Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-09-27-Speech-3-254"
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"en.20060927.21.3-254"2
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"Mr President, I would like to thank the rapporteur, Mr Karim, and the International Trade Committee, for the excellent work that has been done.
We have made sure that the economic case for an EU-India FTA is watertight and that there is a similar level of understanding and ambition on India's part, which is necessary for any negotiation to work. To that end, I welcome the committee's support for the High Level Trade Group's work. On 19 September 2006, the High Level Trade Group finalised its report to the EU-India Summit on 13 October 2006, which recommended that an expanded-trade partnership be developed through the negotiation of a broad-based trade and investment agreement.
The summit will recommend that both EU and India move towards negotiations for such an agreement. Although we will not be launching an FTA at the summit, we will, however, be making positive signals that we are heading in that direction. We do not just want to launch but to prepare the ground for successful negotiations. This may mean further work on some of the more sensitive issues after the summit, so that we improve understanding of each other’s expectations and possibilities for movement. Accordingly, I share the committee’s views that there is a need to deepen discussion on services negotiations, intellectual property rights and public procurement.
Finally, I also share the committee’s concern about the low level of intra-regional trade in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and its recommendation to SAARC to review opportunities to expand trade and investment in the region. We are following closely the problem of Pakistan’s non-implementation of schedules under the South Asia Free Trade Agreement and addressing this informally with this country.
The report is comprehensive, addressing almost all possible aspects of EU-India economic and trade relations. This report is also timely, as it takes place ahead of the forthcoming EU-India Summit in Helsinki on 13 October 2006, and we will take its recommendations into consideration. Our cooperation with India is manifold and it is difficult to address it exhaustively in this speech. Therefore, I will point to some of the main features that respond to your concerns and also update the House in more detail on the trade and investment issues.
Generally, our cooperation is good and is making progress. Regarding the environment, for instance, last year India hosted the first EU-India forum on waste management, which was followed by various visits by and meetings of the working party on that issue. The holding of the second Environment Forum is under discussion.
Regarding employment and social issues, the Commission and the Indian Labour Minister agreed in a bilateral meeting a work programme for 2006 and 2007 based on the Joint Action Plan. A draft memorandum of understanding is to be signed, or initialled, at the forthcoming Helsinki Summit. More broadly, following a bilateral meeting between Commissioner Almunia and the Indian Finance Minister, the launch of regular macroeconomic dialogue has been proposed.
The business side has not been forgotten and thanks to Commissioner Mandelson, who pushed forward the idea with his counterpart Trade Minister Nath, the EU-India CEO Round Table, allowing active business-to-business dialogue, is now ready to be launched at the Business Summit on 12 October 2006.
Our development cooperation is concentrated on sector support for elementary education, health and family welfare. Poverty alleviation has been the central objective in all projects. The Country Strategy Paper (CSP) for 2007 to 2013 reaffirms that commitment with an approximately 65 to 70% allocation to the health and education sectors. Encouragingly, our State Partnership Programmes with Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, amounting to a total contribution of EUR 160 million towards supporting water management, education and health, have been signed and can now be implemented.
Turning to trade and investment relations with India, I welcome the fact that the conclusions of the report adopted by the International Trade Committee fully support the Commission's approach. More specifically, the Committee has called on the European Union to enter into a free trade agreement (FTA) with India. India is keen to launch a free trade agreement with the European Union as soon as possible. This has been the Indian position for a long time, pushed by Prime Minister Singh himself.
I welcome the committee's first comment that negotiations on the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) are not incompatible with bilateral WTO-plus negotiations. The European Union seeks to build on and complement its commitment to the multilateral WTO trading system with a new generation of bilateral FTAs, in particular with key growing markets in Asia. The European Union continues to see the WTO as the fundamental platform on which to build global liberalisation.
There will be no retreat from multilateralism. An EU-India FTA can build on WTO multilateral liberalisation by addressing areas, such as trade and services, public procurement markets, competition policy and regulatory harmonisation, that are related directly to EU trading strengths not yet fully addressed by WTO rules or standards."@en1
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