems, there are now platforms where even micro-enterprises can market their products using services on the world market. We have international payment systems such as credit cards, and firms that handle financial transfers. We have international logistics companies that transport goods around the world. Due to the pressure from imports from many countries of the world – I am thinking, for example, of China, which is currently showing an 8% growth rate, compared with just 1% growth in Europe – Europe has a massive demand here. We must therefore do all we can to ensure that our companies establish a higher international export profile. It is here that a conference like this can offer opportunities to boost our involvement. It also demonstrates yet again that there is an urgent need for a WTO Parliamentary Assembly.
I see that the UN and civil society are now participating on these issues as well. Yet we – the legislative – are not involved to an adequate extent in this area.
I think that for the future, it will be essential for us to participate in these international frameworks and ensure that the infrastructure we need for our small and medium enterprises in Europe is established. I therefore welcome the fact that the European Parliament will have a stronger Committee on External Trade in its next parliamentary term. Ultimately, we also need many more small and medium enterprises and family enterprises around the globe. We must therefore form partnerships between small enterprises around the world, offer them platforms and provide support to our 18 million – soon to be 22 million – SMEs, which employ two-thirds of Europe’s workers, so they can become global players and through them, we become successful in the global market."@en1
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