P6_TA(2005)0182

Doha Development Agenda

European Parliament resolution on the assessment of the Doha Round following the WTO General Council Decision of 1 August 2004 (2004/2138(INI))

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the WTO General Council Decision of 1 August 2004 on the Doha Work Programme,

- having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament and the European Economic and Social Committee of 26 November 2003"Reviving the Doha Development Agenda Negotiations — the EU Perspective",

- having regard to the Commission working document "The Doha Development Agenda after Cancún" of 25 September 2003,

- having regard to its resolution of 25 September 2003 on the Fifth WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancún [1],

- having regard to its resolution of 3 July 2003 on the preparations for the Fifth Ministerial Conference of the WTO in Cancún [2],

- having regard to the Declaration by the Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference adopted on 14 November 2001 in Doha, and having regard to its resolution of 13 December 2001 on the WTO meeting in Qatar [3],

- having regard to its resolution of 18 November 1999 on the Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the EU's approach to the WTO Millennium Round [4],

- having regard to its resolution of 15 December 1999 on the Third Ministerial Conference of the WTO in Seattle [5],

- having regard to its resolution of 13 March 2001 containing the European Parliament's recommendations to the Commission on the WTO's Built-In Agenda negotiations [6],

- having regard to the Sutherland Report on the future of the WTO,

- having regard to its resolution of 9 March 2005 on the proposal for a Council regulation applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences [7],

- having regard to the Final Declaration by the Third Parliamentary Conference on the WTO of 24- 26 November 2004,

- having regard to its resolution of 25 October 2001 on openness and democracy in international trade [8],

- having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on International Trade and the opinions of the Committees on Development and on Agriculture and Rural Development (A6-0095/2005),

A. whereas with the decision adopted on 1 August 2004 by the WTO General Council (the Decision), its 148 members have established a framework for further negotiations in five key areas of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) and have re-established the confidence lost in the Cancún negotiations, on the basis of a new spirit of cooperation with a view to ensuring the successful conclusion of the Doha Round and the success of the multilateral trade system,

B. whereas equally far-reaching progress needs to be made on all subjects covered by the Decision and the DDA Work Programme in general, putting development at the forefront of the negotiations, and whereas the EU needs to stand up for a wide-ranging agenda, aiming at appropriate trade liberalisation, the eradication of all dumping and trade distorting measures, the strengthening of special and differential treatment and food security safeguard mechanisms in order to prioritise social justice and development, and to achieve a greater integration of the developing countries into the world trade system, an objective enshrined in the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (Article III-292.2.e),

C. whereas a successful conclusion of the Doha Round must contribute to fostering worldwide economic growth and poverty reduction, and whereas problems linked to malnutrition, hunger and health need to have greater prominence within the negotiations, in keeping with what is provided for in the UN Millennium Declaration,

D. whereas further regulation within the multilateral trade system, optimum integration of the developing countries into the world trade system and a better-working WTO have always been the main objectives of EU trade policy,

E. whereas the deadline for concluding the Doha Round, set at 1 January 2005 in the Doha Final Declaration, has been postponed sine die, and a Sixth Ministerial Conference has been scheduled for December 2005 in Hong Kong,

F. whereas the political effort and the substantial proposals made by the EU, in the shape of Commissioners Lamy and Fischler, was of particular importance in bringing about the Decision; whereas the progress achieved in the agricultural sphere has not been matched in any other areas,

G. whereas technical assistance and capacity building programmes play an important role in guaranteeing that the developing countries will prepare their respective economies for integration into the world economy, improve their capacities for negotiating, producing and exporting, and increase their internal and regional trade markets and their opportunities to benefit from further trade liberalisation,

H. whereas the DDA could cause erosion of preferences granted by the EU to the ACP countries under the Cotonou Agreement, to developing countries under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) and other commercial preference systems,

I. whereas there has been a lack of progress to date in the Non-Agricultural Market Access (ΝΑΜΑ) negotiations, and whereas market access acquired through tariff reductions should not be hampered by non-tariff barriers,

