22.10.2010   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 286/1

Wednesday 16 December 2009
Prospects for the Doha Development Agenda following the Seventh WTO Ministerial Conference

P7_TA(2009)0110

European Parliament resolution of 16 December 2009 on the prospects for the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) following the Seventh WTO Ministerial Conference

2010/C 286 E/01

The European Parliament,

having regard to the GATT Agreement, Chapter IV, Articles 36 (Principles and Objectives) and 37 (Commitments),

having regard to the Doha Ministerial Declaration of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) of 14 November 2001,

having regard to the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration of the WTO of 18 December 2005,

having regard to its resolution of 4 April 2006 on the assessment of the Doha Round following the WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong (1),

having regard to the 2008 draft blueprints (or ‘modalities’) for a final deal on agricultural and non-agricultural trade,

having regard to the standstill commitment by G20 world leaders at recent summits to refrain from measures that would introduce barriers to trade and investment and to rectify any such measures promptly,

having regard to the inaugural speech by Pascal Lamy at the WTO Public Forum on 28 September 2009,

having regard to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals and the EU Member States’ aid commitments to tackle hunger and poverty,

having regard to the WTO’s 2009 Annual Report,

having regard to the chairman’s summary of the Seventh WTO Ministerial Conference of 2 December 2009,

having regard to Rules 115(5) and 110(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.

whereas the Doha Round was launched in 2001 with the objectives of creating new trading opportunities, strengthening multilateral trade rules, addressing current imbalances in the trading system and putting trade at the service of sustainable development, with an emphasis on the economic integration of developing countries, especially the least developed countries (LDCs), arising from the conviction that a multilateral system, based on more just and equitable rules, can contribute to fair and free trade at the service of the development of all continents,

B.

whereas the Doha Declaration reaffirms the commitment to special and differential treatment for developing countries to take account of their unequal situation,

C.

whereas the WTO Ministerial Talks to conclude the Doha Round stalled at the end of July 2008,

D.

whereas international trade has been particularly deeply affected by the economic crisis, with trade flows decreasing even more significantly than global output,

E.

whereas an improvement in the WTO rules on trade facilitation would benefit all WTO Members by enhancing legal certainty, lowering the costs of trade transactions and preventing abuse,

F.

whereas the Seventh WTO Ministerial Conference, which took place in Geneva from 30 November to 2 December 2009, underlined the great importance of trade and the Doha Round for economic recovery and poverty alleviation in developing countries,

G.

whereas the name ‘European Union’ was used for the first time in the WTO in the 1 December 2009 working session at the Seventh Ministerial Conference, following the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon,

1.

Reiterates its commitment to the multilateral trading system and the WTO as the guarantor of a rules-based trade system; believes that the WTO has a key role to play in ensuring better management of globalisation and more equitable distribution of its benefits;

2.

Takes the view that, in the current economic crisis, WTO rules and commitments have to a great extent prevented Members from having recourse to trade-restrictive measures, while allowing for flexibility in adopting economic recovery measures;

3.

Encourages WTO Members to remain committed to actively fighting protectionism in all their bilateral and multilateral trade relations and future agreements;

DDA (Doha Development Agenda)

4.

Reaffirms its strong support for placing development at the heart of the DDA, and calls on the WTO Members to deliver on the ambitious goals set out in the 2001 Doha Ministerial Declaration in order to ensure that the current trade round is a development round and that it contributes to the achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals;

5.

Believes that, in order fully to meet the commitment to conclude a development round, the developed countries must avoid pursuing negotiating objectives which could be detrimental to the development objectives of the round; also takes the view that emerging countries must ensure that their development objectives do not damage those of other developing countries, particularly LDCs;

6.

Acknowledges the progress that has been achieved in the DDA since the Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong; notes the commitment shown at the Seventh Ministerial Conference in Geneva, which was not on DDA negotiations;

7.

Strongly supports the conclusion of the DDA on the basis of a comprehensive, ambitious and balanced outcome to the negotiations, to the benefit of economic growth and development worldwide, as well as of the credibility of the multilateral trading system; believes that a successful conclusion of the DDA could be an important parameter in stimulating worldwide economic recovery after the financial and economic crisis;

8.

Urges the emerging economies to assume their responsibility as global economic players and to make concessions commensurate with their level of development and (sectoral) competitiveness; emphasises the importance of North-South, as well as South-South, trade;

9.

