Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-03-08-Speech-2-085"
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"en.20050308.8.2-085"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the generalised system of preferences, by means of which reduced import tariffs are granted to developing countries for the export of their products to Europe, is the most concrete application of the ‘development by trade’ principle. Last year, this system accounted for more than EUR 500 billion worth of exports from developing countries to Europe.
This report lays down the basic principles for the next ten years. I remain convinced, though, that this proposal for a regulation is too narrow in its interpretation of the objectives that were prescribed by the Commission in the past. After all, provision was made for a more effective system, which better accommodates the needs of the beneficiary countries and, above all, the poorest countries, which really need this system for their trade and development. A commitment was made to offer more clarity, more flexibility and, above all, more transparency, including a procedure for swift reviews, if necessary.
I do not believe that those objectives have been fully met. A step is being made in the right direction, but the reform is clearly not far-reaching enough. That is why the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe abstained during the final vote in the Committee on International Trade and tabled another five amendments today. These amendments have deliberately been kept to a minimum. They are reasonable and, above all, intended to put in place more guarantees that the priority objectives will actually be met. Our group would like the system, on the one hand, to benefit the countries that really need it and, on the other, to protect our own industry against unjust or unfair competition.
What we are hoping to achieve with our amendments is simply to combat the inappropriate or wrongful use of the system, and so I do indeed hope that the rapporteur and the Members of this House will be able to accommodate our concerns, thus enabling us to vote in favour of this report."@en1
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