Brussels, 13/10/2006 (Agence Europe) -Adopted on Thursday by 489 votes to 75 and 5 abstentions on the basis of the own-initiative report by Daniel Varela Suanzes-Carpegna of Spain (EPP-ED), the European Parliament's resolution on economic and trade relations between the EU and Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela) stresses that the conclusion of an association and free trade agreement between the two parties is a priority strategic objective for EU external relations. The EP therefore calls for a complete, ambitious and balanced association agreement to be concluded as rapidly as possible. It must be founded on three pillars: - a political and institutional chapter to strengthen democratic dialogue and political consultation; - a cooperation chapter to promote sustainable social and economic development; - a trade chapter establishing a free trade area (FTA) covering a broad range of sectors (agriculture, manufactured goods and services, investment, public procurement, protection of intellectual property rights (IPR), competition, trade defence instruments and trade facilitation) and including a binding mechanism for dispute settlement. Deploring the fact that the Vienna summit in May this year had not allowed bilateral talks to be relaunched, the EP calls for “more commitment and political impetus at the highest level” and the setting in place of a “definitive timetable”. Although it recalls that an agreement would allow the “largest FTA in the world” to be created, the EP warns that the cost of non-agreement would, according to the study commissioned by the EU-Mercosur Business Forum, amount to at least €3.7 billion annually in the trade in goods and to over €5 billion if investment and services are included.
While stressing that EU-Mercosur talks and Doha multilateral talks “do not rule each other out but are complementary”, the EP therefore restates the need to reach a “single and indivisible” trade agreement that goes beyond the respective obligations at the WTO and which takes account of the specific sensitivity of certain products in a way that is as least restrictive as possible. Like Doha talks, the EU-Mercosur talks must not be exclusively dependent upon the conclusion of farm talks. “All areas must be negotiated and must progress in parallel”, the EP states, stressing, moreover, how important it is to effectively recognise almost total principles of reciprocity and special and differentiated treatment depending on the levels of development and sector-specific competitiveness of the two regions. Recalling that the Commission has, at the farming level, made the “most ambitious offer ever made in bilateral negotiations” and that the EU is the largest importer of agricultural products from Mercosur, the EP considers that the EU is entitled to expect an offer that is “just as ambitious” from its partner. It stresses, moreover, that the greatest growth potential of trade relations lies in the services sector. On investment, the EP stresses the need to negotiate a chapter that ensures there is a clear and stable regulatory framework for the promotion and protection of foreign investment, without discrimination with regard to nationality and with the required legal security. With regard to intellectual property rights, the EP recommends that the EU-Mercosur agreement should go much further than the TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) agreement, but stresses, however, that such agreements should not exclude WTO members' safeguards on public health under the TRIPS agreement, as this would limit access to affordable medicines in developing countries. Finally, the EP stresses that the inclusion of a chapter on health and plant health measures would prevent such provisions being used as secret protection measures. On aspects relating to cooperation, the EP stresses the importance of fundamental labour standards and decent employment for Mercosur development and calls for the agreement to comprise an agenda for “decent work” specially conceived for the members of Mercosur, as well as an EU commitment to provide all the assistance needed for carrying out the agenda. (eh)