REPORT on the assessment of the Doha Round following the WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong
1.3.2006 - (2005/2247(INI))
Committee on International Trade
Rapporteur: Georgios Papastamkos
OPINION of the Committee on Development
for the Committee on International Trade
on the assessment of the Doha Round following the WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong
(2005/2247(INI))
Draftswoman: Maria Martens
SUGGESTIONS
The Committee on Development calls on the Committee on International Trade, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions in its motion for a resolution:
1. Recalls that the 2001 Doha WTO Ministerial Declaration places the needs of developing countries at the heart of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA), in order to enable them to integrate in the global economy;
2. Reiterates that trade can be an important and effective tool for development and poverty reduction, which - together with other development tools - must contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals;
3. Considers that the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference has not yet succeeded in achieving this goal and warns that after the expiry of the US Presidential Trade Promotion Authority (the ‘fast track’) in 2007 negotiations may become even more complicated; reiterates, however, that efforts to meet the 2006 deadline for the conclusion of the Doha Round should not compromise the objective of reaching a development-oriented outcome;
4. Welcomes the progress made in the area of Special and Differential Treatment (SDT), but emphasizes that a great deal more remains to be done and that SDT - giving the least developed and vulnerable countries special privileges - should be a genuine development tool, which forms an integral and binding part of the WTO agreements;
5. Welcomes the elimination of export subsidies in agriculture, including those in the form of food aid and other export refund systems, by all developed countries at the latest in 2013; equally welcomes the frontloading of a substantial part of the cuts in the first half of the implementation period and calls on developed countries to stand by those pledges; urges the Commission and the other developed WTO Members to finalise the modalities for an important reduction of trade-distorting agricultural domestic subsidies and tariffs;
6. Welcomes the agreement on Special Products and a Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM), recognising the needs of developing countries to safeguard food security, rural development, and the livelihoods of poor farmers;
7. Regrets that the Hong Kong agreement is limited to the elimination of cotton export subsidies and does not deal with domestic subsidies which constitute the vast majority of trade distorting supports;
8. Asks the Commission to consider the possibility of introducing a ‘development box’ for the Least Developed Countries into the agricultural negotiations, so that they can tackle food safety and rural employment, which are major issues when it comes to eradicating poverty;
9. Stresses the importance of market access of non-agricultural products for developing countries, while keeping the right to regulate ecologically-sensitive sectors; urges developed and emerging countries to contribute to this process, commensurately with their degree of development, by giving market access to LDCs and stimulating North-South, as well as South-South trade; insists that the least developed and vulnerable countries should not have to make any commitments at all;
10. Takes note of the agreement on the Swiss formula for tariff reduction in NAMA, and notes that it must fully respect the principle of ‘less than full reciprocity’;
11. Is disappointed that the ‘development package’, giving the LDCs duty-free and quota-free access to markets in developed countries by 2008, has not followed the full EU’s ‘Everything but Arms’ (EBA) initiative, but that it restricts market access to 97% of LDC products (excluding about 300 tariff lines) - enough to effectively deprive some LDCs of market access for all their products;
12. Stresses that a gradual well-regulated liberalisation of services could result in higher economic growth and job creation; stresses however that the ability of all WTO Members to regulate their service sectors should be safeguarded, especially in key service sectors such as healthcare and education; flexibilities should be included for those countries that do not feel ready yet to negotiate on trade in services;
13. Calls on the Commission to take due account of the preference erosion in the DDA negotiations and to consider what measures should be taken to guarantee that the effectiveness of EU preferences will be continued, especially for the poorest countries; is deeply concerned, in particular, about the reform of the EU sugar regime and its impact on ACP countries and calls on the Commission to fulfil its commitment made in Hong Kong to providing at least EUR 190 million each year to these countries for accompanying measures;
14. Deeply deplores the fact that the problem of the decline in commodity prices has so far not been tackled in an adequate way within the DDA;
15. Welcomes the Aid for Trade programme, as part of the ‘development package’, providing trade-related aid for developing countries, especially LDCs; strongly criticises, however, the fact that the announced programme is drawing on already pledged aid; calls on the European Union to ensure that its contribution is financed out of new resources and that these funds are used to support trade programmes in developing countries that are most in need;
