Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-09-25-Speech-3-167"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20020925.7.3-167"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Madam President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, first of all I would like to thank the other parliamentary groups for supporting our initiative of 8 August for an oral question, following a trip to Latin America to see the effects of the crisis and ascertain the expectations of the Latin-American countries with regard to the European Union. Secondly, I would like to welcome the compromise resolution in which the European Parliament will show – as I hope it will tomorrow – its unanimous support for a clearly determined direction established by the Commission and the Council.
The question we are asking has three parts. The first is that, from the very positive experiences of the association treaties with Mexico and the treaty we have just signed with Chile, we believe that we need to speed up negotiations – Commissioner Patten was in Rio de Janeiro in July with Commissioner Lamy – for three basic reasons. First, because we need to consolidate the political and economic integration of Mercosur. Secondly, because this is an instrument for stability – we hope it will be – to give investors confidence, to be a factor in economic growth and also to help consolidate democracy in these countries. Thirdly, last but not least, because we are the main investor and the main commercial partner in this area, ahead of the United States. And it is appropriate that we should talk about commerce, the economy and subjects such as the International Criminal Court, the WTO, Kyoto, etc., in order to consolidate these alliances.
The second aspect is that we can make progress on some of the proposals of a transitional nature we are currently putting forward, taking account of the need for aid in order to overcome the crisis – in particular, I am thinking of certain agri-fisheries aspects which can subsequently be consolidated.
The third aspect is that we are facing a significant problem with regard to the representation of the European Union in international bodies, which, I admit, is difficult to solve. We need to address this in the Convention and consolidate our positions, but you will acknowledge that in the case of the Commission’s mission to Rio de Janeiro, Commissioner Patten was not in the same situation as Commissioner Lamy. Commissioner Lamy has commercial power, as he showed in our negotiations in the WTO. In the case of the International Monetary Fund, we found that, although we jointly have 30% of the vote, due to special rules for negotiating, the United States, with 17%, carries more weight than we do. We must find a solution to this which allows us, within the scope of Article 99 of the Treaties, to be represented as a whole and thus carry enough weight to reflect our responsibilities and size."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples