Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-02-10-Speech-1-076"
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"en.20030210.8.1-076"2
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".
Mr President, this debate is an opportunity to discuss with you the work taking place in the World Trade Organisation on access for developing countries to medicines at an affordable price.
We are therefore seeking an agreement that can go further, given the scope provided by Doha, including the assumption henceforth recognised by all that diseases such as AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and a whole list of others would be covered as a general principle, and that is why we have suggested involving the WHO, which has undisputed experience in the field of public health.
We did so on the basis of a list which I would like to specify is neither exclusive nor restrictive. We feel that the use of the system should not be limited to the diseases on this list. There must be no misunderstanding on this point.
For any other serious public health problem, in the event of doubt over the basis for the measure, a member of the WTO could request a medical opinion from the World Health Organisation. This possibility of requesting an opinion should allow the United States to overcome their reticence with regard to the use of the system by developing countries.
This would simply be a non-restrictive opinion. There again, I would specify that this would in no way constitute an attack on the sovereignty of the Member States in the field of public health. We all know that the role of the WHO is, at least currently, purely advisory.
Our objective, in placing this proposal on the table at the beginning of January, has been achieved. Discussions have begun again. Our proposal acts as a basis for these discussions and we are going to do all we can, as we have over the past few months, to convince the members of the WTO of the need for a compromise that is as close as possible to that of 16 December. We must make progress. Too many countries need to import low-cost medicines. We know that the temporary measure that enables them to do so today is not permanent, and from that point of view we do not want to and cannot disappoint them.
As you know, the members of the WTO have not been able to find a solution within the time set, which was the end of 2002, to the problems encountered by developing countries which do not have the capacity to produce medicines, since the debate concerned that exact problem following the agreements signed in Doha.
The European Union has put a great deal of effort into searching for a solution. We are adopting, and that has always been the basis for our position, an approach which, on the one hand, allows reduced-price medicines, including generic medicines, to reach those who need them, and on the other, allows the pharmaceutical industry to continue to invest in research.
We would like to reach a balanced result, first of all because we need to solve what is a substantial, in some cases tragic, social problem in many developing countries, and secondly because this situation clearly weighs heavily on the climate of trust that needs to reign around the table of the WTO in order for progress to be made in the Doha negotiations.
We have therefore worked very hard to try to find a solution that is both legally sound and sustainable, by refusing a moratorium on the regulation of differences of opinion as a solution to this question and rejecting any ideas of derogation from the outset. We do not feel that either of these two methods fulfils these two conditions of soundness and sustainability. We therefore cannot accept the current situation which is either failure or half-measures such as the moratorium, even though this half-measure provides a temporary solution.
The Union’s position remains the same. We need to find a multilateral solution as quickly as possible, a sustainable, fair, solution which provides a sufficient degree of legal security for all the players to be able to join forces.
That is why we have fully accepted the draft agreement of 16 December that was on the table. We found that it was reasonable and balanced and that it fulfilled the Doha mandate, and that is why, like the overwhelming majority of the members of the WTO, we were won over by it.
The problem of scope as regards the various types of health problem still remains. We know that only the Americans have been unable to join the consensus on this point. This situation, I have said this publicly and I repeat it to you now, is deeply regrettable, and this obstacle must be overcome.
It is clear to the Union that the Doha mandate is intentionally broad and that we must respect this. In case of a serious public health problem, and I reiterate the terms of the Doha Declaration, the WTO mechanism allowing generic medicines to be imported can and must be activated."@en1
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