madam president may i firstly thank the commissioner and colleagues martin and caspary for their very helpful comments
following the floods which took place i actually have travelled to pakistan to see for myself the extent of the devastation
the devastation caused by the floods is the biggest natural disaster in pakistan's history
it is certainly beyond anything that i could have imagined or expected to see
certainly when i met with the prime minister of pakistan on twenty-two september he was very appreciative of the eu's response to date and he believed it to be a very courageous response courageous in the way that commissioner de gucht has described it
we have to be absolutely sure that we continue to react in an appropriate way
the commission has now come forward with a legislative proposal to cut the tariff to zero on seventy-five tariff lines covering twenty-seven of pakistan's exports to the eu which would boost pakistan's exports by about eur one hundred million a year
this really is now a test of the eu's credibility
we must ensure that we translate the political agreement reached by eu leaders into action that will make a real difference and give the pakistani economy a lifeline at this desperate time of need
we are after all their largest trading partner
i hear the concerns made by colleagues in this chamber and it is only right that we are fair in our response fair but ambitious
the trade concession to be offered to pakistan needs to represent a credible effort by the eu and bring about meaningful economic benefits to pakistan whilst taking into account sensitivities of our own industries as well as other wto members in particular those of least-developed countries
i believe through this proposal we are being ambitious we are being courageous but above all we are being fair to ourselves as well as to the people of pakistan