16. Welcomes the amendment to the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) to allow countries with insufficient pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity to import generic versions of drugs still under patent, and calls upon all Members to fully implement the Doha Declaration and refrain from negotiating trade agreements that go beyond what was agreed in Doha; calls for an urgent review in order to assess the effectiveness of the measures in place;
17. Stresses the importance of technical assistance and capacity-building for developing countries which need assistance to enable them to reap the benefits from improved market access, to diversify their production, to replace customs resources and to fulfil the WTO commitments, and recognises the potential gains for developing countries of progress in the area of trade facilitation;
18. Regrets the lack of democratic accountability and transparency of the WTO negotiating process and calls for a strengthening of the parliamentary dimension of the WTO;
19. Stresses the importance of the multilateral trading framework; stresses that transparent decision-making within the WTO, a better system of accountability to elected national representatives, enhanced possibilities for public scrutiny and wider consultation of civil society are needed in order to guarantee a fair rules-based system for international trade and for allowing the poorest countries to strengthen their voice during the trade negotiations; emphasises, moreover, that for this to be possible the LDCs must receive the necessary support to increase their negotiating capacity;
PROCEDURE
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Title |
Assessment of the Doha Round following the WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong | |||||
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Procedure number |
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Committee responsible |
INTA | |||||
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Opinion by |
DEVE | |||||
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Enhanced cooperation – date announced in plenary |
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Drafts(wo)man |
Maria Martens | |||||
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Previous drafts(wo)man |
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Discussed in committee |
20.2.2006 |
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Date adopted |
20.2.2006 | |||||
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Result of final vote |
+: –: 0: |
19 0 2 | ||||
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Members present for the final vote |
Margrete Auken, Thierry Cornillet, Alexandra Dobolyi, Michael Gahler, Filip Andrzej Kaczmarek, Glenys Kinnock, Ģirts Valdis Kristovskis, Maria Martens, Miguel Angel Martínez Martínez, Jürgen Schröder, Feleknas Uca, María Elena Valenciano Martínez-Orozco, Anna Záborská. | |||||
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Substitute(s) present for the final vote |
John Bowis, Milan Gaľa, Ana Maria Gomes, Fiona Hall, Manolis Mavrommatis, Zbigniew Zaleski and Gabriele Zimmer. | |||||
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Substitute(s) under Rule 178(2) present for the final vote |
Robert Evans. | |||||
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Comments (available in one language only) |
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OPINION of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (20.2.2006)
for the Committee on International Trade
on the assessment of the Doha Round following the WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong
(2005/2247(INI))
Draftswoman: Margarita Starkevičiūtė
SUGGESTIONS
The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs calls on the Committee on International Trade, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions in its motion for a resolution:
1. Encourages the Commission to intensify its efforts to achieve progress in WTO negotiations, bearing in mind their multi-sectoral character; regrets that political attention within the EU on WTO negotiations has tended to focus on agricultural and textile production and has somehow ignored the far more significant economic potential of commercial services, including financial services and Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights;
2. Points out that poor access to finance, including a wide range of innovative financial products, hinders the economic growth of developing countries; in this regard, recalls that EU countries cannot bring to fruition the enormous potential of financial services; reiterates the importance of technical and administrative cooperation between EU and developing countries’ administrations in order to improve the quality of local legal and regulatory frameworks, in particular where financial services are concerned;
3. Notes that a fair balance should be struck between the profits and losses resulting from the WTO Agreement;
4. Notes that advance knowledge to others of relatively fixed EU negotiating positions can lead to disadvantages in negotiation, and that strategies to tackle such disadvantages should be investigated;
5. Considers that trade in financial services, as in other services, should be supported by strong scheduled commitments under GATS, pertaining to the cross-border supply of goods, consumption, commercial presence, as well as the free movement of natural persons; the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration (Declaration) provides a roadmap for achieving significant progress in the liberalisation of financial services markets; the following commitments should be sought by WTO members: (i) full market access in Mode 1, which means that suppliers and consumers of capital-market related services can transact business on a cross-border basis, free from quantitative restrictions, economic needs testing, or discrimination based on nationality, (ii) in Mode 2, to ensure that consumers can travel outside their territories to obtain capital-market related services, (iii) in Mode 3, to ensure that foreign service suppliers are able to establish and operate enterprises in other members’ territories, free from quantitative restrictions, economic needs testing, restrictions on corporate form, limits or caps on foreign ownership, and discrimination on the grounds of nationality, (iv) in Mode 4, to ensure that all measures relating to financial services are accepted and applied in a fair, non-discriminatory, transparent and efficient manner; concludes that financial supervision and banking systems in developing countries need to be strengthened in order to avoid financial crises in the future;
6. Welcomes the opportunity afforded by the WTO Doha Development Round to eliminate barriers to business, to improve regulatory transparency, and to increase legal security through the adoption of regulations on a par with EU standards;
7. Applauds the Declaration’s commitment to the elimination of non-tariff barriers; stresses that these are an important source of distortion of international trade and therefore calls for an increased focus on their removal, in particular within the scope of the NAMA negotiations;
8. Reaffirms the importance of multilateral recognition of financial markets’ regulatory standards, in the context of which mutual recognition of, and compliance with, international accounting standards and rules on capital requirements between the EU and the USA are of paramount importance;
9. Advocates the use of Model Schedules to assist WTO members when scheduling their commitments on financial services, in order to achieve the most effective commercial impact possible and boost economic growth and job creation in both developed and developing countries, including an assessment of the regulatory framework of the countries to whom the request is addressed, for example, in line with the IMF’s Financial Sector Assessment Programme; notes the increasing relevance of cross-border mergers and acquisitions in international economic relations; recognises the decisive role, in this respect, of corporate governance rules and therefore calls for corporate governance to warrant greater attention in WTO negotiating rounds; notes the potentially trade-distorting effect of inadequate competition frameworks in individual countries; calls for strong WTO vigilance regarding abuses of dominant market positions and collusive behaviour;
10. Acknowledges that developing countries might need to have a sufficiently flexible framework to accommodate the phasing-in of regulations during transitional periods; believes, however, that such measures should not be used as a means of protecting a country from global competition;
11. Respects the time and pace that developing countries need to open up their financial markets;
12. Notes that countries may adopt measures for prudential reasons, including for the protection of investors, depositors and policy holders and for the preservation of the integrity and stability of the financial system;
13. Emphasises the progress made when examining the relationship between trade, debt and finance and calls upon the Commission to incorporate in its multilateral and bilateral requests to its WTO trading partners new and improved GATS commitments in financial services, in order to ensure that trade liberalisation, particularly as regards financial services, is mutually beneficial to the parties involved;
14. Highlights that recent experiences have shown that the liberalisation of capital movements should not precede the opening of banking sectors to foreign competition and the reform of supervisory systems; suggests that these experiences should be taken into account when setting the deadlines for the implementation of liberalisation measures.
PROCEDURE
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Title |
Assessment of the Doha Round following the WTO Conference in Hong Kong | |||||
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Procedure number |
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Committee responsible |
INTA | |||||
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Opinion by |
ECON | |||||
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Enhanced cooperation – date announced in plenary |
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Drafts(wo)man |
Margarita Starkevičiūtė | |||||
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Previous drafts(wo)man |
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Discussed in committee |
13.2.2006 |
20.2.2006 |
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Date adopted |
20.2.2006 | |||||
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Result of final vote |
+: –: 0: |
27 2 0 | ||||
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Members present for the final vote |
Zsolt László Becsey, Pervenche Berès, Sharon Bowles, Udo Bullmann, Ieke van den Burg, David Casa, José Manuel García-Margallo y Marfil, Jean-Paul Gauzès, Robert Goebbels, Gunnar Hökmark, Karsten Friedrich Hoppenstedt, Sophia in ‘t Veld, Wolf Klinz, Guntars Krasts, Joseph Muscat, Astrid Lulling, Cristobal Montoro Romero, John Purvis, Karin Riis-Jørgensen, Dariusz Rosati, Peter Skinner, Margarita Starkevičiūtė, Ivo Strejček, Sahra Wagenknecht | |||||
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Substitute(s) present for the final vote |
Harald Ettl, Klaus-Heiner Lehne, Thomas Mann, Diamanto Manolakou, Corien Wortmann-Kool | |||||
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Substitute(s) under Rule 178(2) present for the final vote |
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Comments (available in one language only) |
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OPINION of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (21.2.2006)
for the Committee on International Trade
on the assessment of the Doha Round following the WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong
(2005/2247(INI))
Draftsman: Paul Rübig
SUGGESTIONS
The Committee on Industry, Research and Energy calls on the Committee on International Trade, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions in its motion for a resolution:
1. Welcomes the progress made at the 2005 Hong Kong WTO Ministerial Conference on trade facilitation; underlines the importance of simplifying and harmonising customs and border procedures worldwide; urges all WTO members to further enhance their efforts to negotiate a WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation, resulting in tangible improvements for EU traders trading with third countries;
2. Reiterates its disappointment that three of the four Singapore issues (investment protection, competition policy and transparency in government procurement) are no longer on the agenda of the Doha Round; insists that all Singapore issues and associated matters need to be clarified in terms of their implementation at national level and as regards the applicable rules at multilateral and/or plurilateral level, including effective enforcement mechanisms;
3. Hopes that the shift in the conduct of the service negotiations, announced by the Commission, whereby the traditional bottom-up ‘request and offer’ approach will be supplemented by plurilateral negotiations, will have a positive effect on the EU services sector; reiterates that Member States’ powers to individually regulate their services of general interest should remain untouched by this round of negotiations;
4. Recalls its previous resolutions relating to the Singapore issues, which concentrate on the underlying causes of failure of the 1999 Seattle and 2003 Cancún WTO Ministerial Conferences; believes, therefore, that the EU should insist on making these issues key negotiating areas at WTO and/or plurilateral level, to be treated in parallel with trade in industrial goods and opening service markets, while also addressing roaming charges and standards in the telecoms sector;
5. Recommends that, after the Doha Round is concluded, the Commission evaluate the utility of a second generation stand-alone telecommunications agreement in the framework of the WTO in order to build a stronger and open international telecommunications market; asks the Commission to report back on this issue to Parliament, and its committee responsible, by Autumn 2006;
6. Welcomes the pledges of ‘aid for trade’ but calls for a framework agreement within the WTO, which should define its scope: in particular, what it will be used for, and the rules governing its application and its recipients, coupled with an enforcement mechanism; reiterates its position that market access should be linked to technical assistance to overcome gaps in infrastructure, boost product quality and connect the exportable goods and services of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) to international supply chains whilst focusing on SME partnerships;
7. Welcomes the LDCs’ Duty Free Initiative adopted in Hong Kong; stresses that the world’s poorest countries need improved market access to take part in international trade, and that this requires OECD countries to commit to a binding ‘Everything But Arms’ agreement in the WTO; calls upon the emerging countries to open their markets in the WTO and start industrial market access negotiations on a Most Favoured Nation basis; emphasizes that the WTO system must underpin rather than hinder South-South trade;
8. Stresses that the search for partners in world trade negotiations is a major objective, as the outcome of the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference has shown that making consistent proposals alone might not be sufficient for a successful negotiation, urges the Commission to carefully examine the role of NGOs in the negotiation process; regrets the fact that NGOs could play a bigger role than democratically-elected parliamentarians with regard to the final document;
9. Regrets the lack of concrete results for European business at the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference; points out that in the industrial market access negotiations, no decision was made on a tariff-cutting formula for industrial goods or, then, on pursuing industry-specific sector agreements to improve market access even further; deplores the fact that no progress was made on removing non tariff barriers, and that the agreement on services was a ‘bare minimum’ deal that offers no concrete guarantees for further liberalisation; stresses also that without substantial progress on market access issues over the coming year European businesses will lose numerous new business opportunities in the high-growth emerging countries;
10. Takes note of the agreement on the Swiss formula for tariff reduction in non-agriculture market access (NAMA), leaving the number and the value of coefficients open; reiterates that the formula adopted must, on the one hand, allow vulnerable developing countries the possibility of safeguarding their fragile sectors and, on the other hand, allow specific European sectors, like the automotive sector, to maintain their competitive position;
11. Recalls the underlying logic of the multilateral rules-based system: ‘liberalisation can create opportunities but does not guarantee economic success and fair distribution of gains from international trade’; stresses the need to strengthen the dispute settlement mechanisms of the WTO by enhancing WTO members’ willingness to comply with the rules and the enforcement mechanisms that ensure a free, fair and competitive global market;
12. Proposes to the EU negotiators in the context of the WTO, to start formulating an EU position on energy that introduces greater security of supply and stronger market forces in the field of energy, which covers industrial applications in the field of energy, facilitating investment in developing countries and eliminating dual pricing and other forms of export restrictions or taxes that threaten the survival of many EU industries;
