Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-03-23-Speech-1-070"

Predicate	Value (sorted: default)
rdf:type	lpv_eu:Speech2
dcterms:Date	"2009-03-23"^^xsd:date2
dcterms:Is Part Of	lp_eu:Economic Partnership Agreement between the EC and Cariforum – Stepping-stone Agreement towards an Economic Partnership Agreement between the EC and Côte d'Ivoire – EC-Cariforum States Partnership Agreement – EC-Côte d'Ivoire Stepping-stone Economic Partnership Agreement – Stepping-stone Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and Ghana, of the other part – Interim Partnership Agreement between the Pacific States, on the one part, and the European Community, on the other part – EC-SADC EPA States Interim Economic Partnership Agreement – Economic Partnership Agreement between EC and Eastern and Southern African States – Economic Partnership Agreement between the EC and the East African Community Partner States – Stepping-stone Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and Central Africa, of the other part (debate)2
dcterms:Language	"de"^^xsd:language2
lpv:document identification number	"en.20090323.14.1-070"2
lpv:hasSubsequent	lp_eu:2009-03-23-Speech-1-0712
lpv:speaker	lp:Erika Mann2
lpv:spokenAs	substitute; ITRE (2007-01-31--2009-07-13)3 member; Conference of Delegation Chairs (2004-09-22--2009-07-13)3 chair; Delegation to the EU-Mexico Joint Parliamentary Committee (2004-09-22--2009-07-13)3 member; PES (2004-07-20--2009-07-13)3 unknown; Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (2004-07-20--2009-07-13)3 member; Delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (2007-05-23--2009-07-13)3 substitute; CONT (2007-01-31--2009-07-13)3 member; INTA (2007-01-31--2009-07-13)3 member; Delegation for relations with the United States (2007-05-24--2009-07-13)3
lpv:translated text	". Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the agreement with Côte d’Ivoire is one which we now have to vote to accept. We only have the choice of voting yes or no. I hope that, one day, this will change and that Parliament will also be able to participate in the mandate negotiations. Finally, I would like to ask you to say a few words to tell us to what extent the failed Doha Agreement will have an especially negative impact on the Côte d’Ivoire, especially as far as bananas are concerned. That makes it a little more difficult. There are two differences with respect to the Cariforum agreement. First of all, we are dealing with a government that was not democratically elected. Secondly, we are dealing with a provisional agreement, which is initially only to ensure that the old preferences are maintained. The final Agreement will not be negotiated for some time. What I would like to hear from Commissioner Cathy Ashton are assurances on a number of matters which I know will be extremely important for the Côte d’Ivoire. Last weekend, I was again involved in talks from which it became very clear that assurances from the Commission must be forthcoming, which is entirely in agreement with the assurances which the Commissioner provided in the case of the SADC. Please allow me therefore to name some of the most important points. The first point relates to significant flexibility. This flexibility must encompass the following points. Firstly, the inclusion of a review clause, which is also flexible, so that it provides not for a five-year timeframe, but one which can be constantly re-assessed at relatively short notice. Secondly, sensitive matters should be discussed only when the country expressly wishes to do so. In particular, this refers to the Singapore topics, but naturally also to the question of how to integrate TRIPS, as well as similar issues. Thirdly, there is the issue of accepting regional differences when further negotiations take place towards a regional agreement. The Côte d’Ivoire faces a particular problem owing to the fact that the agreement is currently being negotiated and will be signed in isolation, while the aim in the future is to negotiate a regional agreement. Fourthly, it would be important that at any stage during new negotiations it is possible to raise issues that have yet to be addressed at the current stage and that these topics are approved by the Commission. In this context, Commissioner, you only really need to extend the concessions that you already made in the case of SADC to the Côte d’Ivoire. Doing so would increase the likelihood of a corresponding positive response from Parliament. We are simply very concerned, and it is a concern that has been voiced by many non-governmental organisations, that especially in the case of the Côte d’Ivoire the Commission initially appeared to show relatively little flexibility and this was the reason why the aforementioned issues were not taken into account during the transition from the provisional to the full agreement. A concession would therefore prove exceptionally helpful and would enable us to approve the agreement. Moreover, during my discussions with the representatives of the Côte d’Ivoire I understood that they are very concerned that the technical aid will not flow rapidly enough and that here too not all of their concerns have been taken into account. As I understand they are especially interested in the Commission and the international organisations that are providing them with help giving them SME market access so that they can actually make use of the access to the European market. They are exceptionally cautious when negotiations touch on these Singapore topics, when they even discuss them, and are anxious for us to help them develop an understanding of how public goods can be used for society. In addition, they are especially interested in us providing them with help in matters associated with technical standards because for them they often represent real barriers to trade. My final comment refers to the point concerning Parliament. As I mentioned previously, we only have the possibility of saying yes or no, and that obviously imposes relatively significant limitations on the extent to which Parliament is able to collaborate in shaping the vote. I wish to expressly remind you, and you will also find this reflected in our texts, that a possible approval of the provisional agreement does not necessarily mean that we will also automatically vote in favour of the full agreement. In fact, within the framework of the monitoring procedure, we expressly wish to be included in the continuing negotiations so that to a certain extent, in so far as it is within our power, we can follow up on the points that I have just raised."@en1
lpv:videoURI	<go to Events_and_structure europarl>2

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