Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-10-20-Speech-3-727"
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"en.20101020.28.3-727"2
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"Madam President, I understand what Mr Melo is saying but I cannot agree with it. I welcome the Commission’s proposal to suspend import duties on key Pakistan imports into the European Union.
Firstly, the common ground between us is that Pakistan, which has not had an easy history since its birth as a nation, is going through its worst possible period. It is in the frontline of the war against terrorism, costing it so far, it is reckoned, USD 40 billion. We are all very well aware of the floods, the combined impact of which is worse than the Asian tsunami of 2004 and the Haitian floods of earlier this year. That is a significant blow to any country.
What I welcome about the Commission proposal is that we give Pakistan the opportunity to trade its way out of some of its difficulties. It is an intelligent proposal. Firstly, as the Commissioner has said, the 75 tariff lines that would help boost Pakistan’s trade by an estimated EUR 100 million a year do little harm to EU investment. This will not significantly damage any European Union industry and, equally importantly – in fact, quite possibly even more importantly – it will not harm the developing countries which are on a par with Pakistan, because none of the tariff lines affect products on the DDA preference erosion list. That is very positive.
The second thing that is sensible about the Commission proposal is that it is time-limited and does not unilaterally attempt to alter the GSP resolution. I welcome that because it still gives an incentive to Pakistan to come into line with social and human rights standards between now and 2014 in order to qualify for GSP+ in 2014. So it gives the emergency aid we need now but, at the same time, does not give
to the Pakistan Government. It says ‘you have a duty yourself to put your country in order if you want to continue to qualify for these benefits’.
This is a real test of Europe’s generosity and I hope that we, in this Parliament, will be prepared to meet it."@en1
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