Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-09-29-Speech-4-029"
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"en.20050929.3.4-029"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, nothing is so susceptible to structural change as the textile industry. We went through this painful experience in Austria a few years ago, when the textile industry in the province of Vorarlberg, where it had traditionally been based, collapsed overnight as a result of relocation to other countries – at that time to Hungary, and later to Romania, then Ukraine, now Serbia, and so on.
Today we are faced with a global phenomenon. The trade conflict with China has made us all very much aware of this. What did we do? We adapted, we went in for modern technologies, we went into research, we created an economic environment that has made Vorarlberg one of the most modern high-tech locations in Europe and has made it competitive. What I am saying is, we must create an environment where the European Union can be competitive, too.
What has happened in the past, wavering between liberalisation on the one hand and applying the brake by reintroducing protectionist measures on the other, cannot be the way. We must find more sustainable solutions, sustainable solutions that also ensure that we know the conditions under which products are made. It is clear that China is taking a lot of measures to help state enterprises that are also distorting competition here, such as interest-free loans from state banks, export subsidies, hidden subsidies in the form of free electricity supplies, etc.
I remember attending a short conference held by one of Europe’s textile manufacturers and traders, who pointed out that China is quite naturally pushing its textile products on to the market because half its earnings have to be in foreign currency. If we are talking to China, we should therefore also be stressing that Chinese firms should be relieved of this pressure. That would unquestionably help the European textile industry."@en1
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