Mr President, I can assure the last speaker that we are neither lifeless nor anaemic in the work that we undertake in the Joint Parliamentary Assembly. The references which the excellent rapporteur makes are to the fact that we now have a parliamentary status and a very different way of working but, most important, the ACP representation is of elected Members of Parliament and not of ambassadors, which used to be the case in the past. I am sure if the previous speaker were to look at the evidence she would see that was the case. It is because we have this parliamentary status under the Cotonou Partnership Agreement that we have a new and dynamic maturity. The parliamentary assembly is a very special institution: it is the democratic arm of ACP-EU cooperation and provides a voice for the people in the 93 countries which are represented there. It is our task to build credible and workable partnerships through dialogue and consultation between our respective parliaments. In our last Joint Assembly we worked on the EPA trade negotiations, human rights, governance, the European Development Fund and environmental concerns. Our entire effort is to ensure that we deliver the promise and vision of Cotonou. Our work should reflect that unique subscription between the EU and 78 ACP countries to those values which are enshrined in the agreement. Those values are central to our work here in Parliament and to our work with developing countries, and that is democracy, the rule of law and, above all, the eradication of poverty. We are conscious of the difference of opportunity that exists between our ACP colleagues and ourselves. We have access to staff and technology to assist us with our work, and far greater opportunities to cooperate and work together, as we are now in our preparations for Addis Ababa at the end of this week. In addition, we have far more of a tradition of parliamentary scrutiny. I am delighted that Commissioner Nielson has on a number of occasions expressed his support for the Joint Assembly and for financial resources to be made available for us to be more effective in our work and for the participation of ACP Parliaments to be greater, because, after all, it is their legitimacy and accountability as parliamentarians that is at the heart of our work. I am encouraged by the growing confidence of ACP parliamentarians, and that has been demonstrated, as Mrs Flesch says, by the extensive participation now from both sides in the debates we are having. We comment on it because it is growing and developing as confidence increases. In the past it was the European parliamentarians who dominated every debate and that, I am glad to say, is no longer the case. They are absolutely hungry for information in order that they can be more effective in their parliaments. I know that some countries – such as Senegal – are making a priority of parliamentary training and capacity-building in their national indicative programmes. But we need to do more to encourage more JPA parliaments to have this facility. We are now preparing for the seventh session of the JPA in Addis Ababa this weekend and I am sure that we will continue to work in an increasingly impressive and focused way in 2003.

Political group: PSE