Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-05-09-Speech-1-132-000"
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"en.20110509.20.1-132-000"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, these negotiations are a little like the four-armed God Shiva, since it takes so much effort to conclude such a complex agreement.
I am now going to explain the position of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. Firstly: access to medicines. While I welcome the Commissioner’s statement, I confirm that I am against any attempt to implement protectionist measures in a sector in which Europe actually hindered access to low cost medicines in the past. Exploiting the issue of counterfeiting purely for protectionist purposes is about as low as it gets. The agreement should instead be an opportunity for the Indian and European pharmaceutical industries to cooperate with one another.
Secondly: industrial sectors. We are asking India to allow sensitive sectors such as the automotive and alcohol sectors, in which our exports are today heavily taxed, to also feature in the agreement.
Thirdly: agriculture. For our part, we declare ourselves willing to discuss agricultural products and to open up our market, but with a few conditions attached: obviously, we must say ‘no’ to GMOs and do everything we can to protect geographical indications. As regards this last aspect, I would remind you that geographical indications are not just a trade policy matter; they are also part of Europe’s identity. We therefore hope that a huge effort will be made to simplify registration procedures in India’s bureaucratic system, which is very onerous, perhaps even more onerous than the European one, which says it all.
As regards public procurement, I congratulate the Commission if it is true that India seems to be prepared, for the first time, to include public procurement in an international agreement. Indian railways – to give you an example, 17 000 trains transport 18 million passengers every day, and there are plans to build a further 25 000 kilometres of track in the next 10 years – are one of the many markets that could potentially be opened up with this free trade agreement.
If the negotiations go well, both parties will benefit: sustainable development will be promoted, child labour will gradually be eradicated and a more progressive form of social protection will be upheld. I feel it is pointless and detrimental to oppose this, and so I call on all the groups in Parliament to reject
a compromise text."@en1
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