I welcome the European Commission communication "Reviving the DDA negotiations – the EU perspective", which brings to an end the process of reflection and review that the European Commission and member states have carried out since the failure of the fifth WTO Cancun conference. The communication responds to the invitation and to the orientations of the European Council on 16/17 October 2003.
I welcome the analysis of the Commission and the approach the Commission proposes to explore, including that: (a) the EU's commitment to the multilateral approach to trade policy remains unchanged and is a top priority in EU external relations; (b) the EU expresses its conviction that the Doha declaration is still relevant and that the DDA negotiations continue to offer great potential to foster long-term economic growth, to stimulate trade and investment, including among developing countries, to promote sustainable development and to contribute to the achievement of the millennium development goals; (c) the Council conclusions of October 1999, revisited and reaffirmed in subsequent Council conclusions, in particular in July 2003, remain valid; and (d) the EU is in favour of an early relaunch of the DDA and is determined to participate constructively and actively in efforts to this end. The EU expects all members of the WTO to act in the same spirit by being willing to reflect on their own approach and come back to the negotiations with the flexibility needed to show their commitment to a successful resumption of negotiations.
In expectation of a constructive attitude on all sides, I encourage the Commission to explore with the other WTO members the ideas contained in its communication with a view to refining the EU negotiating approach in a number of areas and to taking account of the manner in which discussions have developed over the past few months or at Cancun itself. I invite the Commission to continue to operate in close consultation with member states and to report back to member states through the European Council with a view to assessing the state of play in the light of the outcome of the exploration carried out by the Commission as well as of efforts undertaken by other WTO Members.
The agenda for the meeting of the WTO General Council on 15 December is not yet available, but it is expected to concentrate on issues surrounding the possible restart of negotiations on the Doha development agenda.
Question No. 132 answered with Question No. 93.
