Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-11-24-Speech-2-463"
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"en.20091124.37.2-463"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Mr Moreira, I am answering on behalf of Commissioner Ashton.
With regard to sustainability, as with all of our free trade areas, the Commission carried out a sustainability impact assessment, which was completed in December 2007 and which is, and will be, used in both current and future negotiations.
In particular, regarding questions of trade, the Stability Pact highlighted the importance of the long transition periods which were set out in the association agreements for the elimination of industrial tariffs by Southern Mediterranean countries, and the need to lay down similar transition periods in current negotiations on agricultural projects.
It is also evident that we need to take into account the level of development of our Southern Mediterranean partners in ongoing talks on services and establishment.
In addition, in a large number of these countries, the Commission supports fiscal reform programmes which can help lessen the negative effects of the fall in tariff revenue reported in the sustainability impact assessment.
As for the agreement with Syria which I referred to earlier, in 2008, the Commission launched a review of the draft association agreement in order to determine whether, prior to its conclusion, technical amendments or updates were required. One round of talks sufficed, and we agreed with Syria the amendments necessary to take account of the accession to the European Union of Romania and Bulgaria and the tariff changes introduced in both Syria and the Union since talks were suspended in 2004. The deal was sealed in December 2008. Last month, we announced that the Union is now ready to sign. Syria has postponed the conclusion of the agreement in order to analyse its economic implications.
On the other hand, as far as negotiations with Libya are concerned, they were launched in November 2008 in Brussels to conclude a framework agreement centring on an ambitious free trade agreement regarding goods, services and freedom of establishment, as well as regulatory cooperation. Concluding this agreement with Libya will be the final piece of the puzzle. At that point, in fact, the Union will have concluded free trade agreements with all of our Mediterranean neighbours, even though Libya is not covered by the European neighbourhood policy.
The conclusion of this trade agreement will provide EU exporters with new export opportunities in Libya and a more favourable regulatory environment, in particular, in the service sectors and in the oil and natural gas markets. Naturally, negotiations with Tripoli are still at an early stage and we need more time before we can reach an agreement.
During this process, the Commission will pay particular attention to capacity-building in trade and related issues within the Libyan administration. A sustainability impact assessment is currently being finalised for Libya as well.
With regard to the Euromed Free Trade Area, its creation by 2010 was a realistic objective, and within the next year we will have made considerable progress towards this, although there clearly still remains much to be done to fully realise the potential of economic integration in the Euromed area.
In particular, progress has been made in the North-South dimension. The European Union has concluded bilateral association agreements with all of our Mediterranean partners apart from Syria, and these focus essentially on trade in goods. Other bilateral negotiations are nevertheless under way to further promote trade in agricultural products, services and the freedom of establishment, and to create a binding dispute settlement mechanism. Some of these negotiations have already ended and others are set to conclude by 2010.
With regard to the fresh negotiations between the European Union and our Mediterranean partners and the role of the European Parliament, I can tell you that, again with reference to the North-South dimension, we expect to reach an agreement at the Euro-Mediterranean Trade Ministerial Conference on 9 December on a Euro-Mediterranean trade road map beyond 2010, reflecting the objective of gradually transforming the current Euromed association agreements into comprehensive, wide-ranging free trade agreements.
We are not talking about negotiating new association agreements, but instead extending and strengthening current ones in order to tackle issues such as trade facilitation, technical barriers and sanitary and phytosanitary matters, as well as public procurement, competition, intellectual property rights, trade and issues relating to sustainable development and transparency.
Bilateral negotiations will be tailored to the situation of each Southern Mediterranean partner. Morocco might be the first Mediterranean country with which we launch negotiations next year. Following the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, Parliament will obviously have an enhanced role in matters of trade. The Commission is ready to work closely with you on the future negotiations which I have just mentioned.
The Euromed Free Trade Area also has a South-South dimension. Our Mediterranean partners are creating a network of free trade agreements among themselves, and the Agadir Agreement, in force since 2007, is also open to other Mediterranean countries. Israel and Turkey have also signed free trade agreements with the Mediterranean partners, while other agreements are still on the table.
It is too early for a full assessment of the current Agadir Agreement. Trade between the four partners has increased, although to a lesser degree than was initially expected. This may be for several reasons, such as the existence of non-tariff barriers, lack of complementarity between the different markets, lack of a regional market capable of attracting investors and last, but not least, the fact that businesses are not sufficiently aware of the opportunities that these agreements offer.
The Euromed Trade road map beyond 2010 should help solve this problem. It also contains a series of practical short-term proposals, one of which is the Euro-Mediterranean trade and investment facilitation mechanism. The creation of this mechanism will provide free, up to date, comprehensive and easily accessible information on trade, investment conditions and regulation in the Euromed region, with the aim of helping businesses, particularly SMEs, operate in Euro-Mediterranean markets."@en1
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