Mr President, Commissioner, what a pity that such an important issue is again being debated at such a late hour and, needless to say, before almost empty benches, because the repercussions of the accession of the People's Republic of China to the WTO are of global significance in every sense of the word and therefore deserve even more attention. The history of the creation of the World Trade Organisation can be traced back a long way, to a time when the Second World War had left a trail of destruction in its wake and there was a great deal of uncertainty as to what shape peace would take in the future. The key elements for a peaceful world, and this was as clear then as it is now, are freedom, security and stability, democracy and human rights. We have used these basic principles to lay the ghosts of the past in Western Europe and finally bring about an era of peace of which, in my view, we can be proud. But we have to defend this peace anew every day, a painful lesson each and every one of us now has to learn. Today we are on the threshold of major enlargement of the European Union. In a few years, we shall live in a Europe which can be an area of stability and freedom. But how shall we achieve this? We shall achieve it through integration. Integration means inclusion, unification, political, as well as economic, completion. I do not think anyone disputes the fact that this is an absolutely winning recipe for peaceful development and that this does not just apply to Europe. Other parts of the world have not been blessed with peace in the last 50 years. The Cold War was synonymous with conflict and discord for numerous regions in the world. We must bear this in mind if we are to understand the significance, today, of an organisation, such as, the WTO. Here, too, the watchword is integration. The more countries commit themselves to the peaceful principles of trade, the more stable and peaceful the world can become. For these reasons, I expressly welcome the accession of the People's Republic of China to the WTO. For the same reason, I also welcome the accession of Taiwan to the World Trade Organisation. We want to integrate, not leave part of the world standing on the doorstep. The EU has clearly formulated the important objectives in its strategy on Asia. Political dialogue with the People's Republic of China should be stepped up, the transition to an open society should be supported and China should be further integrated into the global economy. This last objective is now within reach. Only with China, both the People's Republic and Taiwan, will the WTO become a real world trade organisation. I can assure you that we shall not lose sight of the other objectives and I would also stress that this includes dialogue about human rights. The numerous negative aspects of China's accession to the WTO, which you choose to identify in your explanatory statement, Mr Gahrton, cannot be supported by us in the Group in their present one-sided and, in my view, somewhat disproportionate wording. I think the advantages to all sides of these accessions outweigh the disadvantages. The award of the 2008 Olympic Games to Beijing became as acute a topic of discussion as the accession to the WTO is now. But I am positive that we are on the right path, the path of integration, not segregation, the path of inclusion, not isolation, the path, I trust, towards a more peaceful world, which we need, today, more than ever. We are still in shock from the horror of 11 September. And that is another reason to stand together.

Political group: PPE-DE