J. whereas the economic importance of services, which are a key area in the Doha negotiations — in themselves and for the overall balance of the DDA — is growing, further opening of the markets also having major potential for developing countries, but it is also important to exclude from liberalisation those services that are essential for the satisfaction of basic necessities, and whereas progress in this area has been disappointing,

K. whereas the EU has always called for the negotiation of the Singapore Issues within the DDA in the interests of developed and developing countries alike, and whereas the facilitation of trade, by means of adequate technical assistance and capacity-building, favours the export capacity of the developing countries,

L. whereas the end of the mandate of the WTO Director-General is imminent and a new appointment is accordingly required; whereas furthermore note should be taken of the Sutherland Report on the future of the WTO and the debate in the US Congress on renewing its membership of the WTO and the mandate of its Trade Representative,

M. whereas on the basis of the articles concerning the Common Commercial Policy of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, Parliament will become co-legislator on international trade issues,

N. whereas the parliamentary dimension is important within the WTO, as a means of creating a link with citizens, in order to enhance the democratic accountability and transparency of the WTO,

O. whereas the process of globalisation and the role played by the WTO are often misrepresented, and whereas it is important for there to be wide-ranging consultations of civil society and social partners.

1. Welcomes the Decision adopted on 1 August 2004 by the WTO General Council, and the way in which the Commission successfully concluded the negotiations; reiterates its resolute support for a free and fair multilateral trade system to promote trade and to contribute to sustainable development and to the effective management of globalisation for the benefit of all; equally stresses the benefits for developing countries of a multilateral approach to trade policy, as opposed to bilateral agreements;

2. Calls on the Commission to continue to call for rapid progress in all the areas covered by the Decision, so as to enable it to go to Hong Kong with a balanced, far-reaching proposal which will place development at the forefront of the debate;

3. Stresses the need to encourage an inclusive, efficient and transparent negotiation process, to which end political initiatives to push the negotiations forward and detailed draft negotiating modalities on agriculture and ΝΑΜΑ are required by July 2005;

4. Asks that the state of play report scheduled by the WTO General Council for July 2005 be strictly factual, so as not to raise false expectations amongst the public, and asks that a date be set for concluding the work of the Doha Round, taking due account of the time required for all the negotiators to prepare themselves, particularly those of the developing countries;

5. Asks that the future negotiations deliver outcomes in all areas of the DDA that genuinely support the integration of developing countries, taking fully into account their concerns and addressing, in particular, the specific problems of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), to whose exports duty and quota free access must be granted in the spirit of a "Round for Free"; equally asks that the outcome of the Doha Round negotiations contributes to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals by fostering worldwide economic growth;

6. Asks that ways of ensuring the requisite flexibility with regard to the profile of each developing country be explored, and that the IMF, among other organisations, implement the "trade integration mechanism" designed to allow compensation for losses which these countries may suffer from trade liberalisation;

7. Once again welcomes the increased level of organisation and self-confidence achieved by the developing countries (G20, G33, G90, etc.), which facilitates the task of reaching agreements and makes the prospect that the multilateral trading system can be reconfigured more fairly a realistic one;

8. Welcomes the way in which access to the negotiating table has been made easier for smaller delegations; congratulates the Commission on its support for smaller countries, e.g. the Pacific islands, by developing technical assistance programmes there; but urges the Commission to continue working on more transparency and participation in WTO decision-making and to continue to support developing countries in improving their participation;

9. Asks the Commission to consider possibly introducing a "development box" for the LDCs into the agriculture negotiations, so that they can tackle food safety and rural employment, which are major issues when it comes to eradicating poverty;

10. Reiterates the need for targeted technical assistance and capacity building as an important element for developing countries in making trade an integral part of their national development policies and poverty reduction strategies, increasing their commercial and export capacity, improving their ability to negotiate effectively, facilitating the application of WTO rules and enabling them to adjust and diversify their economies;

11. Asks that South-South trade be boosted, given the development possibilities that such trade offers the developing countries, by contemplating the elimination of trade barriers between them, setting up special and differential treatment that allows the strengthening of the supply capacity of the LDCs, and encouraging free access for the LDCs to the emergent countries' markets;

12. Calls on the Commission to take due account of the erosive effects in relation to preferential margins of the DDA on the Cotonou Agreement and the GSP and other commercial preference systems, draw up a special report investigating the impact of the Doha Round on the Cotonou Agreement and the GSP, and consider what measures should be taken to guarantee the effectiveness of the preferences granted by the EU to developing countries, and especially to the poorest;

13. Welcomes the Decision, and urges the members of the WTO to devote equal attention to the three pillars (export subsidies, domestic aids and market access) and, in July 2005, agree to commit themselves to securing detailed negotiating modalities at the forthcoming Hong Kong Ministerial Conference;

14. Asks that these measures in respect of export subsidies, domestic aids and market access, be applied in parallel by all developed-country WTO members, so as to avoid unilateral disarmament on the part of the EU, while applying special and differential treatment to the developing countries;

15. Supports a balanced phasing out of export subsidies, with full parallelism of all forms of export competition by all industrialised trading partners;

16. Urges the Commission to continue with the planned reform of the CAP and welcomes, with regard to internal support, the fact that the Decision does not undermine either the European agricultural model or the Luxembourg agreement on the reform of the CAP; stresses the need to define the joint measures contained in the "green box", including decoupled aids, making it possible to uphold the multifunctional nature of the farming industry and supporting both the rural way of life and rural jobs;

17. Asks that with regard to market access, a just and equitable balance be upheld between the requests of the developing countries and the stability and viability of Community markets; requests, in this connection, that the concept of what constitutes a "sensitive product" be appropriately and rigorously defined, and that it be possible to maintain commitments as regards customs duties either in ad valorem form or in the form of specific duties;

18. Stresses the high level of EU market access for agricultural products from developing countries and calls on other developed partners and emergent countries to proceed to further opening up their markets towards the LDCs;

19. Calls for the negotiations on geographical indications, which are a key element in a move towards improving the quality of and deriving the maximum benefit from agricultural production, to be fully taken into account in the talks on access to the market in agricultural products;

20. Welcomes the decision to take a far-reaching, rapid and specific approach, independent of other sectoral initiatives, to the issue of cotton, and likewise the setting up of a specific subcommittee on this issue; these measures should be applied with specific deadlines and be complemented by supportive structural reform programmes for the farmers and the industry in the EU regions affected, with development support measures for the developing countries being taken by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the UN Development Programme and other international organisations;

21. Calls on the Commission to step up negotiations on ΝΑΜΑ, defining an appropriate formula for eliminating or reducing high tariffs, tariff peaks and tariff escalation, and likewise to study the possibility of partial reciprocity on the part of the developing countries, taking due account of the flexibility they require and applying to them, as to the LDCs, the special and differential treatment principle; stresses, furthermore, that important trade and development benefits will be ensured through South-South market opening, particularly on the part of the more advanced developing economies; equally points out the need for the removal of non-tariff barriers, where justified, by all trading partners;

22. Deplores the fact that no specific framework on services has been established, although it welcomes the recommendations adopted, and urges all WTO members to submit revised, high-quality offers by the scheduled May 2005 deadline, with particular regard to those sectors and forms of supply which are of interest to the developing countries' exports (as provided for in Annex C to the Decision); asks that the liberalisation of services of public interest be approached cautiously, asks that services related to health, education and the audio-visual sector be excepted and also those which concern people's basic needs, such as water and energy, as it is inappropriate to demand that the developing countries liberalise these services in a way which will lead to their being dismantled;

23. States that agriculture is indeed the most important chapter within these negotiations, but points out that this must be the driving force and that progress in this field must be used as leverage and as a negotiating asset in order to make progress in other areas, particularly on trade in services and better access to industrial goods for all WTO members, by effectively reducing import duties and other trade barriers;

