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Overseas Development Aid.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 26 May 2004

Wednesday, 26 May 2004

Questions (123, 124)

Joan Burton

Question:

136 Ms Burton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will use the occasion of the meeting of development Ministers on 1 June 2004 to discuss “Make Trade Work for Development” and the way in which development Ministers are taking responsibility for the development aspects of trade in general, in the Doha development round at the WTO and in the negotiation of reciprocal commitments through economic partnership agreements with ACP countries. [15747/04]

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Joan Burton

Question:

137 Ms Burton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will propose at the meeting of development Ministers on 1 June 2004 that Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy be invited to attend the following development Ministers meeting to give account of the development aspects of these two sets of trade negotiations. [15748/04]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 136 and 137 together.

The document "Make Trade Work for Development" is a useful summary of some of the issues which are central to achieving progress in the Doha development agenda. Development co-operation Ministers will address a number of these points at the informal ministerial meeting on 1 June 2004.

During Ireland's Presidency of the European Union, my ministerial colleagues and I have been giving priority to advancing the trade and development agenda, on the basis that the integration of the economies of developing countries into the world economy is key to the development of these countries. In January, the General Affairs and External Relations Council, GAERC, committed the Union to taking the lead in getting the Doha process back on track following the breakdown at Cancun. The GAERC concluded that priority should be given to the achievement of real benefits in the short term for the poorest countries through rapid progress on issues of importance to them.

One way in which the EU Presidency, the Commission and the member states have taken action on that particular commitment in recent months has been to promote better market access for commodity producers, especially cotton producing countries. At a session of the General Affairs and External Relations Council which I chaired on 27 April, the Union endorsed an ambitious proposal for an EU action plan on agricultural commodity chains, dependence and poverty. Furthermore, it endorsed a specific proposal for an EU-African partnership in support of cotton sector development. This will involve EU efforts to obtain fairer international trade conditions in the cotton sector and specific measures to support cotton producing countries in Africa.

The second phase of the economic partnership agreements, EPAs, has now been launched and negotiations have either started or are being announced with regions representing all African, Caribbean and Pacific, ACP, states. Conscious of ACP concerns, I reaffirm the EU's view that EPAs are, above all, a development instrument for the benefit of poor people in ACP states. The agreements will maintain and improve the current level of preferential market access for ACP states into the EU. They must foster the smooth and gradual integration of the ACP states into the world economy, while taking account of the policy objectives of the ACP states and regions concerned. Their central goal has to remain the sustainable reduction of poverty. In my intervention on behalf of the EU at the UNCTAD XI ministerial meeting in Sao Paulo in June 2004, I will stress that the EU wants to see UNCTAD playing a strong role in helping our developing country partners to reap the benefits from global trade and investment.

The question of who should be invited to the next informal meeting of EU development co-operation Ministers is a matter for the forthcoming Dutch Presidency. However, I would hope that it may be possible for EU development co-operation Ministers to have an opportunity to discuss current trade matters with Commissioner Lamy well in advance of the next informal meeting which is scheduled for this autumn.

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