WELCOME BY MR LLUÍS MARIA DE PUIG,

PRESIDENT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY,

TO MR ANGEL GURRÍA, SECRETARY-GENERAL

OF THE ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT (OECD)

(Strasbourg, Wednesday 30 September 2009, at 10h45)

I am now pleased to welcome Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, to our Parliamentary Assembly for the enlarged debate on the activities of the OECD and the global economy. I also greet our parliamentary guests from Canada, Japan, Korea and Mexico.

Mr Gurría, when you came before this Assembly one year ago, the world’s economic outlook was particularly gloomy.

Some European states nearly went bankrupt and the very foundations of western economies showed dangerous signs of weakness. We all started questioning the logic of markets that went so wild.

The OECD helped us to see more clearly what lessons should be drawn from the crisis and what could be our way forward. We greatly appreciate your efforts in pushing politicians to fix stricter rules of transparency, governance and accountability. This made real progress in combating tax havens and encouraging further tax cooperation, and - we hope – it will also help to anchor the long-term development vision based on high ethical standards.

I thank you, Mr Gurría for your contribution to our debate today and ask you to take the floor.