Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-12-11-Speech-2-277"
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"en.20071211.37.2-277"2
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".
Mr President, I wish to add my congratulations to the Portuguese Presidency. It was completely wrong that for seven years the world’s largest trading entity and the poorest continent had not sat down together to talk. That stumbling block has now been overcome. The summit has been held and has doubtless achieved many successes, the first success being that it was actually held.
The Parliaments, and this House especially, are ready to take our inspiration onto the stage, as we say in Spanish, meaning to match words with actions. However, Commissioner, I regret that the reference to the parliamentary dimension was mere lip service, for none of the requests we made at the previous summit in relation to specific courses of action and funds to develop the role of the Parliaments were included in the summit’s conclusions.
Despite this, the House will continue to work and point out areas where we have not done well. It must be said we have not done well in connection with those famous economic partnership agreements. What has happened is that we have a complex-free relationship, a relationship of equals. Certain African leaders have clearly stated the problems posed by some of the approaches we have fiercely defended. It is not enough to be right, or to have reasons. What we have to do is reach agreement. Agreements are agreements, and cannot be impositions. We ought to work harder and better to secure agreements on this equal footing that we proclaimed in the spirit of the summit. This trade disagreement will go down in history as one of the main features of this summit.
The other main feature was human rights. Substance was in short supply here too. Yes, Commissioner, you discussed Darfur, but not much. Not much, no, and in fact nearly not at all, because some of us here had to write to remind you that it was not on the agenda, and that it was a disgrace that Africa and Europe should meet up and not discuss Darfur. Once again people were concerned, but did not actually concern themselves much in practice. As we were reminded this morning, it is certainly time for us to be concerned, but it is also time for us to concern ourselves much more, and more effectively too."@en1
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