Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-11-28-Speech-3-138"
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"en.20071128.17.3-138"2
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"Mr President, I should like to thank all who contributed to this interesting debate. I am sure that we see it as an ongoing process. I am not part of it directly or personally but, for an agreement, you need goodwill on both sides and for many partners to agree.
As I said in my introductory statement, we are working in a pragmatic and flexible way. Those who are ready or willing to follow the same approach follow not to the detriment of the others, but for the gradual achievement which is important for all regions and for international trade as a whole.
There were some questions or criticisms about the tone of the negotiations. I want to assure you that it is in a spirit of partnership. We take into account, in this spirit of partnership, the development objectives and the constraints on our partners.
Some questions were about goods-only deals. The stepping-stone agreements lead towards comprehensive EPAs and these are supportive of ACP development and regional integration. So we are not losing sight of the overall picture and overall needs of our partner countries and regions.
I do not want to repeat many of the points I made at the beginning, but the process continues. Sometimes a deadline brings pressure to find a solution during the last few days or weeks, and we are making real progress. I quoted many names and countries where we have recently initialled stepping-stone agreements, and we will continue doing so, but our interest is really in finding solutions.
Processes will continue, because there is more than one stage in this situation. As I said, after 1 January, we will continue working on issues like services, investment and other trade-related areas.
I believe that the General Affairs and External Relations Council next week will support the proposal for a regulation of the Community to implement the market access which has been offered to the ACP. As I said, it is the best ever offer in a bilateral agreement. We are being not only open but also very constructive. The strategy the Commission proposed, and I tried to describe, was fully confirmed by the Council – all 27 countries – and, in this spirit of partnership and this constructive manner, we will continue.
The objective is really a fully-fledged economic partnership agreement. This will be a catalyst for regional integration. Once the first-step agreements are concluded, we will continue towards this objective. Nobody is left out or forgotten in this process. We not only have in mind, but support very actively, the least developed countries.
I think that is all I can say for now, either in response to questions or by way of confirmation, but I am sure that this House will come back to this point in the coming weeks and months, because this is also about the timing of our agreements."@en1
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