Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-10-11-Speech-3-252"
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"en.20061011.21.3-252"2
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".
Mr President, on behalf of my colleague Peter Mandelson, I would like to congratulate the rapporteur and the Committee on International Trade on the report on economic and trade relations between the EU and Mercosur with a view to the conclusion of an Interregional Association Agreement.
To conclude, let me convey to you the following message, which I am sure that you share with me: for strategic and political reasons, the European Commission remains committed to negotiating and concluding an ambitious and balanced agreement with Mercosur.
Trade is an important element of this agreement but not the only one. Beyond the trade negotiations, we should not lose sight of the strategic, political and economic rationale of this agreement. Let us not forget the strategic dimension of a future Association Agreement, which is to promote a relationship between regional blocs which enhances peace, stability, prosperity, social progress and democracy.
This report gives a very comprehensive picture of the current relations between the EU and Mercosur in the economic as well as the political field, and the European Commission shares most of the analysis presented in this report.
The European Commission very much concurs with the Committee on International Trade in its view that a conclusion of an ambitious and balanced Association Agreement between the EU and Mercosur is a strategic objective.
The Commission remains firmly committed to concluding the Agreement with Mercosur as soon as it is technically and politically feasible. Such an agreement would be the platform for promoting the relationship between the two regions and for promoting the common values and objectives that unite us.
An EU-Mercosur agreement would establish the first ever region-to-region association and the largest free-trade area in the world, covering almost 700 million people. As the INTA report points out, such an Association Agreement would enable both regions to respond more effectively to the challenges of globalisation. It would enhance the competitiveness of our economies, increase growth and thereby contribute to economic and social cohesion. Creating the world’s largest market place would give an enormous boost to job creation, economic reform and productivity levels. A free-trade agreement with Mercosur is a very good example of how EU trade policy can contribute to the EU’s wider approach to economic reform and competitiveness.
A region-to-region agreement with Mercosur would also serve as an instrument to support an integration effort within Mercosur and Latin America. The accession of Venezuela to Mercosur this year implies an enlargement of the region and the European Commission also hopes that the process of broadening and deepening regional integration will continue. We know from our own European experience that the reforms and adjustments necessary for integration are not easy. But we also know that the rewards make the effort worthwhile.
An Agreement would also create a more transparent and stable business environment for the EU and Mercosur companies. This would contribute to attracting more investment flows. Investment – and future investment – could possibly have the biggest impact on the shape of our future economic partnership with Mercosur. Although foreign direct investment to Mercosur increased in 2004 and 2005, the relative share of the region in relation to global EU investments has been sliding ever since the 1990s. This is a source of concern, as investment means transfer of know-how, of industrialisation and jobs. This relative downward trend of the Mercosur region in relation to the rest of the world, especially Asia, is one of the challenges of the future agreement and, possibly, its main potential economic benefit.
Let me just say a few words on the timing. In the report by the International Trade Committee, you request the establishment of a negotiating calendar which would allow us to conclude the EU-Mercosur negotiations as soon as possible. The European Commission is fully committed to concluding these negotiations as soon as is technically and politically feasible, but we have always been of the opinion that substance prevails over timing. What we want to achieve is an ambitious, comprehensive and balanced agreement which goes beyond our WTO commitments. As the INTA report points out, there is a cost to not having an Agreement. But there is also a long-term cost in missed opportunities from having a bad agreement.
Related to the issue of timing is the link between these biregional negotiations, the progress of the WTO Doha Development Agenda and the sequence of the two negotiations. In this respect, the European Commission fully agrees with the analysis of the report by INTA; both these processes can realise substantial synergies. They are not mutually exclusive; they are complementary."@en1
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