Brussels, 07/04/2005 (Agence Europe) - Tokia Saïfi (EPP-ED, France), rapporteur for the European Parliament on the future of textiles and clothing after 2005, is to set out the broad lines of his report during a public hearing on 19 April in Brussels. In a press release, the European UMP member welcomed the fact that European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson had given the “first elements of an answer to the concerns of European industrialists” on Wednesday by announcing that the European Commission would reserve itself the right to introduce safeguard clauses given the massive inflow of Chinese textiles (see EUROPE 8922). The EU must take “bold decisions” to protect its textile and clothing industry, on which 2.5 million jobs depend, against the “surge in Chinese imports observed since quotas were lifted on 1 January 2005”, Ms Saïfi asserts. In her report, the MEP urges the European Union to “create a free trade zone with Mediterranean partners as soon as possible, as the latter are greatly penalised by this sudden liberalisation in the textile trade”.