ࡱ> )+(q bjbjt+t+ AA] $" ƤThe Doha Development Agenda and Beyond "The ϲʹ: The role of Parliamentarians?" Tuesday 30 April 2002 10:00-1:00pm Summary Report Moderators: Mr. Mike Moore, Director-General, ϲʹ Dr. Caroline Lucas, Member of the European Parliament Dr. Lockwood Smith, Member of Parliament, New Zealand Opened by the Director-General of the ϲʹ, Mr. Mike Moore this session gathered parliamentarians, representatives of the Members, as well as NGOs. In his opening remarks, the ϲʹ Director-General laid emphasis on the importance for the ϲʹ to maintain a dialogue with parliamentarians who are, as elected by the people, the accountable representatives of civil society. They had an essential role to play with regard to the ratification of the results of negotiations concluded in ϲʹ. In that respect, it was important to assist them to perform their duties more effectively. This Working Session was thus a good opportunity for parliamentarians to exchange views and reflect on parliamentary scrutiny. Dr. Caroline Lucas highlighted that the role of parliamentarians should go further than monitoring and reporting alone. She made the case for a Parliamentary Assembly of the ϲʹ which would have a more prominent role to play in the form of parliamentary scrutiny, and also in the wider efforts to reform the ϲʹ processes, and its rules. She stressed the need to make the ratification process, such as would be the case with the Doha Development Agenda, a meaningful one and pointed out to the need to develop benchmarks and indicators, against which parliamentarians can judge the results of the new round of multilateral trade negotiations. Dr. Lockwood Smith noted that ϲʹ is composed of Members represented by Governments who are elected and take decisions by consensus. Therefore, any Member Government has a veto in the ϲʹ. In his opinion, there was no crisis of legitimacy in the ϲʹ as such. However, politicians have a responsibility to maintain contact with the people and explain what ϲʹ is all about, including the dangers of protectionism. The parliamentarians present at the Working Session participated actively in the discussion. Parliamentarians praised this opportunity to debate on their role with regard to ϲʹ issues and the need to ensure the support of the people for the multilateral rules based trading system, as embodied by the ϲʹ. It was felt that ϲʹ was far removed from the people, and in particular at the local level, where the concerns of the citizens, regarding jobs and standards of living, is primarily expressed. Greater coherence was sought between ϲʹ and the UN System. The case for parliamentary involvement was made for the ϲʹ as well as for other organizations. The question of one body or a proliferation of parliamentary assemblies was raised. In respect of the ϲʹ, as a follow-up to the decision taken by parliamentarians present in Seattle on the occasion of the third ϲʹ Ministerial Conference, and reconfirmed by those present in Doha during the Fourth Ministerial Conference, some parliamentarians proposed during this workshop to speed up the process of the creation of a Standing Body or a Parliamentary Assembly to ϲʹ. Participants felt that in one way or another, a parliamentary dimension to ϲʹ would help parliamentarians to better understand ϲʹ's work and subsequently help them do a better job at home in responding to the concerns of their constituencies and enact legislation in their national parliaments. However, there were some divergences about the nature and constitution of such a Parliamentary Assembly or Standing Body to the ϲʹ. This concept needed therefore to be explored further, particularly with regard to its wide-ranging implications and the details of its practical application. Greater coordination among the various organizations of parliamentarians at the regional and international level was supported to ensure effectiveness and to avoid the dispersion of the effort in working towards the establishment of such a mechanism, especially to ensure the involvement of parliamentarians from developing countries, who do not have the resources to afford capacity building and attendance at international meetings of parliamentarians. If the time was not yet ripe for a Parliamentary Assembly, the need for parliamentarians to assemble was strongly supported. '(t'OJQJ CJOJQJ5>*CJOJQJ5CJOJQJ '(Qgtu&')v w    $'(Qgtu&')v w   $. 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