A4-0075/95

Resolution on the European Community and Mercosur: an enhanced policy

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on 'The European Community and Mercosur: an enhanced policy' (COM(94)0428 - C4-0208/94),

- having regard to its opinions of 13 July 1990, 22 February 1991, 14 February 1992, 15 May 1992 and 19 November 1992 on the framework cooperation agreements between the European Economic Community and the Republics of Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil ((OJ C 231, 17.9.1990, p. 215; OJ C 72, 18.3.1991, p. 193; OJ C 67, 16.3.1992, p. 221; OJ C 150, 15.6.1992, p. 363; OJ C 337, 21.12.1992, p. 237.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 15 December 1992 on the Free Trade Agreement between the United States of America, Canada and Mexico (NAFTA) ((OJ C 21, 25.1.1993, p. 77.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 22 April 1994 on economic and trade relations between the European Union and Latin America ((OJ C 128, 9.5.1994, p. 443.)),

- having regard to the solemn joint declaration of 22 December 1994 between the Council of the European Union and the European Commission on the one hand and the Mercosur Member States on the other ((OJ C 377, 31.12.1994, p. 1.)),

- having regard to the report of the Committee on External Economic Relations and the opinions of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Security and Defence Policy and the Committee on Development and Cooperation (A4-0075/95),

A. expressing its satisfaction with the progress made in economic and trade integration in the South American southern cone which should lead to the completion of a common market by the year 2000,

B. whereas Mercosur represents the political will of its member states to promote regional integration in order to meet the challenges arising as economic affairs take on an increasingly worldwide dimension and to enhance the status of this region in international economic and political affairs,

C. whereas the meeting of the Mercosur presidents in December 1994 in Ouro Preto (Brazil) made a basic qualitative leap in this process of regional integration by deciding to set up a customs union from 1 January 1995 for most commercial transactions and to grant Mercosur an international legal personality and a definitive institutional structure,

D. whereas Chile and Bolivia are currently negotiating association with Mercosur,

E. whereas Mercosur is the fourth largest world economic power, after the EU, NAFTA and Japan; whereas, moreover, it is an 'emerging area of affluence' with great potential for growth whose economic activity in recent years has been surpassed only by the countries of South-East Asia,

F. whereas, moreover, the member countries of Mercosur have a solid market economy tradition and vast natural resources,

G. whereas Mercosur should play a major role in preserving natural resources and maintaining the world environmental balance,

H. whereas indigenous communities live in some of the member states of Mercosur, particularly in the Amazon area,

I. whereas the EU is Mercosur's prime trading partner and its major foreign investor; whereas traditionally the balance of trade between the two regions has shown a deficit for the Union,

J. whereas the southern cone has traditionally been the region of South America with the largest European presence as a result of the close historical and cultural ties between the two regions, which have led to close economic and social relations,

K. whereas the increasingly close relations between the EU and Mercosur are based on shared values such as democratic government, respect for human rights, economic freedom and social justice and on the strategic interests of both regions,

L. having regard to the historic role played by some Member States in relations with the Mercosur countries and Latin America in general,

M. whereas the recent Summit of the Americas set an objective of creating a free trade area over the whole American continent from the year 2005,

N. whereas in this respect Chile's forthcoming membership of NAFTA will provide concrete evidence of the will to progress towards the completion of this free trade area over the whole of America,

O. whereas the EU has always rejected the doctrine of dividing up the world into blocks or zones of economic or trading influence; whereas in this respect the EU must define a medium-term strategy with Mercosur if it wishes to preserve or improve their existing trade and political relations,

P. having regard to the desire of the Mercosur countries to maintain a balance in their relations with the United States and the EU and not to remain on the sidelines of the European market following the free trade preference agreements concluded by the Union with the associated countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the agreements which are being negotiated with Turkey, Israel and the North African countries,

Q. whereas the EU has concluded a series of third-generation framework agreements with the four member states of Mercosur and with Chile, as well as an interinstitutional agreement between the European Commission and the Common Market Group - the Mercosur executive body - which provides for technical assistance, exchange of information, training and institutional support for Mercosur in the areas of agriculture, technical standards and customs,

R. whereas since 1990 the institutional political dialogue between the EU and the Mercosur member states has been carried on principally at regional level, in the context of annual ministerial conferences between the EU and the Rio Group,

S. whereas agriculture represents 36% of the volume of trade between the European Union and the Mercosur member states, and bearing in mind the sensitivity of this issue, the reform of the European Union Common Agricultural Policy, the role of agriculture in the Mercosur economy and the foreseeable consequences of the Uruguay Round Final Act for liberalization of agricultural trade,

T. whereas the European Union's new multiannual plan for generalized preferences has established structures for solidarity and graduation which enable preferential margins to be transferred from the more developed to the less developed countries; whereas in this context imports of some goods from the two Mercosur countries with higher levels of industrial development (Brazil and Argentina) will lose their preference margin at the beginning of 1996 or have it phased out by the beginning of 1998,

1. Welcomes the solemn joint declaration of 22 December 1994 between the European Union and Mercosur and supports its strategy for achieving an interregional political and economic association by means of:

- a preparatory phase based on the conclusion of an interregional framework agreement on trade and economic cooperation;

- a final phase with the objective of full implementation of this association, based on closer political cooperation, gradual and reciprocal liberalization of all trade (taking account of the sensitivity of some products and according to WTO rules), promotion of investment and closer cooperation;

