Brussels, 26/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - In a resolution drafted by Bernd Lange (S&D, Germany) and Pablo Zalba Bidegain (EPP, Spain) that was adopted in Strasbourg on Thursday 26 November by 500 votes to 125, with 23 abstentions, the European Parliament called for “substantive progress” to be made in the Doha Round at the 10th WTO ministerial conference to be held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 15 to 18 December.
MEPs call on the EU to continue work for swift and full conclusion of the Doha Round that was launched in 2011, though expressing the view that “a review of the level of ambition is needed in order to realistically achieve outcomes across all pillars of negotiations”.
Parliament underlines that the Nairobi conference must, above all, be a success for developing countries, placing development at the heart of world trade and ensuring the needs of the least developed countries (LDCs) are taken fully into account. MEPs stress, too, the need to take account of the sensitivities of certain sectors, particularly agriculture, in the move to global liberalisation that an agreement on the Doha Round would seal.
Parliament also encourages rapid ratification of the WTO trade facilitation agreement (TFA) so that it can come into effect before the Nairobi conference.
The resolution supports structural reform of the WTO, in order to better guarantee an open, fair and non-discriminatory trading system based on shared and applied rules, which takes greater account of the role and interests of a variety of economic operators, such as SMEs, microenterprises and innovative start-ups.
In the face of persistent and widespread protectionism as a response to the 2008 crisis, Parliament emphasises that more has to be done to address restrictive measures, warning that failure to upgrade rules may lead to new and innovative ways of protecting domestic markets and producers.
While remaining fully committed to multilateralism, Parliament welcomes the progress made at the WTO on plurilateral initiatives, such as the information technology agreement (ITA), and on the sidelines of the WTO, such as the negotiations for an environmental goods agreement (EGA) and on initiatives such as the trade in services agreement (TiSA). It underlines that the ultimate objective is to “bring in a critical mass of members and multilateralise them”.
MEPs call on the Commission and Council to ensure that Parliament continues to be closely involved in the preparation of the Nairobi conference and for the Commission to continue to make the case to other WTO members for increasing the importance of the parliamentary dimension of the WTO.
Lange will lead a delegation of ten MEPs in Nairobi. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)