A3-0150/94

Resolution on recommendations of the European Parliament to the Commission concerning the negotiations in the Trade Negotiations Committee of GATT on an agreement on a Trade and Environment Work Programme

The European Parliament,

-having regard to Rules 90(5) and 148 of its Rules of Procedure,

-having regard to its resolution of 22 January 1993 on environment and trade,

-having regard to the conclusions of its sponsored conference on Trade and the Environment (the "Striking the Green Deal" conference) held in the European Parliament on 7-9 November 1993 with participants representing the institutions of the European Union, the governments of many GATT contracting parties North and South and the non-governmental organizations,

-having regard to the Decision of the Trade Negotiations Committee of the GATT on 15 December 1993 to adopt a Work Programme on Trade and Environment in April 1994 during the GATT Ministerial Conference,

-having regard to the report of the Committee on External Economic Relations and the opinion of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection (A3-0150/94),

A.whereas the adoption of the Draft Final Act and the Decision on Trade and Environment agreed by the TNC on 15 December 1993 is to be welcomed; whereas however the Uruguay Round will be incomplete and therefore not fully satisfactory until a proper programme of measures to tackle the frictions between the full application of trade rules and the correct and necessary protection and preservation of the global environment has been agreed,

B.whereas such frictions can only be resolved on a global basis by means of multilateral agreements compatible with the rules established by a properly functioning WTO in conformity with its preambular commitments between the contracting parties involved,

C.whereas the political commitment of the developed and developing countries to the objectives of pursuing sustainable development and the protection and preservation of the global environment in agreeing to the TNC Decision of 15 December 1993 should be welcomed and fully recognized; whereas moreover the developed and developing countries share a common interest in participating fully in the work of the WTO and its subsidiary bodies in all their aspects,

D.whereas the establishment of a "horizontal" Permanent Committee on Trade and the Environment within the WTO structure by 15 April 1994 is absolutely necessary not only to ensure the compatibility of all the actions of the WTO with its preambular commitment to the protection and preservation of the global environment, but equally to ensure Parliamentary ratification of the results of the successful conclusion of the Uruguay Round, most notably in the European Union and the United States of America,

1.Submits to the Commission the following recommendations:

(a)to call on the Ministerial Conference of the GATT, meeting in April 1994, to agree and adopt a Work Programme on Trade and the Environment containing all, or as many as possible as time allows, of the following areas:

-a fully worked out programme of measures to follow up the UNCED Conference, notably in terms of Chapter 2.22 of the Agenda 21 programme, the Convention for the Protection of Biological Diversity and Principle 12 of the Rio Declaration;

-measures to ensure that GATT accommodates the Montreal, Basel and CITES Conventions and all other equivalent multilateral conventions, and to establish guidelines for the trade-related aspects of future multilateral conventions including specifically those relating to the application of fiscal instruments to achieve global environmental goals;

-agreement to work out guidelines and general principles on the trade-related aspects of measures to enhance sustainable development in accordance with the need to protect and preserve the environment;

-a fully worked out programme of measures to establish the principles and institutional mechanisms for integrating into a coherent system all the work of the WTO and its subsidiary bodies concerning the environment, and in particular the establishment of a full permanent Committee on Trade and the Environment in Article IV.7 of the Agreement establishing the WTO;

-a properly coordinated review of Article XX of the GATT and Article XIV of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), together with all other such rules and disciplines covered by the WTO as they apply to the protection and preservation of the environment and the promotion of sustainable development, and where necessary to recommend the appropriate provisions and measures to ensure that the WTO's activities are fully compatible with all of its objectives;

(b)where time does not allow all of the above areas to be included in the Work Programme by 15 April 1994, to call on the Ministerial Conference to provide the appropriate mechanisms for the remaining areas to be included in the Work Programme as soon as practically possible;

2.Calls on the Commission in so doing to observe the following principles:

-environmental clauses must not have a protectionist effect benefiting the industrialized countries;

-environmental clauses must be accompanied by an increase in development aid;

3.Recognizes that, although the Preamble to the Agreement establishing the World Trade Organization constitutes the first time that the GATT has explicitly taken account of the need to protect and preserve the environment and promote sustainable development in the world's trading system, on its own this is insufficient and the provisions need to be substantially reinforced in order to ensure the smooth progress of the results of the Uruguay Round through the parliamentary ratification process, notably within the European Union and the United States;

4.Recognizes that many of the most threatened environments in the world are in the less developed countries of the world and stresses its belief in the need for wholehearted involvement of developing countries in the protection of the world's resources; recognizes the historic suspicion in the South of Northern protectionism which must be overcome if global or multilateral environmental agreements are to be successfully concluded and enforced; further recognizes that such suspicion was reinforced by the predominant role played by the US and the EU in the closing months of the Uruguay Round negotiations;

5.Recognizes that the transitional period between the Ministerial Conference in Marrakesh and the formal establishment of the WTO will be the crucial moment for the working out in full of the Trade and Environment Work Programme and therefore calls for the establishment of a full committee under Article IV.7 of the WTO Agreement and for a suspension of all dispute settlement actions relating to national or multilateral environmental regulations or agreements until the work of the Interim Committee has been completed and the full committee established;

6.Insists that the current practice that the global commons is left totally unregulated where specific agreed international treaties or agreements do not apply can no longer be tolerated; calls therefore for agreement to a general set of principles as to sustainable use and environmentally sound exploitation of all natural resources to be applied in the absence of more specific multilaterally agreed rules, including their trade aspects, which shall be applied by the GATT;

7.Recognizes, on the one hand, that nothing in the GATT prevents any single contracting party from maintaining the highest level of environmental standards as far as goods or services imported into its territory are concerned; recognizes equally, however, that legal certainty would be greatly enhanced by the application of the definition of trade restrictiveness contained in the footnote to paragraph 21 of the SPS Agreement to, inter alia, Article 14 of the TBT Agreement and within the context of the review of Article XIV of the GATS;

8.Expresses its deep regret at the weakness of the ITTO Agreement on tropical timber reached in Geneva in January and urges the European Union to demand enhanced rules on sustainability within the ITTO and to make available more of its own budgetary resources for sustaining tropical timber;

9.Insists that all subsidiary bodies of the WTO, especially those dealing with dispute settlement, and the full Trade and Environment Committee in particular, be advised by a permanent group of independent and recognized experts on environmental and resource management issues within the WTO;

10.Reminds the Commission, the Member States and the Secretariat of the GATT that, in accordance with Article 228(3) of the EC Treaty, the GATT Agreement will require the assent of the European Parliament in order to be duly ratified and urges them to draw the necessary conclusions with regard to real progress being made on the Trade and Environment Work Programme;

11.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the governments of the Member States and the GATT Secretariat for onward transmission to the governments or representatives of all Contracting Parties to the GATT.