Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-10-14-Speech-4-025"
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"en.20041014.3.4-025"2
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"Mr President, the European Union is a community of values and we would like to put this across to the different regions in the world. In the West, we have basic services, such as water, education and care, and we want these to be available elsewhere too. International trade plays an important part in this. Trade revenue can help increase the level of investments in basic services, but, in developing countries, particularly on the African continent, world trade plays far too small a role. The African continent accounts for only a 2% share in it. The European Union can, and must, change this. It is of the utmost importance that we, as the world’s largest trading bloc, should open up our markets to products from the least developed countries and, by way of positive sanctions, give development in the poorest countries an opportunity. As has been said before, the present system of trade preferences has, in practice, worked to only a limited extent, particularly socially speaking. Only Sri Lanka and Moldavia have benefited from it, and, as Mr Sturdy stated a moment ago, the complexity of the rules and limited capacity have meant that even Sri Lanka has, in fact, made too little use of the potential. That is why it is a good thing that we are moving towards a GSP+ system, one that is far simpler and involves fewer countries, but yields major benefits gradually and new products, which also creates real incentives. Indeed, if we really want fundamental working standards, to name but one major aspect, to be adhered to in practice in those countries and to be given a chance in them, we must actively focus our efforts. We resist the lobbying that would result in an enormous patchwork quilt of goals and countries, from which a huge number of people draw benefit, but where the poorest countries lose out.
Commissioner Lamy should be praised for the excellent work he is making of the EPA (Economic Partnership Agreement) regulation, and we must carry on in the same vein. If the Caribbean Sea area and the Pacific Ocean experience special problems, which they do, we should try to use EPAs as a targeted and generous solution to them. We should adopt a harder line with regard to the new upcoming superpowers China, Brazil and India and impose stricter requirements where fundamental working standards are concerned. Finally, we should not pursue fair trade alone, but also, with regard to the protection of our own employees, fair competition. With regard to the rules of origin, I would request the Commission to focus on benefits for the least developed countries and agree to relax rules of origin, and to regional and developmental cumulation. Finally, if we want to encourage the regional economy, we must be open-handed in this respect too. An incentive of this kind, which is hugely concentrated, could really help the African continent to take a step forward."@en1
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