Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-09-27-Speech-3-253"
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"en.20060927.21.3-253"2
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"Mr President, as the geopolitical centre of gravity shifts to Asia in the 21st century, if you look at India you see the future. Considering its size and complexity, India’s stable and vibrant society remains a monumental achievement. Its commitment to democracy, pluralism and the rule of law guarantees consistency in trade relations. Yet, for a country approaching a fifth of the world’s population, India counts for less than one fiftieth of world trade.
The EU must ensure that the benefits of our trading relationship are shared with Indians – all of them. International trade can be a powerful driver of economic growth and poverty reduction but it is not a silver bullet. To continue to lift people out of pockets of poverty, India’s trade reforms must complement development policies.
Linking external and internal policies is not aided by India’s infrastructure, which displays characteristics of a developing nation while seats of enterprise dominate the skylines of Mumbai and Bangalore. Investment must focus on rural areas, providing better water supplies and sanitation, improving transport links and the quality of grid power output.
India is committed to the Millennium Development Goals and its own five-year plan exceeds UN expectations, but there is increased doubt that India will meet four out of the eight goals on schedule. Serious concerns remain over child labour and the spread of HIV/AIDS has a potential to disrupt India’s progress.
Trade relations cannot be divorced from human rights and development concerns. We have a duty to India to reverse those trends. EU assistance must be directed to lagging regions and under-represented social groups. Capacity-building efforts must focus on the poorest states, enabling them to use funds effectively. Foreign investment must provide funds for education and rural health.
As India moves from developing to developed, it bears regional responsibility and sustained growth. It must take its neighbours with it. SAFTA will bring manifold expansion in the region. True, it has not been smooth sailing and Indo-Pak disputes have stalled progress, but strong leadership in the region has led to trade now being used as a confidence-building measure, particularly over Kashmir.
Europe must look at Asia and consider its astonishing growth as an opportunity rather than a threat. The EU needs more confidence about its ability to manage change and remain competitive. Inevitably it will require some restructuring and a change of mindset.
As India’s largest trading partner and principal source of foreign investment, the EU is poised to help India reap the benefits of liberalisation. With our shared history and commitment to secular government and religious pluralism, the EU and India are natural partners. We became strategic partners in June 2004, yet it was another year before a joint action plan was agreed. Even today, the Commissioner lacks the authorisation to turn the work of the high-level trade groups into a concrete deal. In the meantime, President Bush has succeeded in brokering a quite frankly worrying US-India nuclear deal.
The Commissioner claims India as his destination of choice – and of course I mean Commissioner Mandelson here – yet has fuelled EU obsession with China. India poses equal, if distinct, challenges for the EU and the Commission must reflect that as it lays out its new strategy by working with stakeholders to mirror its China consultation.
The Doha round remains the chief mechanism for shaping equitable globalisation. The multilateral trading system is a most just and effective way of expanding and managing trade and it shields the weak from the use and abuse in the unilateral scramble for trade domination. However, a Doha deal does not preclude bilateral WTO-plus arrangements. Only through greater openness to partnerships that go beyond what a lowest common denominator WTO deal could now provide, will the EU begin to address the global competitiveness agenda of the future.
A free trade agreement with India must be central to the Commission’s new global Europe strategy. This House must back the Commissioner 100% as he makes the case to the Council for a negotiating mandate to deliver bilateral FTAs, opening markets and securing fairer trading conditions in new areas of growth throughout Asia.
India must match our resolve and bolster its promises for Helsinki. India has proved itself adept at juggling global players to boost competitiveness. It is time for a deal with its most obvious partner. Deadlines must be set so that we can achieve common ambitions in the areas that will dictate the terms of the 21st century: protection of intellectual property rights, open markets for services and investment, and effective trade defence instruments.
No strategy for economic growth is complete without addressing the growing crisis of climate change. The impact of growth in Asia on energy supply is phenomenal. India’s future growth is dependent on meeting spiralling energy needs. Severe shortages and over-dependency on petrol and coal are driving up costs and pollution. An effort to develop nuclear energy is symptomatic of that crisis. However, even if India did develop nuclear energy it would meet only 2% of total energy requirements. It would also constitute a climb-down from Gleneagles pledges to halt climate change and promote energy conservation.
Both India and the EU have long traditions of promoting renewable energy. India has built the world’s fourth largest wind power industry, developed biogas digesters and solar cells and supported the development of renewable energy in Asia. We must work together to define the global energy architecture through innovation and sustainable energy development whilst meeting climate change benchmarks.
India’s economic growth is booming at 8% and is set to double in a decade. Dotcom benefactors make up India’s rich list, cashing in as India becomes the global hub for ITC development. Yet India’s economy remains full of paradoxes. The uneven distribution of the benefits of globalisation has left nearly four million people living on less than one dollar per day."@en1
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