Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-04-23-Speech-3-331"
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"en.20080423.23.3-331"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to begin with sincere thanks to the secretariat, which has been very active and helpful to all members of the committee during the drafting of this text. Today we are delivering to the Commission a series of thoughts resulting from in-depth deliberations carried out in a constructive spirit by the entire Committee on International Trade.
As concerns transparency and the parliamentary dimension of the WTO, the transparency of international dispute settlement proceedings needs to be increased so as to improve the WTO’s external image. The promotion of a parliamentary dimension should draw on the existence of the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO, enhancing it to form a fully-fledged parliamentary assembly with advisory powers lending legitimacy to its proceedings.
It is vital for there to be consistency and coordination with other international organisations. To this end, relations with the International Labour Organisation and with certain UN agencies need to be strengthened, since major international social and environmental issues must not be beyond the bounds of WTO activity.
Above all else, we should not forget that the dispute settlement system is a unique feature of the WTO. Unless a way is found to streamline and accelerate these proceedings, there is a risk that disputes may drag on for years, with detrimental effects on society, member countries and consumers. For this reason we would make a cordial appeal to the Commission to be as bold as the parliamentary committee has been in identifying new rules to streamline the World Trade Organisation for the future.
Our committee wants a more effective and democratic World Trade Organisation equipped, in terms of its institutional operation, to perform the important task of regulating international trade. For this to happen, reform is indispensable.
The recent accession of many new members - one might just mention China and the forthcoming entry of Russia - highlights the success of a body now comprising 152 countries. However, precisely on account of its increased size, some thought needs to be given to a reorganisation of the WTO.
In the report we emphasise the key reasons why the WTO and trade multilateralism require a new, stronger, more dynamic and democratic structure. A regular feature on our agenda is the Doha Round negotiations: we know that an agreement is always just around the corner but keeps escaping our grasp. The Committee on International Trade, conscious of this problem, therefore reiterates its support for those negotiations, which ought to lead to more balanced, fairer trade. Meanwhile we believe the time has come to look ahead to the post-Doha period in a bold, ambitious frame of mind.
In delivering our thoughts to the Commission today, we call on the Community executive to be equally bold and ambitious by taking a political initiative in Geneva which could pave the way towards a review of the operation of certain mechanisms that are evidently not working properly at present.
The WTO’s institutional structure could be improved by distinguishing between activities connected with the negotiation of new international rules and commitments or activities relating to the implementation of existing agreements. The principle of consensus is and should remain the norm for ministerial conferences, but it might be possible to devise methods other than unanimity for procedures leading to final decisions in an organisation which, having been enlarged, requires different mechanisms. Such mechanisms have been envisaged for Europe; now they also need to be envisaged for the WTO!
The guiding criterion for the Doha Round has been to involve all member countries in negotiations on a whole range of matters, whereas in such a broad-based organisation efforts should be made to develop a plurilateral approach incorporating a form of ‘variable geometry’. We have talked about this in the past for Europe; now it is needed at the WTO!
Development is an important topic, and in recent years the group of developing countries has become increasingly large and diverse. It includes emerging economies as well as countries which in effect have already ‘emerged’, such as China, India, Brazil and South Africa. It would be appropriate, therefore, for the sake of real developing countries, to reclassify countries into clearer and more homogenous groups on the basis of their respective economic situation, and to require all countries to meet their responsibilities in keeping with their economic strength.
The WTO secretariat, while being highly regarded for its professionalism and competence - and we consulted it many times during our months of work - has a relatively limited establishment plan. It would be appropriate to strengthen the secretariat’s role and enable it to take initiatives and suggest compromises. Strengthening the secretariat means making it more representative in terms of geographic coverage, so that it feels itself to be the hub, the driving-force of the Organisation's activity, in the interest of all members, including above all those developing countries which at present are paid insufficient attention for them to be able to achieve real growth."@en1
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