Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-02-09-Speech-1-111"

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"Mr President, in addition to analysing the EU’s policy to date, these communications are intended to lay the basis for the Commission’s strategies to promote enterprise in developing countries and to prepare the Commission’s position on the reform of State-owned enterprises. I agree with the rapporteur that the main focus must be on combating poverty and safeguarding the availability of basic services, and that the priority is support for small and medium-sized enterprises. In recent decades Structural Adjustment Programmes have been used to try and respond to the call for economic development. These have involved the opening up of markets and various types of arrangements, including privatisation. This, however, has not always improved the situation; on the contrary, it has contributed substantially to the spread of poverty in developing countries. The Commission quite rightly states that that there are various options for reforming State-owned enterprises, such as reform of a public enterprise without altering its ownership structure, or partial privatisation. It is absolutely vital to take account of the parameters when selecting different types of reform. With privatisation, particular attention needs to be devoted to competition law and its implementation. The various options for reform must be weighed up, and here it is essential to involve civil society, particularly users’ and consumers’ organisations, cooperatives and trade unions, in decision-making and in monitoring the measures taken. At all events, the stated overriding objective of the EU’s development cooperation – combating poverty – must be taken into account. The Commission communication on the approach to future support for the development of the business sector in third countries also contains some good basic ideas. It is excellent that the Commission should put forward an overall strategy for the business sector. The basic aim of that strategy must simply be that there should be investment in the developing countries. People must be able to expect it. It cannot be based on the bottomless well principle. It is important to have tangible support for SMEs and cooperatives by means of advice in the fields of services, training, business modernisation, and promotion of micro-enterprises, particularly by ensuring there is available funding. It is nevertheless essential to remember that enterprises and cooperatives in the developing countries also need customers that are going to spend their money, and the market with the greatest purchasing power is us, the EU. For that reason, the channels of fair and sustainable trade must be made to work in such a way that European consumers are able to support enterprises and producers in developing countries by means of their own purchasing decisions."@en1
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