Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-11-14-Speech-3-383"
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"en.20071114.36.3-383"2
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"Mr President, I would like to congratulate Mr Zaleski very warmly on his report. I think it is a significantly different kind of report to recent ones which have been voted on in the Committee on International Trade. Compared to the reports on bilateral trade relations of one or two years ago, like the EU-Russia or EU-Mercosur reports, it shows a lot more cautiousness with regard to the benefits of unfettered free trade. And I think it indicates a growing consensus across the party spectrum on the importance of actively engaging in a political search for how best to submit trade rules to the principles of sustainable development.
In that respect, I think we can be pleased that we have made the most of the various delays at the WTO Doha Round, which, in a way, have allowed us to conduct this search for more fair and sustainable trade rules in our bilateral trade relations. I therefore thank the rapporteur for actively seizing this opportunity.
Among the many positive signals that this report gives to DG Trade for their negotiations with Ukraine on a free trade agreement, I would like to highlight four points in particular.
In paragraph 10, I think the report rightly warns against relying exclusively on export orientation and export diversification in order to make trade sustainable. Instead, it focuses on the importance of developing the domestic market as a necessary basis for any economically sustainable development.
In paragraph 13, the report suggests the need to strike a balance with regard to investors’ rights. In other words, it insists on a legal framework in Ukraine which fosters best practice in corporate social responsibility.
In paragraph 23, the report suggests a significant shift in our foreign energy supply policy by asking for multilateral rules regarding access to energy resources and by warning not to support the race for the best conditions for unilateral energy access.
Finally, in paragraph 36 the report recognises that agriculture is a special activity that cannot be treated in the same way as industrial goods and therefore justifies different tariff rules.
I very much hope that those and other points remain in the final text so that my group can very happily vote in favour of the report. But I do just want to add that I think it is a pity to hear that DG Trade has been objecting to three key amendments proposed by the Greens and supported by the rapporteur, which call on DG Trade to start negotiations for a bilateral FTA only after the Parliament of Ukraine has given its assent to the WTO accession negotiations. While DG Trade is certainly right that this might delay the bilateral FTA, we have to insist as parliamentarians, as we do ourselves before the conclusion of such FTAs on the part of the European Union, for the voice of the people to be taken into account on such an important matter and that includes, of course, the people of Ukraine. We would therefore especially like to thank Mr Zaleski for not giving in to that pressure and, once again, for an excellent report."@en1
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