Parlementariërs willen nieuwe onderhandelingen Wereldhandelsorganisatie (en)

The parliamentary conference on the WTO, organised jointly by the European Parliament and the Interparliamentary Union, held its annual session in Geneva on 1 and 2 December. A delegation from the EP and 200 parliamentarians from over 70 countries voiced concern at the possible failure of the Doha round on development, following the suspension of the multilateral trade talks this summer, and issued an appeal for negotiations to resume.

MEPs and the other parliamentarians in Geneva called on the main actors in the Doha round - the European Union, the United States and the members of the G20 - to reach a "balanced" agreement on all the Doha round's main negotiating topics, while ensuring that the developing countries, especially the least developed ones, derive real and sustainable economic benefits from the outcome. MEPs also believe that an agreement on precise quantifiable commitments on agriculture, an area where trade-distorting practices are particularly common, is crucial to progress on the whole range of talks.

At talks co-chaired by Manuel António dos Santos (PES, PT), vice-president of the European Parliament, parliamentarians had a discussion with Pascal Lamy, Director-General of the WTO. Other key negotiators were also present: Kamal Nath, Indian trade and industry minister; Toshikatsu Matsuoka, Japanese minister for agriculture, forestry and fisheries; Peter Allgeier, US ambassador to the WTO; and Carlo Trojan, EU ambassador and permanent representative to the WTO.

The WTO parliamentary conference is a joint initiative of the Interparliamentary Union (IPU) and the European Parliament. Its aim is to make the WTO - an intergovernmental organisation - more transparent and to ensure that it accounts for its actions to elected representatives of the people.