Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-10-20-Speech-3-613"
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"en.20101020.24.3-613"2
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"Mr President, I make no secret of the fact that the provisions set out in the Banana Accompanying Measures are a gamble on the future, for various reasons.
Firstly, the general trend of reducing trade preferences, from which ACP countries have benefited until now, is not going to change any time soon. Negotiations under way are already aiming at tariffs close to EUR 75 per tonne of bananas, whereas we are working here on the basis of EUR 114 per tonne.
Secondly, the Commission had no other choice but to agree to negotiate a tariff reduction agreement with the countries competing with the banana-exporting ACP countries. The alternative would have meant leaving the Dispute Settlement Body to sort out the problem. Personally, I believe that a negotiated solution is the lesser evil for ACP countries, and this is the spirit in which we must also approach the Banana Accompanying Measures, since they would not have been the automatic outcome of a judgment by the Dispute Settlement Body.
Thirdly, since the world is not going to end in 2013, which is the year when the Banana Accompanying Measures will end, we continue to believe that it is important to start preparing right now for the period after 2013.
Indeed, the EUR 114 tariff paid at the borders of the European Union on each tonne of bananas is already soon going to be exceeded in practice. I said at the outset that we were already talking about EUR 75 per tonne.
I feel it is wise, therefore – and this is my fourth point – to preserve the European Parliament’s supervisory powers. We must ensure that the right to oversee strategy papers, laid down in Article 290, does not become a dead letter. I think we can safely say that, in this instance, our cooperation with the Commission has been extremely fruitful. This Parliament is not a troublemaker; on the contrary, it is forever enriching the debate and helping the Commission move forward on this matter.
Finally, Mr President, this is a personal observation, but I am making it as rapporteur, even so. Once more, we are witnessing here a squabble between emerging countries, on the one hand, and least developed countries, on the other. Moreover, were it not for the European Union acting as an ally of the weak in order to mitigate the likely effects of a trade agreement, in all its brutality, the least developed countries would feel even more isolated.
I invite the Commission to start thinking right now about the period after 2013, because I believe that the measures which will be decided on now and which, I hope, will come into force before too long, will suffice to make banana production sustainable in the countries concerned. I hope that these measures can help ensure the long-term survival of the banana sector and that those who are unable to keep producing can find alternatives.
I think that, post-2013, as I have already said, water will continue to flow under the bridges over the Rhine and the problems with regard to the banana sector will still be there. We already need to be thinking about a post-2013 strategy."@en1
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