Calls on the developed countries and the emerging economies to follow the EU Everything but Arms initiative, offering 100 % duty-free, quota-free market access for the LDCs; emphasises also the importance of an enhanced framework for Aid for Trade;

10.

Calls on the Commission to pursue the objectives set out in the negotiating mandate as regards protection of geographical indications and intellectual property rights, market access for industrial goods and services and public procurement in both developed and developing countries, and minimum requirements for environmental and social standards;

11.

Encourages the EU to play a leading role in promoting tangible progress in the ongoing WTO negotiations with a view to concluding the Doha Round, as well as facilitating the full participation of developing countries and LDCs in global trade by acting as a bridge between the various positions of the WTO Members;

Agriculture

12.

Calls on the Commission to comply strictly with its negotiating mandate from the Council, which sets the already completed CAP reform as the limit of its action, provided that equivalent concessions are obtained from its trading partners, and to strongly defend the EU position on geographical indications;

13.

Calls on the Commission, in the context of the banana agreement which is currently in its concluding phase, to provide ACP and Community producers with genuine legal certainty and to ensure that account is taken of the financial consequences of the agreement;

14.

Recalls the commitment of the WTO Members during the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference to achieving the parallel elimination of all forms of export subsidies and disciplines on all export measures with equivalent effect;

15.

Calls on the developed countries and emerging economies to ensure that the agreement gives developing countries the use of the policy tools they need in order to defend and develop their agriculture sector and local food production, to raise rural living standards and to enhance food security (i.e. universal access to adequate levels of food at affordable prices); calls therefore for the inclusion in the agreement of clear provisions for special and differential treatment, especially with respect to special products and specific safeguard mechanisms;

Non-agricultural market access (NAMA)

16.

Calls for ambitious results in the negotiations on NAMA, guaranteeing real new market-access opportunities through substantial cuts in applied rates, while allowing for special and differential treatment; favours the pursuit of sectoral initiatives in areas of export interest for the EU;

Services

17.

Urges the Commission to maintain a firm negotiating stance aimed at genuinely enhanced market access for EU products and services in both developed and emerging economies;

18.

Calls for steps to be taken to ensure that trade agreements in the financial services sector include measures to ensure compliance with the objectives of the international community and of the G20 in terms of regulating these services and, in particular, avoiding black holes and fiscal evasion;

19.

Calls for an intensification of talks in the area of services with a view to further liberalisation of services in general, while preserving WTO Members’ national policy objectives and their right to regulate public services;

Reform of the WTO

20.

Notes that reflection is needed on an institutional reform of the WTO designed to improve its functioning and its democratic legitimacy and accountability; stresses in this context the importance of a parliamentary dimension to the WTO; calls on the Commission to play an active role in the future institutional reform of the WTO and in the promotion of a WTO parliamentary assembly;

21.

Believes that the WTO needs to address more effectively the links between trade and new global challenges such as climate change, food security and sovereignty, and decent working conditions;

22.

Calls for enhanced cooperation between the WTO and other international organisations and bodies such as the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad), in order to ensure mutual supportiveness and consistency between trade and non-trade concerns; in this context supports efforts aiming for the adoption of international standards and regulatory cooperation;

23.

Supports the strengthening of existing, and the conclusion of new, bilateral and regional (WTO-plus) free trade agreements, as a complement to the multilateral framework;

Treaty of Lisbon

24.

Urges the Commission to associate Parliament closely in the ongoing negotiations; points out, therefore, the need to renegotiate the Framework Agreement on relations between the Parliament and the Commission in order to reflect the trade provisions of the Treaty of Lisbon whereby EU trade policy must be subject to more rigorous democratic scrutiny; intends to revise that Agreement in order to establish full participation by Parliament in the EU’s international trade negotiations, ensuring in particular:

(a)

that Parliament is informed, before the negotiations open, of the chosen legal basis,

(b)

that, in the event of a formal request from Parliament, the Council will agree not to authorise the opening of negotiations until Parliament has stated its position on the proposed negotiating mandate on the basis of a report from the committee responsible,

(c)

that Parliament is provided with regular, full and timely information over the course of all bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations,

(d)

that, if at any stage of the negotiation Parliament adopts recommendations regarding the conduct of negotiations, the Commission will take Parliament’s opinion into account before the conclusion of an agreement,

(e)

that an interinstitutional inventory incorporating all documents that the Commission provides to the special committee provided for in Article 207(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union is set up and used;

*

* *

25.

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States and the Director-General of the WTO.

(1)  OJ C 293 E, 2.12.2006, p. 155.