Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-02-10-Speech-3-678"
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"en.20100210.34.3-678"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, in September, we were already debating in plenary the free trade agreement between the European Union and Korea. There were already many of us who expressed our fears about the negative consequences of this agreement, especially with regard to the automobile sector. We did not think that events would prove us right so quickly.
To conclude, Commissioner, you know how essential it is for MEPs to be kept fully informed of the negotiations under way and to be involved at all stages, including from the point at which the negotiating mandate is defined. Leaving aside our differences in approach, I would like to point out that better upstream consultation of Parliament would have made it easier for us to understand the strategy being pursued.
I therefore trust I can count on your support and on that of your Commission to assist us in our future work, with everyone acting within the scope of his responsibilities, but always for the benefit of a trade policy that is obviously more European in scope, but that is, above all, fairer.
On 21 January, Opel announced the closure of its Anvers site, the production activities of which will be relocated to South Korea. Are we to believe that this decision has nothing to do with the free trade agreement that has just been negotiated? Allow me to spot a connection there. During this period of economic crisis in which the workers are the first to pay for the mistakes of the financiers, the Commission is duty-bound to consider, now more than ever, the job-related consequences of the agreements that it negotiates.
It is no longer possible to give a simplistic response to these employees, for whom we know full well it will be very difficult to find another job. We cannot say to them that international trade is a game of winners and losers and that, unfortunately, they are the ones who will be sacrificed and that we can do nothing about it.
We expect answers from you today, Commissioner. First of all, we want to know whether your Directorate-General has assessed the impact of this agreement on jobs in Europe, for I must tell you that the figure greedily announced, that is, the EUR 19 billion profit that European exporters are expected to make, does not convince us. Where does this figure come from? On what study is it based? Leaving aside the expected positive effects, however, have the negative effects also been taken into account?
The Commission has drafted a regulation on the methods for implementing safeguard measures within the context of this agreement. These methods relate, in particular, to duty drawback, an advantage that has never before been conceded, not even to our developing trade partners. The proposals put forward provide for complicated procedures for invoking and enforcing the safeguard clauses.
Nevertheless I feel reassured because, for the first time ever, Parliament will soon be able to express an opinion on this text under the ordinary legislative procedure. I would, however, like to point out that Europe’s employment problem will not be solved by palliative measures taken on a case-by-case basis. That is why I, together with my whole group, am calling for a real European industrial policy, one that represents a genuine strategy for the future of our industries, to be drawn up at last.
In a context of economic crisis and of intensified global competition, this industrial policy must be coordinated effectively with the common trade policy so that our free trade agreements do not lead to job cuts in Europe.
A second matter on which we expect clarification is that of the protocol on cultural cooperation included in the agreement. Several Member States have reacted very harshly to the negotiations initiated with Korea, a country that has failed to ratify the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.
I condemn the very principle of initiating negotiations on this topic, and I believe that cultural issues should be handled separately from trade negotiations and placed in the hands of the Commissioner for Culture so as to prevent this matter from becoming a negotiating item under the same heading as conventional goods or services."@en1
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