Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-11-30-Speech-3-053"
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"en.20051130.10.3-053"2
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"Madam President, many people are pessimistic about what contribution the meeting in Hong Kong can actually make, but I am an optimist at heart, for we must succeed in concluding ambitious agreements in quite a few of the areas we are negotiating about. Europe and the world cannot afford any other outcome. If we are to succeed, a great deal more is, however, required of all the parties involved, as it has been proved that putting the blame on each other, as we are doing at present, does not produce results.
It is particularly important for us to bring about substantial liberalisation of the trade in agricultural products. Many Members of this Chamber tend to oppose precisely this kind of liberalisation, but they are wrong to do so. Both consumers and farmers in Europe deserve access to a global market, and we need the pressure for change brought by liberalisation in order to enhance our competitiveness.
The agriculture negotiations are also – or perhaps chiefly – a moral issue, because they are the prerequisite for development in many poor countries. That is why it is a great shame that these very negotiations are standing in the way of progress in the negotiations both on industrial products and on the trade in services, which is so important to Europe. All those who argue that Commissioner Mandelson has already gone too far and who think that we cannot liberalise agriculture any further must realise that their policies come at a high price and that Europe – the world’s leading trading power - will pay dearly for failure to obtain new market access. We must remember that it is not agriculture but the services sector that currently accounts for 70% of growth in Europe. It is rather paradoxical that the country that refuses to offer any more in the negotiations on either agriculture or services is the one that currently has the largest global players in that very services sector. It is they that should be the first to recognise the need for success in Hong Kong.
The politicians and NGOs, such as Attac, which are currently attempting to thwart the negotiations are doing so at the expense of the poor. Having less trade liberalisation and more quotas and tariffs, or letting the developing countries hide behind high protective walls, benefits those who are already privileged, but what the people – the consumers in poor countries – need is investment. We must give them the same right to low tariffs and prices as consumers have here in Europe. If we succeed in agreeing on substantial trade liberalisation, European consumers will feel the difference in their pockets. If we do not succeed, it will be a matter of life and death."@en1
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