Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, Seattle showed that for the WTO, the USA is no longer the only major power. As the European Union, we face the United States on an equal footing. The same applies to the Asian states, and the developing countries play an important role as well. With almost a 40% share of trade and services, the European Union has become an important negotiating partner worldwide, which bears responsibility in all areas of the WTO and which should involve all the industrialised and developing countries in this process. We must do justice to this responsibility by making the European Parliament's voice heard at an early stage, and by being present to shape the focus of the current negotiations. So today, we want to fulfil this task and, with our recommendations on the WTO's Built-In Agenda, make our position clear to the citizens of Europe early on. We want these recommendations to be taken into account at the WTO's interim review in April 2001. Our individual demands are in line with our proposals at the multilateral round in Seattle. As that round failed to achieve a result, we now wish to clarify and update our position by putting forward these recommendations on agriculture, services, and specific intellectual property issues. Today's debate will not include the full range of issues such as environmental protection, health policy, competition, minimum social standards, etc. We will be clarifying our position on those areas in a series of further recommendations in a few months' time, but certainly before the new multilateral round opens in Qatar at the beginning of November. So I would ask my colleagues from the other interested committees to be patient until then. I would like to mention Mrs Flemming in particular, who has put forward some very interesting proposals. They will undoubtedly play a key role in the committee responsible, as well as in Parliament, during the next round. This report on the Built-In Agenda is only intended to deal with the three areas, not the package as a whole. Let me pick out a few points. Firstly, regarding agriculture: as outlined in the Council's mandate of December 2000, we want to achieve a balance between trade and non-trade concerns in agriculture. For example, structural funding for rural development belongs in the green box and thus ceases to be the subject of wrangling within the WTO. We agree with the Commission's courageous proposal, which had our full support and which led to the Council of Ministers' recent decision to remove all trade barriers on all products from the world's 48 least developed countries. This is a signal for a close partnership with the developing countries within the WTO framework, a signal which does not diminish in value even in light of the transitional arrangements for ‘sensitive’ products. We also advocate, however, the vigorous defence of the existing European model of agriculture based on multifunctionality. The precise details are set out in the report. Regarding services: we wish to achieve further progressive liberalisation of the trade in services. This must not be a one-way street for the industrialised nations, however, but must include the developing countries as well. As regards the protection of intellectual property, we want biodiversity to be respected, and we are also seeking a guarantee that in the field of plant innovations, the economic benefit will be shared appropriately between the donor country and the party wishing to commercialise the material. We are seeking greater transparency in the preparation and conduct of ministerial meetings. Procedures relating to composition and reporting mechanisms, and to the frequency and timing of formal WTO meetings, must be subordinate to this goal. In the interests of greater democratisation and improved scrutiny of the WTO mechanisms, we are calling for the speedy creation of a parliamentary dimension, in which the various regions of the world, and the parliaments and parliamentarians involved in the decision-making process in the field of trade, could discuss the reforms of the WTO and introduce and implement effective scrutiny of the WTO bodies. IN THE CHAIR: MR IMBENIVice-President

Political group: PPE-DE