24. Welcomes the agreement reached on starting negotiations in the field of facilitating trade, which will improve the export capacity of the developing countries, and recognises that the EU has made a gesture towards the developing countries by removing the other Singapore Issues from the negotiations, but underlines at the same time the potential to negotiate these issues within a multilateral framework, in the interests of developed and developing countries alike; asks that the principles agreed on in Annex D to the Decision be respected, particularly with regard to special and differential treatment and aid for the developing countries, taking due account of transition periods for applying the commitments and compatibility with those countries' administrative and institutional capacity;

25. Calls for pragmatic, ongoing progress in the fields not covered by the Decision, such as rules on antidumping and subsidies, TRIPS, the environmental dimension of international trade and geographical indications, including on issues related to the extension of their protection to products other than wines and spirits, in line with the Doha mandates;

26. Stresses that, in the current WTO negotiations, greater attention must also be paid to the protection of, and compliance with, intellectual property rights, inter alia in the context of TRIPS; regrets that many WTO countries are still lax in combating trade in counterfeit and pirated goods;

27. Calls for all parties to make every possible effort to achieve agreement with regard to the appointment of a new WTO Director-General by the scheduled May 2005 deadline, so that the appointment process does not interfere with the progress of the Doha Round negotiations;

28. Stresses the need for a far-reaching reform of the WTO, and views the Sutherland Report as a first step in the preparatory work to create a more efficient, open, democratic and transparent organisation and to achieve a more intensive political involvement in the negotiations;

29. Calls for further institutional reforms in order to upgrade the role of the WTO institutions and improve the decision-making process, the dispute-settlement mechanism and the dialogue with civil society; acknowledges that the WTO must provide adequate information and explanations to civil society on its principles and measures in order to avoid the process of globalisation and the role played by the WTO being widely misunderstood and misrepresented; therefore welcomes the Sutherland report which counters a lot of these criticisms and misunderstandings;

30. Reiterates the need, acknowledged in the Millennium Declaration, to establish closer relations between the WTO and other international organisations, as an essential stage in the process of achieving a different, more sustainable type of globalisation, which will work in the service of common goals and with a view to achieving fully coordinated criteria with regard to the problems of development; believes that in this connection, all WTO Member States should of necessity respect the rules of the International Labour Organization;

31. Believes that close collaboration between EU and the USA is absolutely essential both to the success of the current negotiations and to the effective operation of the multilateral trade system, and that the US Congress should extend its negotiating mandate and endorse the renewal of the USA's membership of the WTO; insists, however, that the inclusion of all WTO Member States, particularly the G20 and the G90 groups, in the decision-making process remains of prime importance;

32. Supports fully the institutionalisation of parliaments within the WTO in order to enhance democratic legitimacy and transparency in the WTO negotiations, since members of parliament can constitute an important link with citizens, in particular as a source of information and response to their concerns; welcomes, in this connection, the Declaration adopted by the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO held on 24- 26 November 2004 in Brussels and the decision to hold the next Parliamentary Conference alongside the Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong in December 2005;

33. Believes that all the European institutions need to collaborate closely in order to obtain satisfactory results, and calls therefore on the Council and the Commission to continue to keep Parliament punctually informed, also throughout the negotiations of the Doha Round and during the Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong, involve it in the discussions to come, and maintain its access to Committee 133 documents;

34. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission and to the parliaments of the Member States and of the accession and candidate countries, the Director-General of the WTO and the President of the Interparliamentary Union.

[1] OJ C 77 E, 26.3.2004, p. 393.

[2] OJ C 74 E, 24.3.2004, p. 861.

[3] OJ C 177 E, 25.7.2002, p. 290.

[4] OJ C 189, 7.7.2000, p. 213.

[5] OJ C 296, 18.10.2000, p. 121.

[6] OJ C 343, 5.12.2001, p. 96.

[7] Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2005)0066.

[8] OJ C 112 E, 9.5.2002, p. 326.

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