13. Calls upon the EU negotiators to insist on the strengthening of the WTO enforcement mechanisms of the TRIPS Agreement, which are necessary to combat the sale of counterfeit products and the violation of EU patent rights; states that protecting Europe’s intellectual property, including geographical indications, remains one of the most important issues to be dealt with in the WTO; welcomes, in that context, the news that the Commission will send a patent officer to Beijing as of 1st April; points to the fact that internalisation of counterfeit products has adversely affected tax receipts in developed countries, has helped fund organised crime at international level, has reduced the incentives to invent and innovate in all countries and risks undermining EU industries´ heavy investments in high technology products and services;
14. Recalls the fact that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of the economies of the EU and developing countries but their survival in a global trading system requires that private property rights be clearly defined, that there be clear limits to monopoly rents, and that such rights be effectively enforced in order to act as incentives for SMEs to invest in research and innovation; proposes that EU trade policy aim to reduce the risks of international trade and investment for SMEs by vastly increasing market access in emerging countries with the effective removal of tariffs and non-tariff barriers in those countries, by removing restrictions to European commercial activities (investment, establishment, right to trade) and by creating strengthened WTO mediation mechanisms to deal with non-tariff barriers in a rapid and efficient manner;
15. Stresses the importance of a parliamentary dimension of the WTO, and calls on the Commission and the Council to support actively a reference in the final document of the Doha Round highlighting the role of legislators in trade policy-making.
PROCEDURE
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Title |
Assessment of the Doha Round following the WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong | |||||
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Procedure number |
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Committee responsible |
TRADE | |||||
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Opinion by |
ITRE | |||||
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Enhanced cooperation – date announced in plenary |
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Drafts(wo)man |
Paul Rübig | |||||
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Previous drafts(wo)man |
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Discussed in committee |
31.1.2006 |
21.2.2006 |
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Date adopted |
21.2.2006 | |||||
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Result of final vote |
+: –: 0: |
39 6 0 | ||||
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Members present for the final vote |
John Attard-Montalto, Šarūnas Birutis, Jan Březina, Jerzy Buzek, Pilar del Castillo Vera, Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, Giles Chichester, Den Dover, Lena Ek, Adam Gierek, Norbert Glante, Umberto Guidoni, András Gyürk, David Hammerstein Mintz, Rebecca Harms, Erna Hennicot-Schoepges, Romana Jordan Cizelj, Werner Langen, Anne Laperrouze, Vincenzo Lavarra, Pia Elda Locatelli, Angelika Niebler, Reino Paasilinna, Miloslav Ransdorf, Vladimír Remek, Herbert Reul, Teresa Riera Madurell, Mechtild Rothe, Paul Rübig, Andres Tarand, Britta Thomsen, Patrizia Toia, Catherine Trautmann, Claude Turmes, Nikolaos Vakalis, Alejo Vidal-Quadras Roca | |||||
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Substitute(s) present for the final vote |
Jean-Pierre Audy, María del Pilar Ayuso González, Ivo Belet, Françoise Grossetête, Edit Herczog, Mieczysław Edmund Janowski, Erika Mann, Lambert van Nistelrooij, Vittorio Prodi | |||||
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Substitute(s) under Rule 178(2) present for the final vote |
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Comments (available in one language only) |
... | |||||
20.2.2006
OPINION OF THE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
for the Committee on International Trade
on the results of the Sixth Ministerial Conference of the WTO in Hong Kong
Draftsman: Joseph Daul
SUGGESTIONS
The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development calls on the Committee on International Trade, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions in its motion for a resolution:
A. having regard to the Ministerial Declaration adopted by members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) at the Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference held in Hong Kong from 13 to 18 December 2005, and the work programme for the coming months,
B. whereas the European Union wishes to preserve the European agricultural model as redefined in the Luxembourg Agreement of 23 June 2003 on the reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP),
C. whereas it is wholly in the interests of the European Union, as a major world player in the production and trading of agricultural products and agri-foods, to take part in the drafting of trade rules on a multilateral basis within the WTO and to seek a balanced global agreement between all sectors and all parties involved in the negotiations,
1. Welcomes the European Union’s unity at the Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference; stresses that the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration is just one stage of the Doha Development Agenda and that, in this context, a balance among all the areas under negotiation is imperative; regrets, however, the limited scope of the Ministerial Declaration as regards development, and the absence of an overall offer from the European Union’s main partners following the important step taken by the Community on 28 October 2005, particularly in terms of agriculture;
