Motion for a resolution - B7-0148/2009Motion for a resolution
B7-0148/2009
European Parliament

MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the Euro-Mediterranean economic and trade partnership ahead of the eighth Euromed Trade Ministerial Conference - Brussels - 9 December 2009

18.11.2009

further to Question for Oral Answer B7‑0222/2009
pursuant to Rule 115(5) of the Rules of Procedure

Yannick Jadot on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group

See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B7-0147/2009

Procedure : 2009/2719(RSP)
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B7-0148/2009
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B7-0148/2009
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B7‑0148/2009

European Parliament resolution on the Euro-Mediterranean economic and trade partnership ahead of the eighth Euromed Trade Ministerial Conference - Brussels - 9 December 2009

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the Barcelona Declaration of 28 November 1995, which established a partnership between the European Union and the southern and eastern Mediterranean countries (SEMCs),

–  having regard to the Commission communication to the Council and the European Parliament of 11 March 2003 entitled 'Wider Europe - Neighbourhood: A New Framework for Relations with our Eastern and Southern Neighbours' (COM(2003)0104), its European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) strategy paper of 12 May 2004 (COM(2004)0373), its communication to the Council of 9 December 2004 on its proposals for action plans under the ENP (COM(2004)0795), the action plans for Israel, Jordan, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, Tunisia and Lebanon, and Regulation (EC) No 1638/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 2006 laying down general provisions establishing a European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument[1],

–   having regard to the Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreements between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and Tunisia[2], Israel [3], Morocco[4], Jordan[5], Egypt[6], Lebanon[7] and Algeria[8], of the other part, and the Euro-Mediterranean Interim Association Agreement on Trade and Cooperation between the Community and the PLO (for the benefit of the Palestinian Authority)[9]; having regard to Decision No 1/95 of the EC-Turkey Association Council of 22 December 1995 on implementing the final phase of the Customs Union (96/142/EC)[10],

–   having regard to the free trade agreement, known as the Agadir Agreement, signed by Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco on 25 February 2004,

–   having regard to the conclusions of the Euro-Mediterranean ministerial conferences and sectoral ministerial conferences that have taken place since the launch of the Barcelona Process, and particularly the conclusions of the seventh Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Trade Conference, held in Marseille on 2 July 2008,

–   having regard to the Paris Summit of Euro-Mediterranean Heads of State and Government on 13 July 2008 which created the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM),

–   having regard to the sustainability impact assessment of the Euro-Mediterranean free trade area (FTA) drawn up by Manchester University's Institute for Development Policy and Management,

– having regard to the final declaration of the Euromed Summit of Economic and Social Councils and similar institutions held in Alexandria on 18 and 19 October 2009,

– having regard to its previous resolutions on the EU's Mediterranean policy and in particular its resolution of 15 March 2007 on the construction of the Euro-Mediterranean free-trade zone and its resolution of 19 February 2009 on the Barcelona process: Union for the Mediterranean,

–   having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas the 1995 Barcelona Conference launched a very ambitious project, namely the creation of new and closer political, economic, social and cultural ties between the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean; and whereas that project is still a long way from completion,

B.  whereas the creation of the Union for the Mediterranean, supposed to re-launch the Euro-Mediterranean integration process through concrete and visible projects, is still not completed,

C.  whereas the EU has signed association agreements with all its southern Mediterranean partners, with the exception of Syria and Libya; whereas the negotiations with Syria for an association agreement have been concluded but its signature was postponed by Syria; whereas the Commission has opened negotiations with Libya,

D.  whereas the two shores of the Mediterranean continue to present a strikingly asymmetrical picture in economic, social and demographic terms, thus entrenching a wealth gap which is at the root of instability and migratory and environmental pressures in the region, and whereas there are significant differences between the Mediterranean countries in terms of development,

E.  whereas the economies of the SEMCs are highly dependent on foreign trade; whereas around 50% of these trade flows are to the EU, though they account for only 8% of the EU’s external trade, with a positive balance for the EU; whereas the export structures of SEMCs are very poorly diversified and these countries remain specialised in sectors which bring little in the way of growth,

