Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-03-08-Speech-2-080"
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"en.20050308.8.2-080"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the European Union has been the pioneer in the establishment of the generalised system of preferences (GSP).
An end to violence and the pacification of El Salvador have been encouraged and supported through the granting of a preferential system by the Union. Though the current El Salvador Constitution, which has promoted a delicate balance of agreement, does not conform immediately and entirely to the new requirements, though it does fulfil its fundamental objectives, this should not prevent us from seeking formulae such as the one proposed in the report on compliance by equivalence. An excessively restrictive definition of the vulnerability requirement for accessing the special incentive arrangement must also be avoided.
The report proposes the provision of technical assistance, in order to create the institutional and regulatory capacity necessary to allow the beneficiary countries to increase the level of utilisation of the system, which is currently low.
From the sectoral point of view, I would like to highlight the acceptance of the compromise amendment, presented with the rapporteur for the Committee on Development, in order to link the timescales for the liberalisation of sugar with those established in the reform of the common organisation of the markets, as well as the amendments in the field of textiles and fisheries products.
Rules of origin, even when they are not part of the new regulation, are a key aspect and the rapporteur advocates that their form, substance and procedures should be reformed as soon as possible.
The report has dealt with other future aspects, such as the preservation of the basis for calculation, the extension of sensitive products and taking account of the interests of the ACP countries that are not capable of concluding an EPA.
I shall end by pointing out that the new GSP +, by making human development the central nucleus of any development strategy, must become the backbone of the future SGP and I would like to thank you for your attention and thank everybody who has participated in the result of my report for their cooperation.
Since 1971, following the Recommendation of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, non-reciprocal preferential treatment has been granted to developing countries, currently benefiting 177 countries, 50 of which are amongst the least-developed countries.
The European Union imports more products covered by the GSP than all the other developed countries put together and three times more than the second largest importer.
The first GSP regulation of the 21st Century must re-affirm the European Union’s leading role in promoting sustainable development and trade in the world. The Declaration of the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation, held in Doha in 2001, recognised that international trade could play a more important role in the promotion of economic development and the reduction of poverty.
The new regulation is the first to be adopted by the European Union of 25. It provides access to a market larger than the 450 million people who live in it, which may become even larger with the incorporation of two new Member States. It is necessary because of the need to review the special drugs system, taking on board the requirements of the World Trade Organisation’s ruling of April 2004, which must come into effect on 1 July of this year.
The rapporteur takes a positive view of the Council’s consultation of Parliament within a procedure in which codecision is not yet applied. He believes that the new initiative should have been preceded by a study on the impact of the system on the beneficiary countries and more time for hearing experts, specialist organisations, beneficiary countries and representatives of civil society. That would have allowed the report of the Committee on Development to be linked with those of other parliamentary committees.
The report proposes that the review of the system in the future should be better organised and more participatory and that Parliament’s role should be enhanced, without changing the balance of powers, although it improves good European governance.
We support Commissioner Mandelson’s initiative to present a revised proposal to bring the application of the Regulation forward to 1 April so that the countries affected by the tsunami can benefit from it as soon as possible. Even though its method for producing a provisional list for application of GSP + seems appropriate, the truth is that it only includes six countries and leaves out the majority of those that were benefiting from its preferences, and their exclusion is not compensated for by the increase of more than 200 products in the general GSP. For reasons of legal certainty, good administration and legitimate confidence, it appears appropriate to guarantee that the countries not included on the list can continue temporarily to enjoy the advantages they had been receiving, until the end of the present year.
I would like to stress that compliance with the requirements for benefiting from the new incentive must conform to the requirements of the rule of law and the case of El Salvador will demonstrate this."@en1
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