Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-09-12-Speech-3-438-000"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20120912.23.3-438-000"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Mr President, the Commissioner has to explain to the House why some countries who initialled EPAs have not gone on to ratify them and this is because, as Mr Cashman and Mr Schulz and others have indicated, one of the key aims of EPAs is supposed to be about regional integration and we have put some countries in positions which, if not impossible, are at least difficult.
Take Kenya: if it was looking after its own economic interests, Kenya would ratify an EPA, but if Kenya ratified an EPA unilaterally it would break its relationship with the East Africans. And we put them in this position where either they break the relationship with East Africa or they suffer economic costs. Their cut flower industry is vital to them; that industry will face massive tariffs if they do not sign up for an EPA and we pass this regulation. At the same time this Commission and probably this Parliament are going to pass the Colombia Free Trade Agreement which is going to give trade preferences on cut flowers to their biggest rival, Colombia. So it is a double whammy against Kenya. We are not asking them to give them protection in perpetuity but we are at least saying give them two or three years in order to find a solution that encompasses both their objective of signing an EPA and staying within their East African regional partnership.
I have not got time to go into the others but South Africa is the same; Botswana and Namibia have the same pressure in terms of their relationship with South Africa.
Commissioner, my view is simple. You want 2014 because you think this gives momentum to the negotiations. I do not want 2014 because I think it does exactly the opposite. Firstly it will sour the mood in terms of our relationship with the ACP countries and secondly I think it is an impossible deadline to meet.
So all we are saying as a House to you is, let us not rush this, let us set a deadline. And I will repeat what I said at the beginning: that deadline would be set in concrete. It is not a flexible deadline; it is not one that is moveable once we pass the legislation. 2016 is not unreasonable; it gives African countries time to come into line and at the same time makes us, I hope, look a bit more reasonable and a bit less impatient."@en1
|
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata | |
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples