Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-12-14-Speech-1-111"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20091214.16.1-111"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Mr President, the Seventh WTO Ministerial Conference in Geneva was an important opportunity to exchange views with all WTO members on their priorities for the organisation. I think it is important to underline that this Seventh Ministerial Conference was not a negotiating conference: it was more a discussion on various topics.
Our priority list, of course, begins with the Doha Development Agenda. If it can be completed, Doha will deliver a good outcome not only for Europe, but also for the whole world economy. All of us will suffer if protectionism increases, just as all of us will gain if the economy picks up. Doha is the best trade policy instrument available on both those fronts.
Doha would also deliver the development that so many of the poorest countries in the world are looking for. It would do that through new rules on market access, farm reform and customs facilitation in particular. In all areas of the Doha negotiations, the development element for the countries concerned has already been taken into account.
But, of course, we can conclude the Doha Round only if all WTO members are on board. The reality is that the United States has serious concerns and constraints which it is discussing with the large emerging economies. In a few months we will see how these discussions are evolving as the deadline for the G20 to conclude the Doha Round in 2010 comes closer.
I think we all agree that, if we want a conclusion of the Doha Round before the end of 2010, we have to see modalities in place on agricultural and non-agricultural market access (NAMA) before the end of March 2010. That is the ultimate deadline. Meanwhile, we will continue to push so that the interests of the European Union in areas such as trade and services, and protection of geographical indications, are covered.
Apart from Doha, the Ministerial Conference addressed some important issues for WTO members. Our priorities included the need to strengthen the role of the WTO in monitoring and analysing protectionism; WTO accession – such as, for instance, the accessions of least-developed countries into the WTO, which we certainly think must be promoted; the rising number of regional free-trade agreements – here, we need to ensure that these actually complement the multilateral trade system; and finally, there is the contribution of trade policy to the fight against climate change. On many of these issues, WTO members agreed that the organisation can and should work. So I expect this to go forward.
On your last question, of course we will keep Parliament closely informed on these developments, in particular, on the Doha Round. The Lisbon Treaty actually offers an excellent opportunity to take our collaboration with Parliament a step further, and this will be a key priority for the Commission’s trade policy in the years ahead."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata | |
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples