Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-01-15-Speech-3-170"
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"en.20030115.10.3-170"2
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". – Mr President, the House is considering today a very important resolution on the adoption of the Association Agreement signed with Lebanon in June last year. This agreement is not only important for our relations with Lebanon – it is also crucial in the overall European Union-Mediterranean Partnership since it represents another step towards the completion of the grid of Association Agreements within the Barcelona Process (the only agreement still being negotiated is the one with Syria and I am hoping to have the opportunity next month of trying to persuade the Syrians to go ahead themselves more seriously to negotiate an agreement).
Our partnership will be sustained by contributions under the MEDA programme which I hope will be focused, as far as possible, on implementation of the Agreement. So we are moving towards our overall ambitions in the southern Mediterranean with the agreement that we have put before Parliament with the Lebanon and I very much hope that we can move on from this to completing the grid of association agreements by successful negotiations with Syria.
I commend this agreement most warmly to Parliament.
Lebanon is a key partner in the Euro-Mediterranean structure. When Prime Minister Hariri was elected to office in September 2000, he set his government an ambitious deadline – to conclude the negotiations with the European Commission by the end of 2001. I am very pleased that he has delivered on this promise and I call upon Members of the House to vote favourably on the resolution, and to endorse the Agreement.
Parliament has before it, in my judgment, the means to provide Lebanon with a firm foundation for building its future. The country has experienced a terrible civil war. It has been the victim of outside interference, it still remains vulnerable. Lebanon is now grappling with recovery and with modernisation under difficult economic circumstances, faced with poor immediate prospects for peace in the Middle East, smouldering tensions along the border with Israel and the unsettling possibility of a military conflict in Iraq.
There is broad support in Lebanon for this new strengthened relationship with Europe. The Lebanese Parliament ratified both the Association Agreement and the Interim Agreement in December. The interim agreement allows both sides to start the 12-year transition period from March 2003, leading to the gradual introduction of free trade. This is a clear sign that Lebanon is serious in meeting at an early stage its commitments to opening up large areas of its trade and approximating its legislation to that of the European Union. It will also be bound by its engagements on respect for the fundamental principles of human rights and democracy from this date and I want to return to that in a moment.
The free-trade area will bring about profound changes to Lebanese commerce. Lebanon is rightly prized for the entrepreneurial skills of its work force. Its economic strategy is already liberal. World Trade Organisation membership has been requested. The opening of markets and economies will bring benefits through economic liberalisation and increased competitiveness. Lebanon will benefit immediately from market access for its agricultural and processed agricultural products. And the Union will gain from improved access to service sector industries in Lebanon, once these arrangements have been concluded. By signalling Lebanon’s commitment to economic and social reform, this Agreement will send a clear and positive message to the international and European investment community of the opportunities for direct foreign investment in Lebanon.
The successful outcome of the Paris II donor conference in November last year, organised with great commitment and success by President Chirac, suggests that this message has already struck home. Of the 18 governments participating, six were Member States and the Commission was also represented at its highest level. There is a clear interest in seeing that Lebanon weathers the economic storm of post-war recovery, and reduces its debt. The amount pledged to assist in debt relief matched expectations (about $ 4.3 billion were pledged in all).
But, the Association Agreement is first and foremost a political agreement, which is why it devotes so much importance to political dialogue. The Agreement is a potent expression of shared values and common objectives. It is through dialogue that members of this partnership can pursue the shared commitment to achieving peace in the Middle East. Our dialogue, and this was a point which Mr Galeote Quecedo referred to, will embrace the fundamental principles of human rights and democracy with an honesty and appreciation born, I hope, out of close partnership. Lebanon’s pluralist society, embracing numerous sectarian and religious groups, has functioned most effectively when there is consensus, tolerance and open debate – a unique feature in the region. We are, however, conscious of the concerns expressed by the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee on specific points of the human rights situation in Lebanon. The agreement provides an additional forum for tackling these concerns. By ratifying the Association Agreement, the European Union will trigger the important commitments from Lebanon concerning human rights and democracy, migration and re-admission, money laundering, the fight against organised crime and illicit drugs, and judicial cooperation. And I know too the concerns which have been expressed about freedom of the media. I can reassure you that the Commission will continue to monitor and follow these concerns wherever and whenever possible.
The Agreement will also, as the Minister pointed out, trigger Lebanon’s undertakings on cooperation in counter-terrorism, set out in the exchange of letters to which he referred.
Our partnership will extend well beyond trade and politics, and will be wide-ranging, covering areas as diverse as cooperation in the fields of science, education, energy, tourism, the environment and industry. Social and cultural cooperation is also central to the Agreement, in terms of rights of workers, and social dialogue."@en1
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