Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-07-07-Speech-4-149"
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"en.20050707.25.4-149"2
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"Mr President, since 1 January, hundreds of textile workers have found themselves thrown onto the streets, and tens of SMEs/SMIs have disappeared together with their know-how. It is hard to say, but it is not the trousers and T-shirts imported from China that should be counted, but the jobs destroyed and the lives shattered.
When we hear the Commission and the Council of Ministers say, ‘we are not aware, we were not aware, we could not be aware, it is China’s fault’, I can only cry out: but who are they trying to kid? The decision to abolish the quotas was taken 10 years’ ago with the agreement of all of the governments. China has been part of the WTO for nearly four years. Over the past two years, nine out of ten textile machines have been bought by China. Ultra-modern factories have been built there thanks to direct or indirect capital investments, including from Europe. The European governments and institutions knew all of that and have done little or nothing at all. They are therefore entirely and jointly responsible.
The pitiful agreement that Commissioner Mandelson reached with the Beijing authorities will not change anything. The ineffable Commissioner Mandelson is like Molière’s doctor: he waits for his patient to die in order to ascertain his illness. However, can the general interests of Europe be reconciled with the specific interests of the City: invest in China, Turkey or elsewhere?
Today it is the textile industry, but tomorrow it will be the car industry or perhaps the aeronautics industry, as China already manufactures Airbus doors and builds regional aircraft that compete with European, Canadian or Brazilian products. You were surprised by the instinctive rejection of your ultraliberal constitution by the majority of those rare people in Europe who had a vote! This overwhelming rejection is, however, the people’s punishment for your policy, including that relating to the textile industry. The public do not want that policy to become the basic law of the Union.
In order to save and develop our textile industry, it is time for a change of policy. After introducing a moratorium on the lifting of quotas, the Commission is duty bound to boost and assist research and development and training efforts in this sector. The European Central Bank ought to encourage the introduction of low-interest loans for SMEs/SMIs in the sector, promoting employment, research and training. The Union should take measures to prevent imports of goods produced by children or slave labour or by workers denied their freedom to participate in trade union activity, and to impose a tax on social dumping. Finally, emerging countries should be given assistance to develop their internal markets."@en1
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