RESOLUTION A3-0378/92

Resolution on the Free Trade Agreement between the United States of America, Canada and Mexico (NAFTA)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to Rule 121 of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on External Economic Relations and the opinion of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Security (A3-0378/92),

A. noting that Canada, Mexico and the United States have concluded a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA),

B. considering that free trade agreements must comply with the letter and the spirit of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT),

C. considering that the GATT criteria for determining the compatibility of free trade areas and customs unions with the GATT have proved difficult to apply,

D. welcoming the NAFTA agreement to the extent that it will prove trade-creating rather than trade-diverting,

E. concerned that certain provisions of NAFTA, notably its rules of origin with respect to textiles and automobiles, may affect the interests of European Community exporters,

F. concerned that Canada may limit NAFTA benefits in the financial sector to North American firms which are wholly owned or controlled by North American nationals,

G. concerned that NAFTA's rules on dispute settlement could undermine the effectiveness of the GATT dispute settlement mechanism,

I. Calls on the Commission upon publication of the final text of NAFTA to submit an analysis of NAFTA's potential effects on Community and Latin American interests to the Council and Parliament;

II. Requests the Commission and the Member States to acquire within the OECD whether NAFTA's financial services provisions can be deemed compatible with the OECD rules concerning national treatment of foreign investments;

III. Notes that the Agreement's provisions on sugar which aim to bring Mexican customs protection into line with that of the United States risk damaging third countries' interests; calls, therefore, on the Commission to ensure that in this case or in similar situations compensatory measures are provided pursuant to Article XXVIII of the GATT;

IV. Calls once again for the Uruguay Round to be brought to a close before the end of 1992;

V. Calls on the Commission and the Council to develop economic and political relations with Latin America and Asia as much as possible;

VI. Requests the Commission to report on ways to improve the effectiveness of Article XXIV of the GATT;

VII. Calls on the Commission taking office in January 1993 to put one of its Members full time in charge of EC trade policy;

VIII. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the Secretary-General of the GATT, and to the governments and parliaments of Canada, Mexico and the United States.