Strasbourg, 07/09/2005 (Agence Europe) - On Monday, while Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson and his Chinese counterpart, Bo Xilai, reached an agreement aimed at unblocking the 80 million Chinese textile products held up at customs in European ports since mid-summer (EUROPE 9020), the European Parliament adopted on Tuesday, by a large majority, the own-initiative report by Tokia Saïfi (EPP, France) on the future of textiles and clothing after 2005. The report was the subject of a debate during plenary session in July, crystallising the concerns of MEPs regarding the growing volume of Chinese textile exports toward the Community market. The report by Ms Saïfi urges for competition between the Union and China using equal weapons, “which so far has certainly not been the case”. The Parliament therefore calls on Chinese manufacturers to comply with the international environmental and social standards and abstain from the practice of dumping. Furthermore, it calls on Chinese authorities to fight more effectively against piracy and the production of counterfeit goods. Ms Saïfi's report also specifies that the Parliament does not recommend protectionism but wishes to reassure European textile manufacturers and producers that there will be competition under fair conditions.
Noting the Shanghai Agreement of 10 June that aims to restrict Chinese textile exports in 2005, 2006 and 2007 and to give more time for European producers to adapt after being weakened when quotas were liberalised on 1 January this year, MEPs call on the Commission and Council to “extend coverage of the agreement to other categories of products and ensure that the calculation of export limits is transparent”. They also call for fuller reform of the textile trade together with broader market opening. The Saïfi report nonetheless stresses that Chinese competition is not based on the same rules and it deplores the fact that textile firms have gone out of business with the accompanying job losses not only in the Union but also in the most vulnerable developing countries. MEPs call on Beijing to take measures in accordance with the agreement on trade-related intellectual property rights (TRIPS) within the context of the WTO in the aim of combating counterfeiting and piracy. They invite the Commission to ensure implementation of such measures by the Chinese authorities. Furthermore, the MEPs urge it is imperative for any company hoping to export toward the Union to comply with international environmental and social law and that any imports of products in violation of these rules should be prohibited. They therefore call for greater transparency on the textile and clothing production sites in third countries involving European companies as well as greater transparency on the social protection norms that they apply.
In addition, in order to respond to the slowdown in the European textile industry and safeguard its future and its competitiveness compared to the American and Asian industries, the Parliament calls for a European textile plan to be established to help restructuring and upgrading of the whole of the sector, the SMEs in particular. MEPs therefore consider the current levels of aid from European Structural Funds intended for textile production regions should be maintained. The Saïfi report encourages, moreover, the creation of a Euro-Mediterranean production area that is to be accompanied by a research, innovation and cooperation programme as well as a common customs framework. MEPs trust that the Commission will study a series of measures aimed at preserving textile production, not only in the Euro-Mediterranean sector but also in the future Member States and in the countries covered by EU Neighbourhood Policy. Finally, aware of the major differences in interests between textile producer and importer Member States, the Parliament calls for the long-term interests of European importers to be taken into account. Ms Saïfi welcomed the agreement concluded on Monday between Messrs Mandelson and Bo in Beijing as she said it preserves the integrity of the Shanghai Memorandum of Understanding and ensures better management of quotas and greater transparency.