XL - Eiropas Parlaments - Europa

16-02-2011 137
De staal- en autosector maken zich niet voor niets zorgen. Daarom moet bij de implementatie van het akkoord goed
gemonitored worden of aan alle voorwaarden wordt voldaan en moeten de bilaterale vrijwaringsclausules snel en effectief
kunnen worden ingezet.
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Karel De Gucht, Member of the Commission. − Mr President, I will try to be extremely brief.
First, regarding the question asked by the Earl of Dartmouth, in a case involving the infringement of intellectual property
rights, including patents in third countries, it is appropriate that the operators concerned have recourse to the available
enforcement means, including legal proceedings if necessary, as this is a case between two private firms.
In the specific case of Avon Protection, it would be appropriate for your constituent first to seek redress for the alleged
infringement of the patent via the existing legal framework in Korea. Should the available enforcement in Korea not be fair
or expeditious enough, then the Commission could look into the matter.
Regarding the remarks made by Mr Jadot, the initial draft of the Korean legislation would have forced EU car makers to
reduce the CO2 emissions of their cars twice as much as Korean car makers. This was mainly because the proposed
emission cuts were not proportional, but highly progressive, depending on the level of emissions of the respective cars.
Consequently, despite being responsible for only a small share of car sales in Korea – 3% in 2009 – and therefore of total
CO2 car emissions in Korea, EU car makers would have been asked to contribute disproportionately. Their average
emissions reduction between 2009 and 2015 would have been 23%, compared with just 10% for their Korean counterparts,
which account for 95% of total car sales in Korea. Such burden sharing would not have been fair, and that is why we
discussed it with the Korean counterpart.
Finally, I would like to thank everybody involved in this legislative process – the Committee on International Trade
(INTA), the Commission rapporteurs, the Chair of the INTA Committee, the Council and my own staff at the Commission
– for what, I would say, is a very good example of what the ratification procedure should be under the Lisbon Treaty.
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Robert Sturdy, rapporteur. − Mr President, I would like to thank the Commissioner also. The whole process has been
excellent. Over the years I have worked on a number of codecision procedures and I have to say this has been one of the
best. The debate among my shadow rapporteurs has been phenomenal. We have had extremely good input from virtually
everybody.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr Moreira, the Chair. Without his expertise, I do not think we would have
got a satisfactory conclusion on the comitology issue – a particularly difficult sticking point towards the end of the
negotiations. There have been a number of issues raised today. I would just like to say to Mr Jadot: I think your pig
producers in Brittany may well benefit significantly hopefully, Yannick, because pig producers across Europe are having a
bad time. I only pick on that because I am involved in agriculture.
As I said, the quality of the debate has been excellent. There always will be two views and Mr Susta is absolutely right:
there is always a split between the protectionist and the free marketeer.
I would just say that we cannot stick our head in the sand and close the door and expect the world not to move on without
us, because it will move on without us. We live in a global market, whether we like it or not. There are problems with that
but it is a fact. I believe quite strongly that this offers huge opportunities for the European Union to move out of its
problems with the financial crisis. We have set a standard for future agreements. However, they will not be as easy as this
one. I am sure that we will move onto other far more difficult ones and we look forward to working with the Commission
on that.
I would like to thank everyone who has taken part in the debate tonight. It has been excellent and it shows how
comprehensive this House can be.
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President. − The debate is closed.
The vote will take place at midday tomorrow (Thursday, 17 February 2011).
Written statements (Rule 149)
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George Sabin Cutaş (S&D), în scris. – Consider că intrarea în vigoare a Acordului de liber schimb UE-Coreea ar avea
efecte pozitive asupra economiei Uniunii. În primul rând, acesta ar permite realizarea unor economii, estimate la 1,6
miliarde de euro anual, la taxele vamale. Am asista, de asemenea, la intensificarea schimburilor comerciale, în special în