Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-07-11-Speech-3-375"
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"en.20070711.32.3-375"2
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".
Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, if we have sought today to question the Council and the Commission, it is because the consent requested of us to amend the TRIPS agreement for the purposes of making the August 2003 transitional solution final is raising many issues. Indeed, following the debate held in parliamentary committee on this mechanism, all the experts heard were unanimous in criticising this solution, which only solves a very small amount of the problems faced by countries that have no pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity and, therefore, the difficulties their populations have in gaining access to health care.
Although it was supposed to provide a fast and effective response, this mechanism is deemed to be complex, even inefficient. Despite the commitment made by the Council and the Commission to Parliament, no assessment has been carried out. Doubts therefore remain on this issue. ‘It has never been assessed because it has never been used’ we are told by the Commission, which claims that that does not mean that it is inefficient. That is a fine piece of rhetoric based on a reversal of logic, but it is by no means a well-argued response. The questions being asked by the MEPs are as follows: why has not this solution ever been used? Is it equal to the scope of the problem posed? If not, what new measures ought the Union to introduce in order to achieve the stated objective? There can be no discrepancy between what we say we are going to do and what we actually do.
In its declarations, the Union supports the Doha Declaration, the flexibilities of the TRIPS agreement and the Member States that have recourse to them. It also makes a commitment not to call for developing countries to be made subject to new intellectual property rules that are more stringent than those laid down at the WTO, as that would undermine genuine access to treatment. However, these declarations have not been put into practice.
Let us start by understanding what we mean. For example, what do we mean by flexibility? In our opinion, this concept encompasses all the flexibilities, not just the 2003 solution. However, in its declarations, the Commission refers solely to that one. As for the intellectual property rules that go beyond the TRIPS agreement, how do we define them? Do we identify the same ones? In its declarations, the Commission refrains for resorting to such rules, but the negotiations that have been conducted do not necessarily reflect this commitment. The Commission’s representatives even at times justify its resorting to these rules for the sake of combating counterfeiting, but this comes under an entirely different debate. Finally, clear political support must be given to every country that uses a flexibility instrument, whatever it may be, which is not the case in practice.
What we are asking for is transparency and a balance between the public discourse and the negotiations conducted behind closed doors. We are convinced that the problem raised goes far beyond our simply assenting to an international protocol. This is a far-reaching political and humanitarian problem that requires a genuine political will to match the challenge posed. We now want clear commitments, and commitments on many points, all of which are included in our resolution due to be put to the vote tomorrow. This hinges on a joint policy statement, with Parliament, before our vote. We will not be content with yet another debate that lacks any precise commitment. We want a solemn commitment by the Council and the Commission that guarantees that Europe will become more involved in finding new solutions and that it will strive to do as our fellow citizens want and become a leading player in the fight to secure access to medicines at affordable prices for everyone in the world."@en1
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