Mr President, before I begin my intervention on this report, I should like to ask that it be recorded in the Minutes that in accordance with Rule 161 of the Rules of Procedure the explanatory statement in the report under discussion is the responsibility of the rapporteur alone and only reflects her personal opinion, not the opinion of the Committee on Industry. There is no reason why citizens should know our Rules and certain statements may lend themselves to confusion and give rise to misunderstandings. Thank you, Mr President, and now I shall begin my intervention. The proposal for a decision contained in the Commission proposal, which is the subject of the report we are beginning to debate, is the culmination of a long process that began in 1995 with the signing of a joint declaration between the European Community and Mexico. This declaration established some objectives that were to become an agreement that would replace the Cooperation Agreement signed in 1991, in order to strengthen and enhance the political, economic and commercial relations between the European Union and Mexico. The Economic Partnership, Political Coordination and Cooperation Agreement, also known as the Global Agreement, was signed in December 1997. Therefore, the Commission proposal on which Parliament has been consulted must be considered in the context of the Global Agreement signed by the European Union and Mexico – the most important agreement the European Union has ever signed, I think it is worth remembering. This is also the context of the interim agreement dealing with the economic and commercial aspects of the Global Agreement, the aim of which was to allow negotiations to begin as soon as possible for the liberalisation of the commercial aspects of Community competence included in the Global Agreement. With regard to the proposal for a decision with which we are concerned and the agreements it deals with, my Group sees them as being very positive because they strengthen the possibility for Community operators to act in spheres of particular interest by guaranteeing them access to the Mexican market on equal or even better terms than those enjoyed by NAFTA countries in the area of services, investments, payments and respect for intellectual property rights, with the resulting benefits and legal guarantee that all this may bring to the European Union. These considerations by themselves would justify the unreserved approval of the proposal for a decision by my Group and, I hope, by this Parliament as well. Furthermore, in addition to the economic advantages, my Group is well aware of the political benefits arising from the adoption of this proposal for a decision, and also that the European Union-Mexico Joint Council, which will meet at the end of this month, needs to adopt it, because only once it is adopted can the provisions on political dialogue and cooperation in the areas of education, combating poverty, and social and environmental matters come into force. My Group in particular and this Parliament in general have always been highly sensitive to such questions, because they are the guarantee that the economic benefits which will undoubtedly accrue from the overall agreement will help promote a political system that is more democratic, more respectful of human rights and more in tune with social justice.

Political group: PPE-DE