WORLD TRADE WT/FIFTY/H/ST/17
19May1998
ORGANIZATION(98-2104)
50thANNIVERSARY Original: English
Geneva, 19May1998
ITALY
Statement byH.E. Mr.Romano Prodi,
President oftheCouncil ofMinisters
Oneofthemostimportant actsofthedemocratic Italythatemerged from thecatastrophe of
theSecond World Warwasthesignature, intheautumn of1947, oftheHavana Charter.
Participation inthenewmultilateral system thatwastaking shape inthose years wasdecisive
forthereconstruction andthefuture prosperity ofItaly. Thischoice wasbased onthepolitical
conviction thatthecreation ofamultilateral trade system wasfundamental, asitsinventors conceived
it,toaninternational architecture ofpeace. Wewere certain alsothattrade liberalization would
favour Italian economic growth.
Afewyears laterItalygaveadecisive contribution totheprocess leading totheEuropean
integration. Theprocess embarked upon intheaftermath ofwarhasledtothecreation ofasingle
market andnowofasingle currency, withtheambition ofaccomplishing political integration inthe
future. IntheWorld Trade Organization, theEuropean Community nowspeaks daily withasingle
voice.
Iamgrateful toPresident Santer andPrime Minister Blair, President inexercise ofthe
European Council, fortheirparticipation attoday'scelebrations. Their presence herecarries the
message ofaEurope profoundly convinced ofthefundamental importance oftheworld trade system.
From theItalian andEuropean standpoint, these twoprocesses -thedevelopment ofa
multilateral system andthatofregional integration -have never been atconflict: their parallel
advance represents anopportunity forglobal growth. Atthemoment ofthebirthoftheeuro, which
required astrenuous effort onthepartofourcountries andasweembark upon anewenlargement
oftheEuropean Union totruly continental scale, Ifeelitespecially important tounderscore our
hearty endorsement oftheview thatregional integration canandmust helptostrengthen the
multilateral world trade system andtoenhance world prosperity.
There ismuch talkthese daysofthe"proliferation" ofregional agreements, nolonger in
Europe alone. Examining allthese pacts, wefindthatwithin notsomany years nearly alltheworld 's
regions andcountries willbelinked byagreements orwillhavealready realized customs unions or
free-trade areas. Bythattime wewillbenearing the"global single market", provided these
developments arechannelled andharmonized within amultilateral system, notsetoneagainst another
inarevived andenlarged version ofeconomic nationalism carried tothemacro-regional scale. A
further stephastobetaken shortly, withtheround oftalksopening in2000, andwithadmission to
WTO ofthecountries which forvarious reasons havesofarremained outside.
Thephilosophy ofthefounders ofthemultilateral system wasthebuilding ofaworld order
ofpeace, prosperity andfreedom. Today wemustcarry ontheirlegacy bytaking fullaccount oftheWT/FIFTY/H/ST/17
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political andhuman dimension alongside theadvance oftechnology, thespread ofknowledge, the
expansion ofinvestment; inaword, thegreat transformation thatwecall"globalization".
Weneed tostrengthen andrenovate thefoundations ofthecurrent international system,
leaving intact thefundamental, universal purposes wehave always sought toserve. Inorder to
achieve thisgoalwemusttakeindueconsideration theexigencies ofsocial solidarity. Theoutcome
ofthepresent effort willdepend onourability torenew the"founding pact" ofhalfacentury ago.
Thechallenge raises fourmain problems: first, thecultural, social andenvironmental concerns of
asubstantial partofthepopulation, especially theleastprotected strata; second, theneedtofoster
economic development inthedisadvantaged areas oftheworld andtorespond totheplague of
poverty; third, thechanging oftheconcept ofnational sovereignty inatimeofincreasing integration
butalsoofresurgent nationalisms (especially inregions incrisis) andprocesses offragmentation;
finally, thepromotion and"governance" oftechnological progress.
Italy, soclose tomany developing countries andcountries intransition, isparticularly aware
ofthehuman dimension ofglobalization. Wemust seehowsocial, environmental andcultural
concerns canbeintegrated intothemultilateral system, enhancing theconsistency ofinternational
cooperation andpromoting theintegration ofthedeveloping countries intheglobal economic system.
Satisfactory results require setting inmotion mechanisms ofendogenous, self-sustained growth.
Italy hasalready adopted national measures toprotect children against abuse andwould
welcome anenhanced cooperation between WTO andILO.
Astotheimpact ofglobalization ontheexercise ofnational sovereignty, foracountry like
Italywhich ispartofawelladvanced process ofcontinental integration, theanswer appears simple:
integration pays. Forthatmatter, itisuniversally agreed thatglobal problems demand global
responses andglobal rules. Asweadvance further intheshaping ofthemultilateral rules thatwe
needtogovern globalization, wecannot failtotakethisaspect intoaccount andtherefore tostimulate
theparticipation ofsociety andsocial institutions intheprocess.
Turning tothenewtechnologies, InotethattheWTO isdealing justnowwithelectronic
trade. Thisisaperfect example ofwhat needs tobedone, inother foraandonother questions -
biotechnologies, forinstance -tofoster thedevelopment andspread oftechnology andprevent itfrom
becoming anareaofconflict rather thananewsource ofcorrect competition. Thisconstructive
approach istheonlywaytofoster thespread ofknowledge, soresponding tothefears thatare
inevitably provoked bychange.
These questions have been dealt withforyears nowinavariety ofinstitutional settings;
however much stillremains tobedone. TheWTO isacrucial forum forworking outsolutions
though, given itslimits ofaction, itshould notbeoverburdened. Theorganization ischarged with
thecritical, difficult taskofensuring thedevelopment andthefunctioning oftheinternational trade
system. Andthese tasks arebeing accomplished inafullysatisfactory way.
Ifullyagree withthose inthepolitical andacademic communities whotalkabout atime-frame
of20to25years forcompleting therules oftheglobal market onthebasis oftherenewed founding
pact.
Italy, within theEuropean Union, isprepared todofullyitspart: theItalian contribution will
notbelimited totheinstitutional aspects butinvolves alsothebusinessmen, managers, technicians and
workers whohaveproduced decades ofeconomic growth anddevelopment.WT/FIFTY/H/ST/17
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Concluding, Iwould liketoexpress myconviction thatWTO, under theimpulse given bythe
Director-General Renato Ruggiero, towhom weexpress ourtrulythanks forhisremarkable activity,
hasplayed andwillcontinue toplayacrucial roletospread multilateral trade asaprecondition for
awealthier andfreerworld.
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