Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-02-09-Speech-1-110"
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"en.20040209.7.1-110"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner Diamantopoulou, Mr Modrow, when talking about support for the development of the business sector in cooperation policies with third countries and, in particular, developing countries, it is perhaps useful to remember what the Peruvian economist, Hernando de Soto, stated in his book
He said that one of the main obstacles to economic development, the missing ingredient, in countries that would in fact enjoy considerable wealth, is the absence of property laws that are clearly defined and, therefore, protected by the certainty needed to give them genuine economic value. It is therefore clear that the most valuable contribution that the European institutions can make – and I would say, in general, the most important contribution that developed countries can make – is to guarantee legal infrastructure that protects legal certainty and to support and guide processes towards democratisation and the recognition of the principles of the rule of law.
The Commission document only briefly refers to this issue, which I consider to be key, and the report by the Committee on Development and Cooperation does, I am sorry to say, drop this reference and concentrates on the tragic consequences of the policies promoted by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. You see, I do not believe that it is right, even in such situations, to attribute liability to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank for certain bankruptcies; I am thinking about the Argentinian affair, where it is ever clearer that the failure, the decline of the State itself, is not to be attributed to the Monetary Fund or the World Bank but to the level of corruption and the level of statism present in that economy.
It is said that we do not want to be ideological, but I fear that that is what we are in actual fact being. It is good to consider all the options; I believe, however, that the political option that we must propose is privatisation of enterprises with a view to seeking efficiency and investment. We want services to be available to the people, and to be available to an extent, and with a degree of quality, that satisfies needs that are not satisfied today. I believe that asking corrupt and inefficient public utilities to provide this service is wrong. The privatisation option – both in Europe and also in developing countries – is the politically desirable option."@en1
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