EU Presidency Statement - Explanation of Vote - International Trade and Development

EU Presidency Explanation of Vote on UN General Assembly 60th Session, Second Committee, AGENDA ITEM 50(a): INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT A/C.2/60/L.18, New York

Mr. Chairman,

I have the honour of delivering this explanation of vote on behalf of the European Union.

The Acceding Countries Bulgaria and Romania, the Candidate Countries Turkey and Croatia, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Serbia and Montenegro, as well as Norway and Ukraine, align themselves with this explanation of vote.

The EU regrets the inability to reach consensus on this important resolution. A political consensus message on trade and development for the upcoming WTO Ministerial meeting in Hong Kong would have been a useful outcome. It would have allowed us all to reconfirm our full commitment to the broad and balanced WTO Doha Development Agenda and, in this context, more particularly to its development dimension, which we hope to see progress in Hong Kong.

The EU wishes to thank the G77 for their draft, L.18, and for their efforts in seeking to build consensus. As indicated throughout informal consultations, the EU found the draft resolution a useful basis for work. We recognise the efforts by G77 in introducing a generally worded text that would support, but not prejudge or interfere with, WTO negotiations. The EU has responded in the same vein, showing flexibility in negotiations in our efforts for a consensus that would bring forward the development dimension. Significant progress was made over the past month; we had reached an understanding on all preambular paragraphs and on most of the operative parts. We regret that these efforts and results are now lost.

The EU will abstain in today's vote. While the overall approach of the resolution, which we see as a general and balanced reflection of the WTO Work Programme, is agreeable to us, some paragraphs are formulated in a manner that could create uncertainty in relation to all of our WTO commitments. We would not want to question those commitments.

The lack of agreement on the resolution does not reflect the progress that is being made on a number of development issues in the run-up to the WTO Ministerial in Hong Kong. The EU in particular welcomes the 6 December decision of the WTO General Council for a permanent solution on the TRIPS Agreement and public health. The EU will continue its efforts in the WTO for further progress on a development package in Hong Kong, including a firm commitment by developed countries, as well as developing countries in a position to do so, to provide full duty and quota free market access to all products from LDCs. The EU remains firmly committed to an overall ambitious and balanced outcome in the entire WTO Doha Development Agenda. We are EU is disappointed that the level of ambitions for Hong Kong was lowered but remains fully committed to an ambitious outcome of the Doha Round and hopes that the forthcoming Ministerial meeting will provide a comprehensive platform for that objective.

And finally, the EU wishes to thank the facilitator, Mr Selwin Hart of Barbados, for his excellent efforts in seeking to build consensus on this resolution.

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• EU Statement - Macroeconomic policy questions: International Trade and Development (31/10/2005)
• An action plan for trade and development in 2005 - the EU, the WTO, the G8 (7/2/2005)