Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-02-14-Speech-2-401-000"
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"en.20120214.20.2-401-000"2
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"Mr President, the trade agreement with Morocco concerning fruit and vegetables is much more important than it sounds. Few things have damaged the economies in North Africa as much as the EU’s duties on fruit and vegetables, resulting in unemployment and poverty.
We are their largest market and we impose high duties on some of their most important export products. Minimum prices, which is what we are applying here, are among the most discouraging measures we can take, because it means the more productive they are, the higher the duties they face. It is an effective way to make them toe the line and to keep them in poverty. This agreement is therefore an important move away from an old policy.
We must not forget that the Arab Spring was actually started by a fruit and vegetable trader who took his own life in protest. I therefore hope that this agreement is merely the first step, that the Commission will go further and that we will soon have agreements with Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and perhaps one day even Syria.
Fine words about helping are not enough. What is needed is a helping hand and in this case the best helping hand is probably a reduction in duties. That is how we helped the Balkans after the war: by reducing duties so they could use trade to bring them prosperity. That is clearly also how we should help the countries in North Africa – trade for prosperity."@en1
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