F.  whereas the SEMCs not only compete strongly and in an unsustainable manner with each other for export markets in the EU, but also with the EU's southern Member States, which have access to the Union's Structural and Cohesion funds and other subsidies,

G.  whereas South-South regional integration is far from being achieved and South-South trade flows are underdeveloped and represent, amongst SEMCs, only 6% of their global trade,

H.  whereas this situation could have very harmful effects on the Euro-Mediterranean integration process, and on the food security and sovereignty of the SEMCs in particular, by exacerbating the effects of trade concentration, such as increasing dependence on a few - mainly agricultural - items exported to the EU while in parallel increasing the need for basic food imports, and therefore not benefitting the SEMCs and their enterprises,

I.   whereas the SEMCs must remove the political and economic obstacles which are currently standing in the way of the integration process throughout the area in order to achieve more fruitful collaboration amongst themselves,

J.   whereas the economic and trade chapter of the Barcelona framework, to have positive development effects, should boost the regional integration of the SEMCs with the EU's southern Member States and ensure their economic diversification and the fair sharing of its benefits in order to achieve the main objective of the Euro-Mediterranean economic and trade partnership, namely the reduction of the development gap between the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean,

K.  whereas the effects of the economic and financial crisis have added to the political, economic and social challenges already existing in the partner countries, in particular regarding the problem of unemployment; whereas, according to the sustainability impact assessment of the Euro-Mediterranean free trade area, unemployment and other social hardships would increase in the short- and medium-term perspective, calling for utmost care in the timing of any new trade agreement,

1.  Regrets the fact that the Euro-Mediterranean partnership’s main objectives of commonly shared and peaceful development of the region are still far from being achieved; stresses that the success of this process requires sustained and convergent efforts by all parties, and in particular also a revision of the goal of a Free Trade Agreement by 2010, in the light of the SEMCs' growing food insecurity, increasing desertification and environmental stress in the entire Mediterranean basin and the lack of sustainable economic progress in terms of trade liberalisation in most SEMCs, and a greater involvement of civil society and of the people on both shores of the Mediterranean;

2.  Considers that numerous endogenous difficulties, not only of an economic nature but also of a political nature, have added to these negative developments; deplores the fact that –for the same political reasons – the last ministerial meeting of Euromed Foreign Affairs Ministers was cancelled and the UfM is not moving forward;

3.  Considers that the recurrent obstacles are a sign that the deepening of economic relations must progress together with the deepening of political relations; believes that genuine regional and economic integration can only be achieved if concrete progress is made in the settlement of existing conflicts and in the field of democracy and human rights;

4.  Calls on the Commission, the EU Member States and the SEMCs to take into account the effects of the financial, economic and environmental crisis by incorporating social and environmental concerns into the economic and trade partnership to a greater extent; calls on the SEMCs' governments to implement employment and social protection policies which are consistent and effective in order to mitigate the effects of the crisis;  

5.  Points out in this regard that the objective of the free trade area, as conceived in 1995 under vastly different conditions, can no longer be measured simply in terms of hypothetical - and unsustainable - economic growth, but rather in terms of job creation, the enhancement of food sovereignty and the preservation of the highly endangered Mediterranean ecosystem as the region's key factor of production; points out that youth and female unemployment is the most pressing social issue in the Mediterranean countries;

6.  Underlines the importance of regional integration of the SEMCs and increasing South-South trade; regrets that South-South cooperation is still underdeveloped; considers South-South cooperation as being of prime importance for any meaningful and sustainable Euromed trade agreement;

7.  Strongly encourages the SEMCs to develop South-South trade, as in the Agadir Economic Agreement signed by Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia; considers that this measure is essential for regional integration and calls on the other countries to join it; stresses that the EU institutions must respond positively to requests for technical and financial support to promote such South-South economic integration;

8.  Calls on the Euro-Mediterranean trade ministers to endorse the regional convention on the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean system of rules of origin which paves the way for the simplification of rules of origin and to take further steps concerning the implementation of Pan EuroMed system of cumulation of origin;

