Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-10-24-Speech-3-133"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20011024.6.3-133"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:translated text |
".
Mr President, I shall carry on with what I was saying before this brief interruption, which is that the draft statement for the Doha Conference, currently on the table, raises a number of issues with regard to the environment and agriculture, and now I shall talk about the social aspect. We are not completely satisfied with some aspects of the statement either, specifically with the way it deals with the social domain. We feel that it is treated too sparingly and should be extended to more appropriately reflect the importance of this issue for our societies and our own ambition, for such is the mandate I was given, to establish an international and multi-institutional dialogue on this subject.
With regard to investment and competition, we are unhappy with one of the options put forward, which is to limit ourselves to working programmes. In our opinion, working programmes cannot replace negotiations, even if it does make sense that there should be a connection between a working programme and a negotiation, provided, of course, that this is agreed in advance.
The issue of the relationship between health and intellectual property, which the President-in-Office of the Council mentioned, is also problematic. As you know, we are very committed to this matter and we are working actively on reconciling the more extreme positions so that a substantial political statement can be agreed on in Doha, reconciling the flexibility of the agreement on intellectual property with, on the one hand, the need of developing countries for access to essential medicines and, on the other, the concern to ensure that innovation through research can take place.
These are our concerns and other delegations will obviously have their own concerns about the ministerial statement. For a number of developing countries, the implementation of existing WTO agreements, or in many cases, their adaptation, is of the utmost importance and we must, we feel, be willing to respond openly and creatively to these concerns.
Some of the least advanced countries have a real problem of lack of capacity and resources and a solution must be found to this problem in the future work of the World Trade Organisation.
Despite the concerns that I have highlighted, most of the WTO member countries seem increasingly willing to show the necessary flexibility and openness to sufficiently conduct ambitious negotiations in Doha in terms of substance, and I am beginning to think that we might be able to see our four priorities met there: trade liberalisation, further regulation, the inclusion of development at the top of the multilateral agenda and the integration of our objectives for sustainable development into the WTO. All of these aspects are designed to ensure that we give greater consideration to our fellow citizens’ concerns.
On behalf of the Commission, I hope that the resolution you will be voting on tomorrow will provide clear and powerful support for these European Union objectives. With a vote in favour, you will be strengthening our negotiating hand and sending a political signal to our trading partners and to the general public, that the European Union will not simply be taking a ‘business as usual’ approach to these negotiations
To conclude, I should also like to take this opportunity to welcome, on behalf of the Commission, the Members of this Parliament who will be joining our delegation to Doha, and the positive and cooperative approach between us that I would say we developed in Seattle. This is, in any event, the result of the questionnaire that I sent to you at the time, to which most members of the delegation replied, and I count on your active support to promote what is, in my view, our common agenda."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples