Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-03-08-Speech-2-084"
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"en.20050308.8.2-084"2
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".
I should like to begin by greeting Mr Mandelson. The generalised system of preferences has been an important tool for supporting developing countries by encouraging them to participate in world trade. This openness arises from the EU’s responsibility as the biggest trading bloc in the world, and is in line with the positions adopted by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the Doha Process.
Since January, within the scope of the WTO, imports mainly from China have entered the European area unhindered, and perhaps too aggressively. I say ‘perhaps’ because I must take this opportunity to express my disappointment that there are neither guidelines nor effective systems for gauging import levels, despite this being a Commission commitment for 2004.
At the same time, I applaud the EU’s rapid response to the tragic impact of the tsunami. The present amendment to the rules of origin will further open up the European market to textile exports from developing countries. There is a strong possibility that subjecting the poorest countries in the world to the simultaneous combined effect of the liberalisation of textile exports from China and the insufficiently selective treatment of the major textile powers such as India, within the framework of preferential treatment, will ultimately destroy these economies and regions. I am sorry to hear that Mr Mandelson is not sensitive to this problem.
We must examine the perverse phenomenon whereby the strongest countries crush the weakest under the very instrument set up to support their development. It is essential that in Europe, too, the opening up of the textile market to imports from low cost countries should be reciprocated by the countries benefiting and should be accompanied by the gradual adoption of fairer trade rules in social and environmental terms and as regards intellectual property, as proposed by the High Level Group on textiles.
Let us be clear: if it is true that European textile rules must be adapted rapidly, it is crucial that we prevent that adaptation from turning into the sudden collapse of the economic and social structure in European textile regions, with dire consequences, particularly in terms of job losses."@en1
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