9.  Notes that Euro-Mediterranean trade ministers will discuss measures to address the current weakness of Euromed trade and economic relations, a new Euro-Mediterranean Trade Road Map and a new mechanism for facilitating trade and investment in the region; notes also that this Road Map includes provisions on agriculture, services, investment and regulatory issues, intellectual property rights and the fight against counterfeiting, competition and public procurement, rules of origin and trade defence instruments; remains unconvinced that these issues are at the root of the feebleness of economic cooperation in the region, which rather suffers from the lack of a complementary production system in areas of competitive advantage within the region, such as the textile and clothing sectors and renewable energy production systems;

10.  Stresses that these discussions must take place in a context of mutual trust and respect between partners to ensure the right of the SEMCs to control the speed with which they open up their trade and to control their national strategies for economic and social development; recalls that negotiations for the free trade agreement should be planned on a concerted, gradual basis in the context of a rational, predictable partnership which reflects the socioeconomic realities of the SEMCs;

11.  Stresses that any further liberalisation in the field of agriculture and fisheries should take into account the need to protect sensitive goods while assessing systematically the social impact of the liberalisation process on rural populations; calls on the Euro-Mediterranean partners to discuss the setting up of an integrated Euro-Mediterranean agricultural policy founded on supply-chain complementarity, coherence between the CAP and the goals of the Euromed framework, a viable water policy and prioritising food sovereignty needs over commercial considerations;

12.  Regards the services sector as essential for the SEMCs' development; urges however that any liberalisation of services should take place only on a basis agreed with the SEMCs, whereby they would retain the right to phase in and control the opening-up of sensitive and vulnerable sectors of their economies; considers that a distinction must be made between commercial services and public services; stresses that the latter – and especially services relating to people's basic needs such as health, education, water and energy – must be kept outside the negotiating framework;

13.  Calls for the timetable for the liberalisation of the industrial sector to be adjusted on the basis of the economic and social conditions in each country, including the level of unemployment, and its impact on the environment; stresses that the economic and trade partnership should promote greater diversification in industrial goods production as well as higher added value; calls on the SEMCs to establish regional policies that take into account the role of very small, small and medium-sized enterprises;

14.  Draws attention to Parliament's repeated calls for the creation of a Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Development Bank capable of attracting the foreign direct investment which the Euro-Mediterranean region lacks;

15.  Recalls its concern about the findings of the sustainability impact assessment of the free trade area, drawn up by the University of Manchester, with regard to the expected negative social and environmental effects of a free trade area in the short and medium term; repeats its call to the Commission to incorporate the recommendations of that assessment into the future negotiations on the free trade area, in order to take account of social-cohesion and sustainable-development considerations as advocated in this study;

16.  Takes the view that the free trade area should be complemented by the phased and conditional introduction of free movement for workers; considers that there is an urgent need to establish the legal and administrative procedures likely to facilitate the granting of visas, in particular for those with a role to play in the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, including students, university staff and socioeconomic stakeholders;

17.  Asks the Commission to keep it fully informed about progress on the association agreement with Syria, the signing of which was recently postponed by Syria; is concerned by the opening of negotiations with Libya and asks the Commission to keep it fully informed and involved and consult it at every stage in the negotiations;

18.  Notes also that several Mediterranean countries have expressed interest in deepening and/or widening their trade agreements with the EU; asks the Commission, in view of the new powers in relation to trade conferred on Parliament by the Treaty of Lisbon, to take account of an earlier EP resolution when negotiating any such new agreements;

19.  Stresses that bilateral approaches should not be at the expense of a multilateral regional approach; believes that, while advocating closer cooperation with the most advanced partners, and with due regard for their specific political, cultural and social characteristics, the Commission must maintain the principle of region-to-region negotiations;

20.  Stresses the role of the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly (EMPA) within the partnership, as the democratic body which brings together Members of Parliament from both shores of the Mediterranean around the three pillars of the Barcelona Process; calls, finally, for stronger cooperation on economic affairs between the EMPA and the Commission and Council of the European Union;

21. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission, to the Heads of State and Government and the Parliaments of the Member States and of the SEMCs and to the EMPA.

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