Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-04-23-Speech-3-344"
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"en.20080423.23.3-344"2
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"Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I welcome the debate this evening on Mrs Muscardini’s report on the reform of the World Trade Organisation.
The food crisis that is currently hitting the developing countries hard illustrates perfectly the urgent need for better regulation of global trade. This should come from a reformed WTO that is capable of controlling globalisation prices and promoting fairer trade rules. This crisis is structural, not cyclical. It is a sign that serious problems are diverting global trade from what should be its main objective: ensuring the development of all, notably the poorest countries on the planet.
A number of theories have been put forward to try to explain the origin of this crisis and I do not doubt their relevance. However, I think that collectively we should ask ourselves a number of questions. Would this crisis have been as extensive if the priorities of the developing countries had been given greater consideration in the WTO? If there had been better coordination of the WTO and other international organisations such as the UNDP and the FAO? If our free trade agreements had not encouraged the developing countries to specialise in single crops for export, to the detriment of their traditional subsistence crops and food self-sufficiency? If we had listened to the African countries and supported them in the WTO when they asked that action on the price of basic products be included in the current round of negotiations? In this respect, I must point out that Article 38 of the GATT requires all WTO members to stabilise and improve the situation of the markets for primary products, which are of particular importance for developing countries.
In order to deal with the current problems and improve the efficiency and legitimacy of the WTO, this report proposes several measure. In order to ensure that the voices, the points of view and the interests of developing countries are better heard and, indeed, taken into account, it emphasises the need to introduce a more democratic system of decision-making and better representation in the WTO secretariat, which must also be provided with additional financial and human resources.
In order to guarantee greater transparency of the organisation’s debates and work, provision should be made for better information, dialogue between the organisation and representatives of civil society, and public access to meetings, particularly for the dispute settlement procedure.
Finally, the WTO’s parliamentary dimension, which guarantees the democratic legitimacy and transparency of negotiations, must be strengthened. That includes, in particular, the creation of a WTO parliamentary assembly with consultative powers.
In addition to these measures, the very aims of the multilateral trading system must be reviewed with a view to ensuring consistency with the other international organisations. Only a committed reform in this regard will allow us to conclude a Doha Round that is truly working towards development and towards achievement of the Millennium Goals. I would point out in this respect that the first of these goals is the eradication of poverty and hunger; sadly the current situation reminds us that our commitments remain unfulfilled."@en1
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