Mr President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, Commissioner, on 17 May I asked an oral question to the Council and the Commission on behalf of the Committee which I chair, the Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy before the – I would say welcome – signing of an agreement between the European Union and China on the membership of the latter of the World Trade Organisation. In this regard, I would like to make a comment and two requests. Firstly, on behalf of the Committee which I chair, I would like to warmly congratulate Commissioner Lamy for his patience, perseverance and the skilful contacts he has been holding constantly not only with the Chinese authorities, but also with other important members of the Council of the WTO, in particular the United States, which have allowed both the Congress of the United States and the European Union to reach a preliminary agreement on the membership of China, the importance of which is obvious because it will incorporate into the World Trade Organisation more than a billion people, with all the challenges and possibly positive responses that this will involve. Secondly, this agreement is positive because it brings with it economic, social, environmental and also geopolitical advantages for China and the world in general, especially the European Union. What seems particularly positive to us is the opening up achieved in the field of financial services, telecommunications and insurance, which will offer opportunities, with no doubt whatsoever, to our economic operators, and also the gradual opening up of the energy markets in China which, apart from certain economic benefits, will lead to greater compliance with environmental standards in that country. Another additional advantage is that China, through its entry into the World Trade Organisation, will be subject to its rules. This is positive in itself and will bring China into a new and different dynamic in terms of closer relations with the rest of the world, although this must not cause us to stop being vigilant with regard to the respect for human rights, social rights and environmental rights. In this respect I would like to say that there will be difficulties, since the position of the Commission and the Council, which Parliament supports, requires fundamental respect for basic social and environmental rights, China’s acceptance of which, paradoxically, will be more difficult to ensure once China is a member of the World Trade Organisation with full rights. Therefore, we also fully support the Commission and Council initiative to relaunch the round, which was frustrated at the outset in Seattle, as soon as possible, turning it into a global round. Those have been my comments. My two questions are as follows: Firstly, we are very interested to know whether the Commission is willing to work closely with the United States on this package of financial assistance, which is so important and necessary, so that China may be provided with the administrative and legal apparatus for it to fulfil its obligations within the World Trade Organisation. The other question is as follows: we have worked very well with the Commission and the Council throughout this process and we intend to continue to do so. I believe that this cooperation gives legitimacy to a process which is being criticised. The question is clear. More than a question, it is a request: at the end of the process, will the agreement with China be subject to the approval of Parliament? I believe that this hypothesis does not put the Council or the Commission at any risk, since its success is guaranteed. As I have said, Parliament supports this agreement. Furthermore, we will all gain in terms of democratic legitimacy with this important agreement, since, I do not need to stress, it is laid down that in important agreements Parliament has a decisive role to play.

Political group: PSE