Brussels, 28/04/2008 (Agence Europe) - Euratex, on behalf of the European textile and apparel industry, has called for the rejection of the compromise texts on industrial goods (NAMA), submitted to the WTO at the start of February. This “unacceptable” proposal offers “no improvement of substance for European textile and apparel exporters but would cut EU tariffs to the bare bone,” notes Euratex, President Michele Tronconi in a letter to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and his colleagues Günter Verheugen (Industry) and Peter Mandelson (Trade). “What we see today on the negotiating table equates to a blank cheque for fast-growing emerging countries …( which) will be able shelter their most competitive industries, including textiles and apparel, from improved access for European Union exports,” he says. (E.H.)