Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-02-16-Speech-4-053-000"
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"en.20120216.6.4-053-000"2
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"Mr President, this regional convention on pan-Euro-Mediterranean preferential rules of origin could contribute decisively to developing the economic integration of the Euro-Mediterranean region, which is one of the main objectives of European Union policy since the Barcelona Process and is essential if the Arab Spring is not to fizzle out.
We know that our partners in the southern and eastern Mediterranean have been wanting the conclusion of this convention for a long time. To date, the countries of the South have underutilised the trade possibilities opened up to them by the European Union. In order to avoid bureaucracy, they have often struggled on, without ensuring that they are benefiting from the possible customs duty exemptions. Thanks to this convention, which will unify the tangle of over 100 bilateral agreements on rules of origin, the system will be more accessible and simpler for the companies of our southern neighbours. It will therefore encourage trade from the South to the European Union, but also trade between the countries of the southern Mediterranean themselves, including Libya, from the outset.
However, it needs to be understood that this convention on its own, however beneficial it may be, will not be enough to make the transformation that we want in EU trade relations with the southern Mediterranean. We can help trade among southern countries to grow, but we cannot force it on them. Our partners to the south face a pressing problem in removing the barriers that exist between them and establishing South-South trade agreements, specifically among all the countries of the Maghreb. There is a need for political change on the ground if the possibility of cumulation of origin, strengthened in the new convention, is not to remain underutilised. Political change on the ground is important, for example, on the Morocco-Algeria border. It is also crucial to observe strictly the political conditionality applicable to products originating from the Israeli settlements in Palestine or the occupied territory of Western Sahara, which we cannot allow to enjoy these preferential rules."@en1
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