Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-09-27-Speech-2-058"
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"en.20050927.5.2-058"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I should first like to thank Mrs Klass and Mrs Herranz Garcia for bringing this subject to the Chamber so promptly, thus giving it the importance it deserves.
Wine is one of the products that is facing increased international competition as a result of the globalisation and liberalisation of the markets. Wine is one of the few success stories that we can enjoy in Europe. Our designations of origin are the fruit of centuries of tradition and form part of a culture for which wine is one of the major flag-bearers. At this point, it is worth mentioning the Doha Declaration and the WTO General Council statement of 31 July 2004 in Geneva, which introduced the concept of ‘non-trade concerns’. These aspects, which one might call non-quantitative, must be taken on board in any agreement, including this agreement with the United States, a country that imports 40% of our wine exports. If so, they should guarantee that when the negotiations are over we can rest assured that the door will not be left ajar for future restrictions in other negotiations with third countries, either on a bilateral basis, or with the WTO.
For there to be a fair agreement, it is not enough simply to liberalise. Rules on quality must be put in place, because our designations of wine origin represent what is referred to as intellectual property, something that requires protection in the same way as copyright. This first agreement was concluded, in my view, with little transparency and with Parliament somewhat pushed aside. We therefore need to know what the United States actually accepts in terms of our wines with designation of origin.
For example, from what I have read in the newspapers, we do not know whether or not Madeira wine and Port wine are included among those that the United States accepts as designations of origin. We are prepared to make some concessions and adjustments to winemaking practices, but we cannot accept the idea that our designations of origin, which are genuine intellectual property and which characterise our culture even more than trade, are not respected in full.
To conclude, I therefore feel that if an agreement is necessary – and I accept the need for one – then such an agreement must not be at any cost, and especially not at the cost of our traditions and our culture when it comes to designations of origin."@en1
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