mr president this was the worst natural disaster ever to hit pakistan
we i am proud to say reacted fast
commissioner georgieva was on the scene and when i met with prime minister syed yousaf raza gillani i was certainly able to discuss the eu's response with him
one thing was absolutely clear
we needed to think outside the box
we needed to come up with a new solution to provide help
not only aid but trade was the answer as a short-term measure to assist
i am pleased that the committee has approved the report after much deliberation and i know through colleagues from right across the committee the painstaking work that was done to try and come forward with something that was acceptable
but i am afraid some of the amendments to which the commission has already made reference take away from the spirit of our initial intentions and the initial way in which we reacted
at wto level objections have been registered to our eu proposal
on the one hand india says that this should not be a part of the eu-india fta
i agree
there should not be a link
that is the right approach
but at the same time it is asking for relaxation in trade directly from pakistan
there is a contradiction in its approach
i ask them to reconsider
i believe this house should reaffirm the commission position
we have the guarantee of annual impact assessments
i hear what colleagues say about their security concerns but i stand here as somebody who narrowly survived the mumbai attacks and i say to those colleagues this is not the time to turn your back on pakistan
the credibility of the eu is at stake
give the commission proposal your support
