Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-12-15-Speech-3-140"

Predicate	Value (sorted: default)
rdf:type	lpv_eu:Speech2
dcterms:Date	"1999-12-15"^^xsd:date2
dcterms:Is Part Of	lp_eu:Vote2
dcterms:Language	"fr"^^xsd:language2
lpv:document identification number	"en.19991215.6.3-140"2
lpv:hasSubsequent	lp_eu:1999-12-15-Speech-3-1412
lpv:speaker	lp:Gérard Caudron2
lpv:spokenAs	member; Delegation to the EU-Poland Joint Parliamentary Committee (1999-10-06--2002-01-14)3 unknown; Parti socialiste (1999-07-20--2002-07-09)3 member; Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy (1999-07-21--2002-01-14)3 substitute; Delegation to the EU-Cyprus Joint Parliamentary Committee (1999-10-08--2002-01-14)3 substitute; Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy (1999-07-22--2002-01-14)3 member_of_the_bureau; PES (1999-07-20--2002-01-16)3
lpv:translated text	"I can only agree with what has just been said. The Seattle fiasco was far from being a victory and we can therefore make only a very modest assessment of these aborted negotiations. Clearly, we should welcome the emergence of popular concerns in the discussions on international trade. This was due in particular to the mobilisation of the NGOs, trade unions and other associations. Viewed from this angle, the Interministerial Conference in Seattle was a real turning point in the operation of the WTO. Previous rounds have been conducted with the greatest discretion between well-informed negotiators taking into account only the trading interests of their countries. However, the next round, whose starting date is still unknown, must now be transparent and include in the debates all trade-related issues, namely social standards, the environment, consumer protection and culture. In order to cope with these changes, the WTO must be reviewed. It was not actually formed to manage so many areas but was created by nations to serve their own interests. The new order requires an assurance that the developing and least developed countries will be able to participate fully. This was not the case in Seattle, hence their legitimate discontent. The good intentions must now be enshrined in the operation of the WTO. We must therefore properly examine the review of the WTO. The European Union must play a leading role in future discussions as it is clear that it was able to act as an essential intermediary between the United States of America and the developing countries. We must also stress the European Parliament delegation’s initiative to create a parliamentary body within the WTO. This clearly constitutes just one element of the future reform but is one which will allow the characteristic lack of democracy in the WTO to be tackled. The European Union must also prepare for other negotiations which will start from next year. It was very well prepared for the WTO discussions and its position remained very consistent. It therefore did not give any ground on the agenda which it wanted to see adopted, namely a broad agenda going beyond the issues of agriculture and services to which the USA wanted it to be restricted. However, it is on these two issues alone that discussions must start at the beginning of next year in accordance with the provisions of the Marrakech agreements. We must therefore be very vigilant with regard to these negotiations which look like being difficult. A final very positive point is that our negotiator, Pascal Lamy, was outstanding in terms of his clear-sightedness, his sensitivity, his knowledge and his authority. This is an extremely positive sign for the future."@en1

Named graphs describing this resource:

The resource appears as object in 2 triples

Context graph