Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-05-09-Speech-1-129-000"
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"en.20110509.20.1-129-000"2
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"Mr President, I would like to thank Mr Moreira and the Committee on International Trade for giving me the opportunity to address the plenary on this important negotiation.
Also, in the intellectual property rights chapter, geographical indications are a major area of interest for the EU. It is important to obtain in this negotiation a political deliverable allowing for the effective protection of the major EU GI names. Negotiations have so far proven to be difficult. Nonetheless, the Commission continues to push for a satisfactory outcome.
Finally, as you are aware, the Commission has also proposed to the Council additional negotiating guidelines to also negotiate investment protection. These draft negotiating guidelines have been shared with Parliament subject to the appropriate confidentiality requirements. The Council is currently examining these guidelines and we look forward to hearing Parliament’s view on them. When and how this chapter can be negotiated will ultimately depend on when the Council manages to agree on these additional negotiating guidelines.
Let me conclude by reiterating that this negotiation is very important and, I believe, an opportunity we should not miss. Of course, we should not conclude an agreement at any cost but only if the substance on the table is right. If the substance is not there, we should simply say no. Some of our requests, such as access for our cars or wines and spirits or the opening of certain services sectors, are difficult for India to deliver. I look forward to more intensified exchanges on this with the European Parliament as we move into what is hopefully the final phase.
I believe the debate we will now have is a useful opportunity for this House to give its views on these negotiations. These views will be taken into account as far as possible, taking into account the realities and specificities of this particular negotiation. In this respect, we look forward to the resolution that you are planning to adopt on the India FTA, which I believe is very timely.
It goes without saying that to conclude an agreement with India at this juncture is not only of great economic value but also of major strategic importance. India is just at the beginning of a development path which will make it one of the key economic players of this century. An ambitious and balanced agreement with India would take our relationship to a different level by providing a stable, predictable framework governing our future economic relations.
We are therefore working very hard to bring this negotiation to a conclusion and there is a real opportunity to do so. India is clearly interested at the highest political level. The India-EU Summit in December came out with a strong commitment expressed by both sides to conclude the negotiations as soon as possible.
We have made progress across a range of issues. We are making headway on the tariff offers and are preparing the exchange of offers on services. We are now intensively negotiating on procurement, and this is the first time that India has negotiated a substantive procurement chapter including specific rules and market access commitments.
Having said this, I do not want to hide the fact that there are also still some thorny issues on the table which require difficult negotiation. As with any negotiation, the last yards are the most difficult. Firstly, there are the tariff negotiations where we have made some good progress quickly over the last few months and I am confident that India will significantly improve its offer, but a few sectors remain very difficult; notably, cars, and wine and spirits.
We are also having very intense discussions on services and the contours of a possible package are getting clearer, but some of our key interests concern sectors where legislative reform is still ongoing or being contemplated in India. This mainly concerns insurance, postal, financial, retail, legal and accountancy services. This makes negotiations very challenging. There is also sustainable development, which is, of course, very important for us but very sensitive in India. We are fully aware of the views of the European Parliament in this respect and will take those into account.
However, we must remain realistic. We need to see what will ultimately be possible with a partner like India. We need to find a solution which satisfies our expectations but also takes into account the specific situation of India. So yes, there will be a chapter on sustainable development that will be part and parcel of the agreements, that will recognise the importance of relevant international standards and be based on cooperation, but we also need to be clear that a sustainable development chapter which would allow the use of trade restrictions linked to social or environmental issues will not be acceptable to India. This would also not be in accordance with the model we are advocating in our trade agreements in general. We are not pursuing sanctions but cooperation in this area.
Another issue which has been sensitive in this negotiation and the cause of some concern is access to medicines and the potential impact this FTA might have on access to medicines in the developing world. But let me reassure you on these crucial points. We are fully aware of the specific role played by India as regards access to affordable medicines in the developing world. Therefore, this FTA – whether its intellectual property rights chapter, its investment chapter or any other chapter – will not undermine the capacity of India to promote, produce or export generic medicines, including through compulsory licences. We ourselves have even proposed very clear language to this effect but, at the same time, one should bear in mind the potential of a robust framework on IPR in India, which can certainly encourage innovation and research, including as regards the development of new medicine. Therefore, negotiating a chapter on IPR with India remains an important objective for us in this negotiation.
Let me also be very clear as regards data protection and data exclusivity for pharmaceutical products. What we will be asking through this agreement is that, if and when India decides to introduce a system of data exclusivity, it will be applied in a non-discriminatory manner so that European producers will also benefit from it and, of course, we continue to believe that access to medicine and the protection of test data can coexist constructively. Further dialogue by all interested stakeholders should help to develop a common understanding on this matter."@en1
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