2. Considers that in addition to an annual assessment or study of Mercosur's progress towards integration and the application of the interregional framework agreement, this agreement must include a clause containing a political accord committing the parties in 1998 to further developing the section on trade, with a view to negotiating and setting up between them a free trade area in the industrial and services sectors and reciprocal and gradual liberalization of trade in agricultural products;

3. Considers that the interregional agreement between the EU and Mercosur should be open to other Latin American countries such as Chile and Bolivia which may become members or associates of Mercosur; in this respect, calls on the Commission and the Council to include in the framework agreement a specific clause making it possible for these countries to participate in an appropriate manner;

4. Is convinced that application of the Uruguay Round agreements in the industrial sector, in particular the reduction of customs duties, the gradual dismantling of the Multifibre Agreement, the reduction in the number and size of customs barriers and more effective protection of intellectual, industrial and commercial property rights, should improve industrial trade between the EU and Mercosur;

5. Advocates, in the context of the European Union's new GSP, that the graduation system be applied reasonably and progressively for each country and each sector and in this respect calls on the Commission to ensure that, when a country does not already benefit from the GSP, the regional accumulation system will continue to apply to components from that country used by other member countries of the same regional group;

6. Also advocates that the GSP should continue to be applied to eligible products originating in the Mercosur member states which transit through a member state of the regional group affected by the graduation system to be subsequently re-exported after minimal processing;

7. Is convinced that the Uruguay Round Final Act for liberalizing trade in agricultural products will have a very positive effect in improving Mercosur's access to international markets for agricultural and livestock products, and in this context considers that during the next few years the room for manoeuvre for granting additional concessions over and above the agreements on minimum access included in the Uruguay Round will be very limited;

8. Considers that there is ample opportunity to increase cooperation between the EU and Mercosur in the service sector, in particular in the areas of telecommunications, motor vehicles, transport, tourism, financial services and insurance, and to this end underlines the need for close cooperation in harmonizing legal provisions and technical standards on both sides in these areas;

9. Invites the Mercosur countries to join in the near future the World Trade Organization multilateral agreement on public sector buying and in this context considers that the mutual accessibility of public sector markets - including telecommunications - should be one of the main elements of the future EU-Mercosur interregional association;

10. Also considers it essential that the framework agreement provide an institutional basis for a regular political dialogue between the EU and Mercosur on bilateral and international questions of mutual interest, and underlines in this regard the considerable importance to both sides of a political dialogue for:

- promoting the expansion of trade and harmonious economic relations;

- defining a possible coordinated strategy with regard to operational rules and topics to be placed on the agenda of the new WTO and in relation to other international economic bodies where concerted action is possible (such as the World Intellectual Property Organization and the International Telecommunications Union);

- contributing, through better mutual understanding, to the EU's ability to act for Mercosur in dealings with both OECD and G7 members and to Mercosur's ability to do the same with other emerging powers;

- harmonizing the positions of the EU and Mercosur on security matters;

11. Supports increased economic cooperation through regional research and technological development programmes and in the spearhead sectors (the environment, telecommunications and the information society and the audiovisual sector), and in this respect calls on the Commission to examine the possibility of the Mercosur countries participating in certain Community programmes such as MEDIA, under the participation arrangements established for the EFTA and Central and Eastern European countries;

12. Considers that the interregional association should envisage Union participation in joint financing of regional projects concerned with infrastructure, culture, agricultural and forestry research and fisheries technology, environmental protection, energy and support for operations aiming to promote European private investment; to this end, advocates that this financing take the form of a new framework for multiannual financial assistance including grants from the Community budget and loans from the European Investment Bank;

13. Underlines the importance of systematic promotion of joint ventures between European small and medium-sized enterprises and their counterparts in Mercosur, particularly through risk capital, which must considerably increase in volume;

14. Supports the Commission initiatives to grant technical assistance based on its own experience to implement the next stage of the Mercosur integration process, and specifically considers that priority should be given to establishing:

- criteria for restructuring the economic sectors which are most vulnerable to the process of trade integration;

- instruments of economic and social cohesion between the member states and the implementation of social programmes to combat poverty, accompanied by dialogue between the various social partners;

- common technical standards for the environment;

- an integrated transport model which would favour deregulation of shipping and develop the potential of river and rail transport;

15. Wishes to receive regular information from the Commission on the nature and extent of EU participation in the Hidrovia waterways project;

16. Shares the concern expressed by the Rio Group ministers in the final declaration of the recent meeting of ministers of the Rio Group and the European Union held on 17 March 1995 in Paris at the increasingly incalculable and possibly prejudicial influence of speculative capital;

17. Expresses its concern at the existence and extent of the traffic in women, children, human organs and drugs between industrialized and developing countries; calls on the Commission to submit proposals aimed at preventing capital derived from such trafficking from flowing between the European Union and the third countries with which it has trade relations, and calls on the Member States to protect the victims of this trade;

18. Recalls that the current third-generation framework agreements between the EU and each of the Mercosur member states do not provide for any parliamentary participation, and consequently requests that, given the scope and the specific nature of the interregional association process, the interregional framework agreement include in its institutional provisions political dialogue at parliamentary level between the members of the Mercosur Joint Parliamentary Committee and Members of the European Parliament;

19. Calls on the Commission and the Council to adopt the priorities set out in this resolution when preparing and adopting respectively the negotiating mandate for the interregional framework agreement for economic and trade cooperation between the European Union and Mercosur;

20. Welcomes the fact that, within the context of EU-Mercosur cooperation, the general interests of the indigenous communities living in the Mercosur countries are to be respected, particularly in the case of those in the Amazon region;

21. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the governments of the Member States, the Mercosur Council, the governments of Chile and Bolivia and the Latin American Parliament.