madam president i understand what mr melo is saying but i cannot agree with it
i welcome the commission's proposal to suspend import duties on key pakistan imports into the european union
firstly the common ground between us is that pakistan which has not had an easy history since its birth as a nation is going through its worst possible period
it is in the frontline of the war against terrorism costing it so far it is reckoned usd forty billion
we are all very well aware of the floods the combined impact of which is worse than the asian tsunami of two thousand and four and the haitian floods of earlier this year
that is a significant blow to any country
what i welcome about the commission proposal is that we give pakistan the opportunity to trade its way out of some of its difficulties
it is an intelligent proposal
firstly as the commissioner has said the seventy-five tariff lines that would help boost pakistan's trade by an estimated eur one hundred million a year do little harm to eu investment
this will not significantly damage any european union industry and equally importantly in fact quite possibly even more importantly it will not harm the developing countries which are on a par with pakistan because none of the tariff lines affect products on the dda preference erosion list
that is very positive
the second thing that is sensible about the commission proposal is that it is time-limited and does not unilaterally attempt to alter the gsp resolution
i welcome that because it still gives an incentive to pakistan to come into line with social and human rights standards between now and twenty fourteen in order to qualify for gsp in twenty fourteen
so it gives the emergency aid we need now but at the same time does not give to the pakistan government
it says you have a duty yourself to put your country in order if you want to continue to qualify for these benefits
this is a real test of europe's generosity and i hope that we in this parliament will be prepared to meet it