2. Acknowledges the importance of the forthcoming deadlines for establishing the modalities of negotiations and the need for balanced commitments as regards agriculture; reminds the Commission that these modalities should under no circumstances undermine either the European agricultural model or the multifunctional nature of agriculture;
3. Stresses that the undertakings entered into by the Commission during the agricultural negotiations within the WTO cannot go beyond the bounds of the current CAP arrangements or the negotiating mandate;
4. Believes that it is essential for the Commission’s current offer to remain conditional in connection with the WTO Doha Development Agenda and for it to remain possible to withdraw it during the course of the negotiations should no satisfactory offers be forthcoming from other WTO partners;
5. Emphasises that the efforts already undertaken by Community producers through the successive CAP reforms constitute a substantial contribution to the round of negotiations; considers that this commitment should work in the European Union’s favour in the endeavours to reach a balanced agreement and that, as a result, its concessions in other areas of the negotiations on agriculture, in particular market access, should be restricted;
6. Recalls the scope of the Luxembourg Agreement on the reform of the common agricultural policy and insists on the need to define ‘green box’ measures, including decoupled support;
7. Considers that the European Union has already taken considerable steps to reduce trade-distorting domestic support and that is essential, therefore, that the modalities due to be established by 30 April are forceful enough to ensure that other industrialised countries, particularly the larger among them, carry out reforms to their domestic policies;
8. Underlines the importance of commitments by all WTO members to abolish all forms of export subsidy by 2013 and of establishing quantified and binding disciplines on measures with equivalent effects, such as state trading enterprises or export monopolies, export credits and food aid;
9. Draws the Commission’s attention to the need for a suitable definition of implementation modalities for the elimination of export subsidies in view of the consequences for market management; calls on the Commission, in this regard, to report to Parliament on its intentions on this issue so as to maintain the economic and social balance regarding Community agricultural sectors;
10. Considers that market access is an important issue for the negotiations and the implementation of CAP reform; believes that, in view of this, the general reduction of customs tariffs should be assessed in the light of the efforts made by all WTO members regarding the various aspects of the agricultural negotiations and of the European Union’s efforts with regard to domestic support and export competition, in which connection it must remain possible to impose the same requirements on imported products as on home-produced products;
11. In the face of the far-reaching removal of duties on agricultural products proposed within the framework of the WTO, is in favour of treating market access as a precautionary measure which can prevent economic, ecological and social dumping; proposes, therefore, the imposition of levies on agricultural imports, particularly by applying the special safeguard clause, if products are produced under conditions which breach human rights and international agreements and European legislation on protection of the environment and animals; proposes that the proceeds of such levies be channelled into improving food security and promoting rural development in the developing countries affected, thereby averting crises;
12. Calls on the Commission to draw up, in line with the economic interests of the Member States, a list of sensitive agricultural products that will be subject to a lesser degree of liberalisation than other products and to apply a special safeguard clause to agricultural products whose current tariff protection is inadequate or, according to analyses carried out, would become so following implementation of tariff reduction undertakings;
13. Regrets that the European Union has been unable to include recognition of the so-called Non-Trade Concerns (NTCs) in either the Ministerial Declaration or in its work programme for the coming months; calls on the Commission to give more priority to this issue in the coming negotiations;
14. Regrets that, in accordance with the framework adopted by the WTO General Council on 1 August 2004, no commitments have been made on non-trade aspects in the agricultural negotiations, and considers that sufficient progress has yet to be made on extending and consolidating arrangements for the protection of geographical indications;
15. Considers that, in negotiations under the auspices of the WTO, the Commission should strongly defend the importance of non-trade concerns in order to seek a worldwide consensus on this issue; considers that the Commission should also seek acceptance of Community non-trade demands in countries outside the EU;
16. Notes that the Institute d’Elevage et de Médecine Vétérinaire des Pays Tropicaux estimated the costs borne by European farmers for compliance with animal welfare standards and other NTCs to be around EUR 10 billion; stresses the heavy distortion of competition suffered by European farmers as long as imported products are not subject to the same standards as home products; notes that compensation through ‘green box’ payments is not a desirable solution, as such funding is expected to be largely insufficient;
