Following the debate which took place during the sitting
of 23 March 2009, the European Parliament adopted by 568 votes to 94 with 15
abstentions a resolution on the Economic Partnership Agreement between the
Cariforum States, of the one part, and the European Community and its Member
States, of the other part. The resolution was tabled on behalf of the
Committee on International Trade.
Parliament stresses that EPAs cannot be regarded as
satisfactory unless they achieve the following objectives: offering the ACP
countries support for sustainable development, promoting their participation
in world trade, strengthening the regionalisation process, revitalising trade
between the EU and ACP countries and promoting the economic diversification
of ACP countries. The EPA must be supportive of the development objectives,
policies and priorities of the Cariforum States, and should contribute to the
achievement of the MDGs.
Members call on the Commission to clarify its stance on
the stated EU objective of discouraging existing tax havens. They recall in
this regard that eight out of the 14 Cariforum signatory states of the EPA
are listed as tax havens by the OECD and that the Cariforum EPA provides for
current account liberalisation for all residents, capital account
liberalisation for investors, and almost unlimited cross-border activity of
financial services, including the operation of "trust services" and
"over-the-counter" trading of derivatives.
Parliament also made the following points:
- it
is convinced that comprehensive EPAs should be complementary to an
agreement on the DDA and not an alternative for ACP countries;
- it
highlights the importance of intra-regional trade and the need for
increased regional trade links in order for sustainable growth to be
ensured in the region;
- the
interests of the outermost regions have not been sufficiently taken into
account in respect of many aspects that were communicated to the
Commission by the regional councils, and in consequence short-term
inclusion of the outermost regions in interregional trade has been
neglected;
- it
encourages further lowering of tariffs between developing countries and
regional groups, which today account for 15% to 25% percent of the trade
value, to further promote south - south trade, economic growth and
regional integration;
- the
implementation of the Agreement must pay due regard to the integration
processes in Cariforum, including the aims and objectives of the Caricom
Single Market and Economy (CSME) as outlined in the Revised Treaty of
Chaguaramas;
- the
Commission should clarify the actual distribution of funds throughout
the ACP region arising from the pledged priority spending within
the increased Aid for Trade budget;
- it
calls on the ACP to propose the necessary additional EPA-related funds,
particularly with regard to regulatory frameworks, safeguard measures,
trade facilitation, support in meeting international sanitary and
phytosanitary and intellectual property standards and the composition of
the EPA monitoring mechanism;
- on
the EU Strategy on Aid for Trade, with the commitment to increase the
collective EU trade-related assistance to EUR 2 billion
(2 000 000 000) annually by 2010 (EUR 1 billion from the
Community, EUR 1 billion from the Member States), Parliament insists
that the Cariforum States receive an appropriate and equitable share;
- the
Commission should clarify which funds are additional to the funding of
the 10th European Development Fund;
- if
necessary, substantial changes to rules of origin should accompany the
duty-free, quota-free (DFQF) initiative to produce a significant
increase in goods exports;
- the
Commission should report regularly to Parliament on the extent of patent
applications and litigation under the Patent cooperation Treaty.
Parliament urges the Commission not to seek to harmonise intellectual
property rights standards upwards beyond what is appropriate for the
level of development of the Cariforum States, and to ensure that the
provisions regarding enforcement of intellectual property rights will
not be used to thwart legitimate competition from generic pharmaceutical
suppliers and/or to prevent government purchasing entities from
acquiring generic supplies;
- the
Commission should support the establishment of an independent monitoring
mechanism within the Cariforum States endowed with the necessary
resources to undertake the analysis necessary to determine the extent to
which the EPA is achieving its objectives;
- Parliament
stresses the need for the implementation of the EPAs to involve an
appropriate monitoring system;
- it
highlights the crucial role of Cariforum parliaments and non-state
actors in the monitoring and management of the EPA;
- the
European Council is asked to consult the regional councils of the outermost
regions in the Caribbean (Martinique, Guadeloupe and French Guiana)
prior to ratification of the EPA between the Cariforum States and the Member States of the EU;
Lastly, Members call for Parliament and the Cariforum
parliaments to be involved in any revision of the EPA.
This resolution should be read in parallel with the
EU-CARIFORUM stepping-stone Economic Partnership Agreement which is the
subject of a separate assent procedure (see AVC/2008/0061).