– Przed rozpoczęciem głosowania:

  Arlene McCarthy, rapporteur. − Mr President, I will be brief. I just wanted to share the news that where Europe leads, the rest of the world follows and that is the case for greater transparency for the extractive industries. Yesterday the Swiss National Federal Council passed a resolution on introducing transparency for the extractive industries, the Canadian mining companies have now reached an agreement, and I hope that this will serve as a call for action for next week’s G8 for greater transparency across all industries in the world.

But it is important that we acknowledge the role of citizens and NGOs, such as Publish What you Pay, Global Witness, and the One Campaign, the role they have played over the last ten years in campaigning for change, for communities to reap the benefits from the natural resources of which for too long they have been robbed. So I want colleagues to join me in welcoming them today in the tribune. They are here to witness what for them is a historic vote and they are joined by representatives from the Democratic Republic of Congo and from Niger: Ali Idrissa and Jean-Claude Katende.

(Loud applause)