17. Considers it crucial for discussions on the creation of an international register of wines and spirits and its extension to other products to be included in the agricultural negotiations; considers that this register, together with other products of high quality, could form the basis of a Community policy promoting quality products on the world market; calls, furthermore, for export interests relating to European products to be taken fully into account;
18. Notes the need for the European Union to strengthen its relations with the countries with which it shares a common vision in terms of agriculture, in particular the G10 and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries; considers in this regard that the opening of the Community market following recent commitments should apply first and foremost to the least-developed countries (LDCs) and to the ACP states; stresses that full account should be taken of the problems linked to the erosion of the preferential margins from which these countries benefit;
19. Stresses that the aim of the Doha Development Agenda is to improve developing countries’ integration in world trade; considers that in order to achieve this aim industrialised and emerging countries must play an active role; welcomes, therefore, the agreement reached in Hong Kong on the opening of markets to products from LDCs, and the initial progress made at the Ministerial Conference towards finding a solution to the cotton issue raised by the African countries; considers, however, that the commitments by the United States fall far short of what is required; reminds the Commission of the need to find solutions more in keeping with the problems faced;
20. Considers that there should be differentiation between developing countries, which should be required to make liberalisation commitments that are proportional to their level of development, their economic potential and the competitiveness of their industrial and export sectors; takes the view that large agricultural producers and large exporters (such as India, Brazil and China) should undertake to engage in more extensive liberalisation than, for example, net food importers;
21. Considers that all concessions granted to developing and least-developed countries should be made conditional upon strict compliance with origin rules and the mechanism for the prevention of triangular trade;
22. Considers that, with a view to ensuring transparency, the Commission should ensure that the Member States are kept informed at all times during the negotiations, particularly when important commitments are made; takes the view that actual implementation of the Commission’s negotiating mandate should be confirmed during regular consultations with the Member States;
23. Calls on the Commission to provide the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development with assessments of the consequences of the concessions offered by the European Union in economic and social terms; also calls on the Commission to report regularly to the committee on how the discussions develop;
24. Calls on the chairman of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development to forward this opinion to the chairman of the Committee on International Trade.
JUSTIFICATION
The Sixth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation concluded with the adoption by WTO members of a Ministerial Declaration.
This declaration, which supports the decision adopted by the WTO General Council on 1 August 2004, is an important step towards completing the Doha Development Agenda, which was set out in the Declaration of 14 November 2001, with which the Fourth Ministerial Conference concluded.
The WTO members were able to draft this joint declaration as a result of the European Union’s determination to include precise commitments to allow better integration of the poorest countries in the growth of world trade.
The European Union’s position has been taken on board by its partners thanks to the unity among the Community institutions: Parliament, the Council and the Commission. This unity is all the more important now as the Ministerial Declaration provides for the acceleration of negotiations in order to complete the round by the end of this year.
At the Sixth Ministerial Conference, WTO members agreed on three essential points, which should allow negotiations to advance:
1. the parallel and progressive elimination of all forms of export subsidies and disciplines on all export measures with equivalent effect by the end of 2013;
2. the setting-up of a specific system to provide market access for products from the least developed countries (LDCs), which, in spite of the fact that the opening applies to only 97% of tariff lines, is an important first step for these countries;
3. the beginnings of a solution to the cotton dispute, a sensitive issue for African countries.
The Ministerial Declaration also set out a work agenda with the following deadlines:
By 30 April 2006, negotiators will have to establish quantified modalities with regard to:
- domestic support - the definition of bands for a tiered reduction and reduction levels for both the Aggregate Measurement of Support and the overall cut in trade-distorting domestic support;
- export competition - the establishing of disciplines with respect to export credits and insurance programmes, export state trading enterprises and food aid, and the implementation modalities for the parallel and progressive elimination of all forms of export subsidy;
- market access - the definition of bands for the cut in tariffs, along with the reduction levels for customs tariffs, the treatment of sensitive products and of special products with regard to developing countries, and the special safeguard clause;
- the special and differential treatment applicable to developing countries in relation to the three areas of agricultural negotiations.
