Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-03-23-Speech-1-074"
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"en.20090323.14.1-074"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, in this lengthy debate here today, I should like to take a few moments, if you would allow me, to reflect on the road we have travelled until now.
The third point is services. In our discussions about EPAs with Cameroon, the Commission stressed time and again that our partners wanted to negotiate about services. That may be true, but, nonetheless, beware of those who would use this argument to impose liberalisation of services on all regions and all countries, and especially to justify liberalisation of public services. Commissioner, I expect a firm commitment from you that public services will remain outside the scope of the negotiations, in all regions. We know that the loss of customs revenue will cause a reduction in the budgets of our partners. If revenues are reduced, the first sectors to suffer will be sectors such as education, health or research. It would, therefore, be unacceptable for the ACP governments in this context to lose control of their public services and I call upon the Commissioner to give us her firm assurance on these issues.
The fourth point, and this has already been mentioned, is that food security must be protected. This involves not only putting in place adequate safeguards, but also allowing our partners to sustain their exports in order to remain competitive in global markets. I know that there have been some positive developments in this direction in the Southern African Development Community region. Is the Commission prepared to propose similar measures in other regions?
The last point is that we know that upgrading the economies of ACP States will require a huge financial commitment from the European Union both to protect infant industries from the negative effects of liberalisation and to develop the competitiveness of our partners’ economies. Unfortunately, contrary to the repeated recommendations of our political group, it is the European Development Fund that is to be used as the primary source of funding for the EPAs. We know that in the past the Commission has not been outstanding in the way it makes use of these funds, and I must, therefore, stress how important it is for these funds to be used quickly and according to the priorities of our partners.
Finally, Commissioner, these agreements are the image that the European Union will give to the rest of the world, the image that the European Union will give to the poorest countries in the world.
Let us remember the initial positions of some Members of this Parliament in the face of increasing concern in the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, in the face of demonstrations against the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), in the face of warning signals from NGOs from the North as well as the South, when we were demanding that the priority in these agreements should be development, something that seems obvious today, as the Commission is constantly repeating it. Mr Mandelson, however, at the time, scarcely dared to answer us because, for him, it was primarily a matter of stimulating trade, as if simply removing customs barriers would somehow miraculously bring about development.
People called us idealists, manipulated by the NGOs, and were offended by our demands for instruments for protection, regulation and intervention by public authorities, but what happened? It appeared that we were not being irresponsible. No, the governments of the ACP countries did not accept continuing negotiations under pressure or threats. No, the risks involved in opening up trade are not an attitude of mind, they are real and will have real and immediate consequences: state budgets will be reduced through loss of customs revenues, new industries in the agricultural sector will be weakened and the food security of their people put at risk.
We were expressing these fears a long time ago, before the hunger riots or the financial crisis. So, what is to be said about the situation today? The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the United Nations recognise that developing countries, contrary to what was said at the outset, will be seriously affected by the global recession.
Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation, emphasised this recently, asking whether we would dare to say to those we call partners that we are prepared to spend billions to save the global banking system but not to save their people who are dying of hunger.
I want to be completely honest, Commissioner, and I wish this to be quite clear. If you do not make a strong and precise commitment on behalf of the Commission to give us a guarantee that the EPAs will be genuinely pro-development, I will not vote for assent. Words will not be enough and nor will declarations of intent, we have heard too much of those. We want specific commitments and I would like to list them one by one. The EPAs will not be satisfactory agreements unless they promote regional integration and contribute to development in the ACP countries and to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
When we call for the promotion of regional integration, that needs to be translated into practical terms. For example, in Central Africa, Cameroon has been criticised, not to say strongly condemned, by its neighbours, for having signed this interim agreement with the European Union. Out of the eight countries in the region, I note that five are Least Developed Countries, that is, countries that, automatically and fully in accordance with the rules of the World Trade Organisation, have free access to the European market for exports without any requirements for trade concessions in return. I can quite understand their concerns when the Commission asks them to open up to 80 % of European exports.
Therefore, if the Commissioner makes a commitment to promoting regional integration, if she makes a commitment to greater flexibility so as to take into account the different levels of development of our partners, perhaps she can tell us why she does not accept the offer of 71 % liberalisation proposed by Central Africa?
The second fundamental subject for which we are awaiting a response concerns the Singapore Issues. These cannot be imposed in the negotiations against the wishes of the partner countries. On this point, I want particularly to emphasise public procurement. Of course, there must be transparency – I shall always defend that – but can we deprive our ACP partners of an essential instrument of their sovereignty in supporting their industry and their local services by imposing liberalisation of public procurement?"@en1
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