Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-02-02-Speech-1-078"
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"en.20090202.14.1-078"2
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"Madam President, I should like to welcome the Commissioner. Her predecessor, Mr Mandelson, was well known in Ireland, for reasons with which I am sure she is very familiar.
The issue of the Doha Round is not being talked about amongst the people of Europe. It is being discussed in places like this, but when I meet people who have lost a job, for example, they do not say, ‘Let’s do Doha’. So I think there is no connection between Doha and economic development, despite all of the theory that is advanced here.
On the globalisation of financial markets, I could suggest that this is a case where globalisation has failed us – although perhaps it would be fairer to say that it is the regulation of financial markets, or the lack thereof, that has failed us. I am interested in Commissioner McCreevy’s recent comments to the effect that some of the problems in this area have been caused by Member States’ regulators building empires. That is perhaps for another debate, but it exemplifies how, though we talk of globalisation as being a great thing, that has not been true in the financial sector.
On agriculture – which was addressed by the other speakers just prior to me – I gathered that agriculture was not the sticking point at Doha. But it is a very serious issue and one that I have huge concerns about. Maybe it is because I am older than the last speaker – who is in my political group – that I regard agriculture as rather important, because it produces food and is therefore higher up the scale than he placed it. I think we should remember that. We voted in this House on a report that I produced about global food security. We are concerned about it, as we should be. It should be an issue that is discussed at the Doha level.
Another issue is how European producers – farmers – can be competitive when in the European Union we have different, higher, standards of animal welfare in relation to the environment, which are not addressed at the WTO. You will only bring our citizens with you on this journey if those issues are addressed at the WTO. Quite frankly, I think there was never an occasion when we needed direct discussion of these things in this Chamber, and in Geneva, more than we do now.
I would ask you if, in your concluding comments, you could address some of those very real issues, so that people realise that they are being discussed. I do not see the Doha Round developing at the speed that you are suggesting. Perhaps I am wrong."@en1
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