By N. Arvanitis
With the opening statements, the inauguration of the debate and an on-going crisis, the first two Sessions took place at the INTA Committee. Many topics were discussed and the main point is that delegates from all 5 five parties have a lot of work to do in the time remaining, with a crisis on the rise upon their heads.
The procedure began with the opening statements of each MEP, with all representatives delivering their introductory speech, expressing their parties’ policies. Going deeper into the topic, the parties revealed their concerns about TiSA agreement, expressing their opinion about parts that should be changed. EPP and ALDE want to protect public services and exclude them from the talks. The S & D’s stance is still uncertain, while ECR members recognised that privatisation can produce better services for citizens. The Left party remained on its initial position, stating that the existing system of corruption comes from unfair competition.
In the afternoon session, the crisis group entered the room and made the representatives’ lives more difficult. As reported on BBC, an Australian medicine company has been accused of not controlling its products, while they have already reached hospitals of European member states.
This crisis has designated the Achilles heel in TiSA agreement, which has a great disadvantage. Opening markets and removing barriers may produce free trade, but this lacks of security and can cause danger to the citizens. Further progress is expected tomorrow on the discussion of the main topics. The INTA committee has to overcome the shock of the crisis, stick together and come to a resolution. The President of the Committee remains optimistic about the result of the debate. “We had a really productive debate today; we started also drafting our working paper. Tomorrow we will have our Draft Committee Report ready.” as Madame Lia Mitropoulou stated exclusively at EU Focus.
