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PARLIAMENTARY MEETING
Doha/Qatar, 11 November 2001
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At the joint initiative of the European Parliament and the Inter-Parliamentary Union, a parliamentary meeting was held on the occasion of the fourth WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha. The meeting was attended by over 100 MPs who adopted by consensus a Final Declaration, the text of which is reproduced below.
For additional information about the Meeting, see the text of a press release.
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FINAL DECLARATION / CONCLUSIONS
- We, the Parliamentarians from the WTO members assembled at Doha restate our conviction that global trade concerns every individual and society as a whole. Therefore, parliamentary participation is necessary to ensure a better representation of citizens and we advocate a parliamentary dimension to the WTO.
- We, therefore, call on our respective governments participating in the 4th WTO Ministerial Conference to add the following paragraph to its final declaration: "Transparency of the WTO should be strengthened by associating Parliaments more closely with the activities of the WTO."
- As expressed in the joint European Parliament/Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) memorandum of 5th October 2001, we recognize that there are several views on how best to organize parliamentary work in respect of the WTO. Some have proposed the establishment of a standing body of parliamentarians, which could either be formally linked to the WTO or exist as a separate independent structure; others have suggested that the parliamentary dimension to the work of the WTO be provided through the IPU.
- We agree to establish a steering group to prepare a conference on trade issues in 2002. as part of those discussions, the steering group should present options for a parliamentary dimension for the WTO, based on the above.
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