Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-02-11-Speech-2-132"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20030211.6.2-132"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
". – Mr President, first of all, I feel in many respects that I should be taking second place to the honourable Member, Mr Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra, in discussing this subject, because he has played such an important role in achieving what we are discussing today. He is in a sense - if this is not regarded as blasphemous - the John the Baptist for this agreement. We have both had the pleasure in the past of addressing conferences on this subject, speaking on this subject in Santiago and elsewhere. It is extremely important to recognise the role that he and other Members have played in this important and happy occasion.
Let me say a final word about the institutional framework of this association agreement. The agreement singles out the need for an increased involvement of civil society - this should materialise through regular meetings of representatives of Chilean and European civil societies so as to allow an exchange of views on the implementation of the different parts of the agreement. I would also like to highlight the establishment in the agreement of an Association Parliamentary Committee, which will be a discussion forum for Members of the European Parliament and Members of the Chilean Congress. I hope that honourable Members of this Parliament will participate actively in this committee. Judging by the enthusiasm with which they have pressed us to make this agreement, that should be no problem.
Once again, I would like to thank Parliament for the leadership it has shown in this issue. I am sure the beneficiaries will be not only the people of the European Union and Chile but also the overall relationship with such an important and dynamic continent.
We are considering today a very important proposal on the adoption of the Association Agreement that we signed with Chile in November last year. This agreement is not only crucial for European Union-Chile relations, it is also extremely important in the context of Latin America as a whole. Indeed, the agreement is a very tangible expression of the European Union’s willingness to establish a strategic partnership with that continent, despite its present economic problems and its political turbulence and the violence which some countries in the region are still suffering, not least from terrorism - a subject about which the honourable Member has understandably expressed considerable concern. We both come from countries that have suffered from mindless and vicious terrorism in the past and our sympathies go out to those countries, like Colombia, that are suffering from terrorist madness today.
It is more important than ever for us to send a positive signal of support to the region - from the European Union to Latin America.
Parliament has played an active and supportive role throughout the negotiation of this agreement. In November 2001, Parliament adopted a resolution inviting the Commission to conclude the negotiations of the EU-Chile Agreement at the second EU and Latin America and Caribbean Summit in Madrid in May 2002. I am pleased to note that the Commission met this objective and managed to negotiate a very ambitious agreement. We worked very closely with the Spanish presidency in the first semester of last year to achieve this, and it was a very important step forward.
This association agreement is firstly a political agreement – indeed it is important for the European Union to establish privileged links with those countries like Chile that share common values and objectives. Chile, as we know, is a constructive player on the international stage and endorses the same values and policies that we defend in the European Union. For example, it is not surprising that last year Chile ratified the Kyoto Protocol. There are many other examples. We certainly want to deepen the political dialogue with Chile and to define converging positions on issues of common interest.
I am pleased that Chile is keen on closer political relations with the European Union. This is shown in the almost unanimous support that the Chilean Congress gave to the agreement in January, less than two months after the agreement was signed in Brussels.
The European Union-Chile Agreement is also a comprehensive free trade agreement which, according to the very important sustainable impact assessment study carried out by the Commission, should generate additional growth for Chile’s GDP of about 0.5% and which should contribute to raising the standard of living of the Chilean people. The European Union has been for a long time Chile’s first trade partner; this agreement should further consolidate and increase our trade relations. Let me point out as an example that after only two years of implementation, the EU-Mexico Agreement - which in many respects set the pattern for the EU-Chile Agreement - has already led to an increase of 28% in bilateral trade.
The agreement should allow us to overcome obstacles and to build an operating framework for entrepreneurs which allows more predictability, confidence and bigger trade flows. Not only did Chile and the European Union agree to liberalise gradually over 97% of our bilateral trade in goods, but we also agreed on a whole set of rules to facilitate trade, on the establishment of a free trade area in services, on the liberalisation of investment and on the reciprocal opening of government procurement markets. The bulk of the trade chapter entered into force on 1 February; I trust that entrepreneurs and consumers on both sides will soon reap the benefits of the agreement.
However, the EU-Chile partnership will extend well beyond politics and trade: it will intensify our cooperation in a number of areas and stimulate social, economic and environmental development. The cooperation strategy devised jointly for the period 2000-2006 with the Chilean authorities may need to be adapted so as to take into account rather better the recommendations of the sustainable impact assessment study and to accompany the implementation of the agreement."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples