Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-12-13-Speech-1-060"

Predicate	Value (sorted: default)
rdf:type	lpv_eu:Speech2
dcterms:Date	"1999-12-13"^^xsd:date2
dcterms:Is Part Of	lp_eu:WTO Millennium Round2
dcterms:Language	"en"^^xsd:language2
lpv:document identification number	"en.19991213.3.1-060"2
lpv:hasSubsequent	lp_eu:1999-12-13-Speech-1-0612
lpv:speaker	lp:Nicholas Clegg2
lpv:spoken text	"Mr President, I should like to thank Mr Lamy for his interesting and helpful remarks this afternoon and to reiterate on behalf of the ELDR Group our gratitude to him and his staff for the close cooperation which we successfully established in Seattle. One general remark if I may. Much has been said since Seattle about the procedural and organisational shortcomings of the WTO. Whilst all proposals to improve WTO procedures are naturally welcome, there is a danger that we might be embarking on the reinvention of the wheel. The WTO is an intergovernmental organisation with over 130 members, so it will remain, by definition, a somewhat cumbersome decision-making forum. That is, unfortunately, the unavoidable nature of the beast. A concentration on procedural and organisational issues should not blind us to one simple fact: if the political will had existed in Seattle, particularly within the US Administration, the procedural flaws of the system would have been overcome. Thus our primary task remains a political, not a technical one, namely to rehabilitate the public case for further trade liberalisation, not only for the benefit of European businesses and consumers, but most particularly because open trade offers the only viable long-term solution to poverty in a developing world. That is why the ELDR Group hopes that the Commission, the Council and this Parliament will embark on a proactive attempt to remake the political case for further trade liberalisation in general and for a new comprehensive round, rather than an intermediate round, in particular. The EU/US Summit which takes place the day after tomorrow is exactly the right place to start since it is the US which has been found to be most politically wanting in recent weeks and months. The need for EU political leadership which was amply on display in Seattle in international trade affairs is now more acute than ever. Whilst to focus on procedural details is essential, no amount of organisational improvements will compensate for the biggest loss at Seattle, a loss of political conviction in the merits of open, multilateral rules-based trade liberalisation."@en1
lpv:spokenAs	member; Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy (1999-07-21--2002-01-14)3 member; Delegation for relations with the countries of South America and MERCOSUR (1999-09-29--2002-01-14)3 member; ELDR (1999-07-20--2004-07-19)3 substitute; ECON (1999-07-21--2002-01-14)3 unknown; Liberal Democrat Party (1999-07-20--2004-07-19)3
lpv:unclassifiedMetadata	"Clegg (ELDR )."1

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