On Thursday 19 January, the European Parliament adopted by 549 to 87, with 33 abstentions, an amended European Commission proposal to abolish EU textile quotas for imports of textiles from Belarus, in recognition of improvements in relations with Minsk, but noting that the EU can restore textile quotas if the human rights situation in the country were to deteriorate.
Encouraged by the releasing of political prisoners in August 2015 and initiatives taken by Belarus to improve cooperation with the EU, the European Commission recently proposed to scrap textile and clothing import quotas for Belarus in order to improve bilateral relations.
‘I believe that this will be a positive signal for Belarus and Belarusian businesses, also in terms of facilitating business-to-business dialogue and raising investors’ confidence,’ said rapporteur Hannu Takkula (ALDE, Finland) said before the vote, adding: ‘Intensified trade relations could help modernise the local economy and promote core EU values, thus bringing about the long-due societal changes in the country. Abolishing quotas will have only a very marginal impact on EU textile producers.’
MEPs agree with the step, but note that the human rights situation remains a concern in Belarus. They convinced the Council to amend the related Regulation with the possibility of reinstating quotas, should the situation seriously worsen in the country.
Regulation 2015/936/EU lays down common rules for imports of textile products from third countries not covered by agreements with the EU. It currently consists of Belarus and North Korea, neither of which are members of the WTO.
In 2010 the EU imposed import quotas for Belarus on trade in textiles and clothing products to replace an EU-Belarus textile agreement that Minsk no longer wanted to renew after joining the Customs Union with Russia and Kazakhstan. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)