Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-07-07-Speech-4-156"
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"en.20050707.25.4-156"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the report on the future of textiles and clothing after 2005 without doubt presents a complete picture of the new economic and trade realities at global level. Textiles and clothing are a key sector for the European Union and I therefore support Mrs Saïfi’s protest at the absence of the competent Commissioners in this House.
The sector, which is mainly composed of small- and medium-sized enterprises, today finds itself in great difficulty as a result of Chinese goods, produced and sold extremely cheaply, invading our market. Imports from China have increased on a worrying scale, particularly following the definitive abolition of import quotas in January 2005. As a consequence, the EU textile and clothing sector finds itself under unprecedented pressure. Our factories are closing down with increasing frequency and thousands of workers are left without jobs. In Italy, 24 000 jobs were lost in 2004 and over 66 000 in the last three years.
It must be stressed that this problem also afflicts all of the developing countries that used to export their goods to Europe and that are now no longer able to withstand the Chinese competition. As a consequence, factories are not only closing in Europe, but also in Sri Lanka, in Pakistan, in Morocco and in the entire Mediterranean area.
What can we do? The appearance on the world trade scene of new, aggressive global players, in particular China and India, makes it necessary to review the traditional objectives of Community trade policy, characterised by the maximum opening up of the markets to assist in promoting European industry worldwide. The current scene and the way it is likely to develop, however, dictate a more prudent approach, aimed at protecting European industry in the face of unbalanced and destructive competition.
The following actions need to be implemented urgently: approving without delay – as Commissioner Michel stated in this House this morning – the proposal for a regulation for the compulsory marking of origin of goods imported into the European Union; laying down industrial policies aimed at providing support to the sectors most exposed to international competition, including through the use of the Structural Funds; strengthening the trade protection instruments available to European businesses, including anti-dumping measures – as has been done for leather shoes – and anti-subsidy measures as well as the safeguard clauses; making the fight against counterfeiting a European priority, by supporting Commissioner Frattini’s initiatives; and steering the Commission’s choices towards bilateral agreements. If Hong Kong were to collapse like Cancún, there would be no time to relaunch the multilateral negotiations.
To conclude, I call for a review of the position on the new policy on chemical substances – the REACH Directive – particularly in order to guarantee the competitiveness of small- and medium-sized enterprises."@en1
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