Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-07-10-Speech-2-454"
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"en.20070710.60.2-454"2
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".
Mr President, I feel it is appropriate to begin by expressing Europe's support for the flood victims in China.
Our fellow Member, Mr Markov, has raised an extremely important question, for which I would like to thank him on behalf of the Committee on International Trade. The EU and China are two of the oldest cultures in the world. On the one hand we have the largest trading bloc and on the other the fastest growing economy in humanity's history. So this is definitely an issue that needs to be addressed outside the WTO: an issue that requires a bilateral approach and a bilateral agreement.
Both sides have a great deal at stake. We should not allow ourselves to be pressurised by the USA. So I would like to thank Commissioner Mandelson for refusing to adopt a common WTO strategy for dealing with China on the subject of pirate goods. Both sides – China and the EU – have both interests and instruments to protect against and to allow abuses of intellectual property rights: anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures. What matters is how we deal with one another – how we use those instruments. The Commissioner has said that reciprocity is vital, and I would agree.
We Europeans benefit from the fact that China has adopted our continent-wide European patent laws wholesale. That is a good thing. But having the laws is not enough: the rights must be enforceable and they have to be enforced. It is also in China's own interest to do so, though – you know that the Chinese company Heier will soon have an interest in protecting its own patents. Which proves that China does need this strategy.
What should we do in the meantime, though? We are threatened with a very hostile scenario, whereby the Chinese apply for patents that are similar to ours, then close their market. They have already proved that it can be done. Thanks to the former President of the European Patent Office, Mr Pompidou, in around four years' time, China will actually have overtaken us in terms of the number of patents.
I think we should link the patent issue to the EU's climate protection targets. That is right, with our climate protection targets! Let me explain why: China is a win-win culture, a culture that strives to achieve harmony. So I think that if we have something to offer, we may succeed. China is currently experiencing massive environmental problems. Social stability is threatened; the government is under great pressure because of huge environmental problems. At both the IPPC Conference and the G8 summit, China indicated that it wants to work towards the climate protection targets. Yet in many areas China lacks the technology. So our offer could be that we will support a CO2-free coal-fired power plant with our technologies, as a gesture, but in return we can demand that our patent rights be respected.
Commissioner, you are on the right track. Thank you very much for the information that you have provided today."@en1
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