Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-02-23-Speech-3-228"
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"en.20050223.17.3-228"2
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".
Mr President, as you know, thanks to a particularly aggressive dumping policy, and the reduction of prices to an improbable 70%, which is lower than the price for raw materials, China has already seized one-third of the quota-free textile imports in Europe. If nothing is done about this, the European market, now fully open, will be flooded with cheap textiles from China, but also from India and Pakistan.
I very much doubt, Commissioner, that the Commission’s action plan of 13 October 2004 will be enough to help the European textile industry in its fight for survival. The plan provides for support measures, but does not contain any trade-related measures at all. It was envisaged that textile imports into Europe would be monitored from 1 January onwards, which would allow the Commission to take action swiftly if necessary, but Commissioner Mandelson acknowledged last week in the Committee on International Trade that this monitoring system is still not operational and criteria have not even been laid down.
When will this, at long last, be done? When it is too late to lock the stable door, and the horse has already bolted? Might I urge the Commission to use all possible means to combat unfair commercial practices in some countries? The Commission has the means at its disposal, including a horizontal safeguard clause, a textile-specific safeguard clause which, according to the Multi-Fibre Agreement, is permitted under certain circumstances, or in extreme circumstances, it can lodge a complaint to the WTO’s dispute settlement body.
In short, Commissioner, what we expect from the Commission is a more trade-minded and more pro-active approach. We must be bold enough to hold up our fist to major trading partners, certainly if they compete with us unfairly. It is unacceptable to leave 177 000 companies and 2.7 million workers in the European textile sector out in the cold."@en1
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