Strasbourg, 30/09/2002 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on Mercosur in the light of the economic and social crisis that is affecting the countries of South America and Argentina in particular. While welcoming the EUR 200 million in aid granted by the Commission to Mercosur, MEPs call on the Commission and Council to use preferential trade mechanisms to encourage trade of Mercosur countries, examine the creation of a bi-regional solidarity fund and set in place a bi-regional association. Furthermore, the Parliament considers that solutions must be found to the external debt of these countries and to help them fight corruption and crime in the banking sector. MEPs rejected several amendments by the Greens/EFA and GUE/NGL, especially an amendment stressing that the Argentinean crisis is partly due to the international community, and another amendment calling for Common Agricultural Policy to be reviewed in order to abolish subsidies intended for EU farm exports.
During the debate, the president of the Socialist Group, Enrique Baron, stressed that there is a problem at the level of the EU's political representation within international organisations. Alain Lipietz, who was speaking on behalf of the Greens/EFA, took up these remarks saying that the solidarity stated by the EU is not translated by a coordinated position of the Member States within international organisations. He proposed an amendment on the setting in place of a bilateral "citizen committee" (but this was rejected). Speaking for the GUE/NGL, Pedro Marset Campos declared that one should also speak of the IMF's responsibility in the Argentinean crisis. This was backed by Spanish Socialist Manuel Medina Ortega, who felt the international system forces Argentina to reduce its standard of living. The appeal made by José Ignacio Salafranca (EPP/ED, Spain) to encourage association agreements and set up a regional solidarity fund was heard by his colleagues who voted in favour of examining this idea. Liberals, speaking through Carles -Alfred Gasoliba, agree to accelerate negotiations and to rapidly reach a new association agreement. Regional integration must be intensified as should all robust economic programmes for reactivating the Mercosur countries, he added. German Social Democrat Rolf Linkhor warned against the political impact that the economic crisis in Argentina could have. According to a survey, Argentineans, he said, consider that an authoritarian government could resolve the economic crisis, and this crisis is therefore a danger for democracy in these countries. Finally, External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten recognised with the MEPs that it is necessary to have indepth political reform, greater regional integration, intensified negotiations for an association agreement and better access to the European market for the Mercosur countries. Furthermore, the EU must speak with one voice within the international organisations. On the financial aspect, the Commissioner felt it was not possible to envisage enlarging preferential trade mechanisms at present. He calls on investors to come to the rescue, explaining that, since the savings rate is very low in Argentina, this country is highly dependent on foreign investment.