Eerlijker handel kan starten na afsluiten Doha-ronde (en)
“We cannot shut ourselves into our shells” but rather need to combat the “fear dominating debate in our societies,” said European Parliament Vice-President Stavros Lambrinidis (S&D, EL), at the 7th Parliamentary Conference on the WTO in Geneva. “The role of Parliaments in the global trade round lies not only in the ratification of the final agreement, but also in transmitting the public’s concerns to negotiators before a final deal is struck”, he added.
Mr Lambrinidis was speaking at a joint press conference with WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy and Inter-Parliamentary Union Executive Committee Member Senator Donald H. Oliver (Canada). Mr Lamy welcomed the fact that the conference was held under the roof of the WTO, as “this helps the democratic credentials of this organization”. He said that “nothing here can happen without the green light of parliamentarians.”
Senator Oliver thanked Mr Lamy for “allowing this body to grow, to allow for discussions between parliamentarians and negotiators”. He emphasized that “it is important to create contact with constituents at home” on these trade issues, and welcomed the “high participation of developing countries at the conference,” pointing out that they would be the chief beneficiaries of a global trade deal.
International Trade Committee Chair Vital Moreira (S&D, PT), expressed satisfaction that the conference produced a clear outcome document. He noted that “our purpose was to take advantage of new window of opportunity in concluding the Doha Development Agenda”, and said he had reason to be proud of the parliamentarians’ participation.
After the press conference, Mr Lamy and the Conference Co-Chairs participated in a hearing with the entire Parliamentary Conference, during which they debated the current state of negotiations on the Doha Development Agenda. Mr Lamy again underlined to the parliamentarians that “I am conscious that we cannot conclude this round without your explicit engagement and support—hence the importance of our dialogue today”.
Conclusions: wrap up Doha this year, ensure policy coherence
In the conference's final outcome document, parliamentarians emphasise the “need for a strong and effective parliamentary dimension to the WTO and welcome the fact that, for the first time ever, an annual session of the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO took place on the premises of this intergovernmental organization”. The text also stresses the importance of concluding the Doha round of trade talks, as “it is imperative to change gear, fuelling and sustaining the momentum in order to bring the negotiations to a close by the end of the year”.
Parliamentarians also mentioned the crucial links between trade liberalization and sustainable development, arguing for greater efforts at policy coherence among various global governance bodies such as the WTO, the IMF and the World Bank, the UN, and the ILO. After some tough negotiations among delegations, the outcome document calls on developed countries to provide “immediate, predictable, duty-free and quota-free market access on a lasting basis for all products originating from least developed countries”, but also insists that “developing economies that are advanced enough to do so, or declare themselves in a position to do so, should also contribute to this process”.
Background
The 2011 Parliamentary Conference on the WTO was held in Geneva from 21-22 March. The event, a joint undertaking of the European Parliament and the Inter-Parliamentary Union, had as its principal objective to enhance the external transparency of the WTO and hold it accountable to legislators as elected representatives of the people. A delegation of 15 MEPs took part in the meeting, which brought together around 200 parliamentarians from 67 national legislative bodies and 4 parliamentary assemblies. This year marked the first time that this event was held on the premises of the WTO. The EP Delegation was led by Vice-President Stavros Lambrinidis (S&D, EL).