By 31 July 2006, WTO members will have to submit quantified offers based on these modalities.
The discussions on the lists of concessions should take place this autumn so that the round of negotiations begun at Doha can be completed by 31 December 2006.
It is imperative that the European Union should play an active part in the discussions on the negotiation modalities that will lead to the drafting of lists of concessions.
An agreement for the trade negotiations can only be found if there is the following:
- an overall balance in the negotiations in order to respect the single-undertaking principle;
- balance within the agricultural negotiations, taking into account the efforts already undertaken by Community producers through a series of reforms and maintaining the CAP reform and the multifunctional nature of agriculture;
- balance of the efforts made by members of the World Trade Organisation, taking into consideration their ability to take part in the negotiations and their level of development. With this in mind, it is essential to evaluate the conditions for the differentiation among developing countries and to limit the impact of trade liberalisation for those countries that have preferential agreements with the European Union by removing the preferences granted under these agreements.
The unity shown by the European Union at the Sixth Ministerial Conference should remain intact. It is imperative, therefore, that the Commission should, wherever necessary, keep Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development informed of progress in the negotiations.
PROCEDURE
|
Title |
Results of the Sixth Ministerial Conference of the WTO in Hong Kong | |||||
|
Procedure number |
||||||
|
Committee responsible |
INTA | |||||
|
Committee asked for its opinion |
AGRI | |||||
|
Draftsman |
Joseph Daul | |||||
|
Discussed in committee |
20.2.2006 |
|
|
|
| |
|
Date adopted |
20.2.2006 | |||||
|
Result of final vote |
+: 21 –: - 0: - |
| ||||
|
Members present for the final vote |
Marie-Hélène Aubert, Peter Baco, Katerina Batzeli, Joseph Daul, Albert Deß, Carmen Fraga Estévez, Jean-Claude Fruteau, Elisabeth Jeggle, Heinz Kindermann, Stéphane Le Foll, Albert Jan Maat, Mairead McGuinness, Neil Parish, María Isabel Salinas García, Willem Schuth, Czesław Adam Siekierski, Marc Tarabella, Jeffrey Titford | |||||
|
Substitutes present for the final vote |
Jan Mulder, James Nicholson, Zdzisław Zbigniew Podkański | |||||
|
Comments (available in one language only) |
| |||||
PROCEDURE
|
Title |
Assessment of the Doha Round following the WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong | ||||||||
|
Procedure number |
|||||||||
|
Basis in Rules of Procedure |
Rule 45 | ||||||||
|
Committee responsible |
INTA | ||||||||
|
Committee(s) asked for opinion(s) |
DEVE |
ECON |
ITRE |
AGRI | |||||
|
Not delivering opinion(s) |
|
|
|
| |||||
|
Enhanced cooperation |
No |
|
|
| |||||
|
Motion(s) for resolution(s) included in report |
|
|
| ||||||
|
Rapporteur(s) |
Georgios Papastamkos |
| |||||||
|
Previous rapporteur(s) |
|
| |||||||
|
Discussed in committee |
23.11.2005 |
25.1.2006 |
21.2.2006 |
| |||||
|
Date adopted |
22.2.2006 | ||||||||
|
Result of final vote |
for: against: abstentions: |
24 2 2 | |||||||
|
Members present for the final vote |
Jean-Pierre Audy, Enrique Barón Crespo, Daniel Caspary, Françoise Castex, Nigel Farage, Christofer Fjellner, Glyn Ford, Béla Glattfelder, Jacky Henin, Syed Kamall, Sajjad Karim, Erika Mann, Helmuth Markov, David Martin, Javier Moreno Sánchez, Georgios Papastamkos, Godelieve Quisthoudt-Rowohl, Bogusław Rogalski, Tokia Saïfi, Robert Sturdy, Daniel Varela Suanzes-Carpegna, Zbigniew Zaleski | ||||||||
|
Substitutes present for the final vote |
Panagiotis Beglitis, Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, Pierre Jonckheer, Maria Martens, Zuzana Roithová, Antolín Sánchez Presedo, Frithjof Schmidt | ||||||||
|
Substitutes under Rule 178(2) present for the final vote |
Seán Ó Neachtain | ||||||||
|
Date tabled – A6 |
1.3.2006 |
A6-0051/2006 | |||||||