Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-10-05-Speech-2-126"
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"en.19991005.8.2-126"2
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"Mr President, I am pleased to support this initiative on behalf of the European Free Alliance/Green Group in Parliament. We thank Mrs Kinnock for her efforts.
Inter-state and, more recently, inter-regional alliances both within the European Union and with partners outside is an initiative we can pride ourselves on developing enthusiastically. Funding schemes such as INTERREG, PHARE and others are a clear expression of this ideology.
This initiative of itself cannot be expected to resolve overnight, as it were, the problems of economic deprivation in the new South Africa. It has to address massive domestic problems including social integration, chronically poor housing for the majority of the population, massive unemployment and an economy that produces only 0.46% of world GDP.
The concern of most South Africans is that our initiatives take so long before coming to fruition. We must ensure that all support schemes can be expedited far quicker than at present. An agreement that provides for the full liberalisation of 95% of South African exports to the EU over a ten-year period with tariffs eliminated on 86% of its industrial goods is a very long time to wait for a country facing such acute economic and social problems.
Tariff restrictions are fine, but should be viewed in the context of the restrictions on third world countries exporting to the developed world being four times as stringent as the tariffs we face when we export to them.
Inter-regional relationships must also be fostered with South Africa, a country of regions. The role that the regions and historical nations of the EU can have in building economic and cultural links with the diverse regions of Africa is vital and should be an essential prerequisite to its future prospects, as will the elimination of its debt. The decision of the World Economic Summit in Cologne this year to cancel $100 billion of third world debt was important in this regard and should be a catalyst for further action by all EU countries, not just the few.
Financial partnership is not the panacea that will cure the problems of South Africa as a whole. A whole raft of issues that are crucial to the task of ensuring that South Africa is in a position to maximise the opportunities afforded by this agreement now need to be explored in a holistic way. The EU should be looking to develop strategies and training programmes to ensure that the regeneration of the South African economy is sustainable in the long term both economically and environmentally. I welcome this initiative."@en1
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