Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-11-14-Speech-2-439"
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"en.20061114.41.2-439"2
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"Mr President, I am happy to share with you further reflections on the GSP+ scheme and the philosophy behind it. It is an important EU development tool: it contributes to economic progress in developing countries and the reduction of poverty, while taking on board the enduring need for promoting core human and labour rights, as well as sustainable development and governance principles.
Let me say to Members of this House: your interparliamentary contacts are very valuable for sending this important message and I am ready to engage in an even closer cooperation with you with a view to this end.
One of the key priorities of EU trade policy is to be consistent with and to consolidate the objectives of development policy, in particular the promotion of sustainable development and good governance. This goal has been given greater prominence in the GSP+ scheme, which aims at encouraging developing countries to comply with international standards relating to social rights, environmental protection and governance, including the fight against drugs.
It is worth recalling that the criteria on which the granting of GSP+ is based are objective and transparent and have been made public in the regulation itself – this is in line with our WTO obligations. The success of the GSP+ scheme is that it provides an incentive for the applicant countries to ratify key ILO conventions in order to comply with the criteria of the GSP+.
It has played an instrumental role in the case of El Salvador, which deposited the ratification instruments of the missing ILO conventions on 6 September 2006. The ILO supervisory committees reported that most of the GSP+ applicant countries have made substantial changes to their legal systems in order to comply fully with the rights enshrined in the ILO conventions, which was the precondition for being granted GSP+ trade preferences in the first place.
The GSP+ system is an instrument of encouragement and support. It cannot solve everything at once; its role is to give an incentive, as I say, not to punish, and to maintain the momentum of reform. The aim is also to integrate the GSP+ beneficiaries into the world trading system. I am convinced that integration into the world trading system will further help these countries to advance towards greater respect for the principles enshrined in the conventions and to lock in essential reforms.
Following the ratification of these conventions, it is clear that actual implementation then needs to be monitored. Progress in the implementation of the GSP+ conditionality is assessed in relation to developments in government policy, to administrative capacity and other institutional, legal and budgetary constraints. Some of these can only improve over time.
Regarding monitoring, the EU relies in its judgments, in particular with regard to the initiation of any withdrawal procedure, on the monitoring procedures and expertise of relevant specialised monitoring bodies, such as the ILO, for which the EU itself cannot be a substitute.
However, we also have our own role to play in the proper application of the GSP system. Therefore, whenever the Commission receives information from trade unions or other stakeholders about serious and systemic systematic violations of relevant international standards, it thoroughly examines whether appropriate action in line with the GSP regulation may be taken. This is well coordinated, with relevant monitoring bodies, and Parliament should be regularly updated on developments.
I would like to stress the important role the European Parliament and parliaments in the relevant countries can play, both in monitoring the situation and in helping to bring forward implementing legislation in the countries concerned and ensuring its effective implementation."@en1
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