Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-02-23-Speech-3-240"
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"en.20050223.17.3-240"2
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"The textile and clothing industry in Europe is facing a serious crisis. The crisis is also concentrated in certain regions that are in themselves already disadvantaged and will now be much more vulnerable. With the shake-up in the sector, we have seen massive relocation of production in recent years as well as mass redundancies, the vast majority of which involves poorly-skilled women. The result is well known and leaves no room for doubt: a loss of 20 to 25% of factories and jobs over about ten years.
The recent opening-up of the market to China is aggravating the situation. Now that we have reached this point, I suggest that the Commission should adopt three kinds of measures. First, it should stringently monitor all imports into the single market, and not hesitate to act through the safeguard clauses. For that to happen, it is essential that the monitoring system should work, and that it should work soon. I do not intend to call for any kind of protectionism, which would be to fly in the face of history. Europe has to accustom itself to competing with countries where labour is cheap, but it cannot accept competition from companies that do not pay for their energy, use child slave labour and do not respect intellectual property.
Secondly, it is important to look into the relocation of textile companies, as well as cases of fraud and of companies that had been given support before closing down.
Thirdly, a recommendation for the Commission: the European textile sector should invest at the points in the value chain where Europe has a genuine competitive advantage. To that end, we need to develop a policy that takes account of the following aspects, amongst others: logistical infrastructure, geographical proximity to major markets, fast order turnaround, design, quality control, innovation, use of new materials and new technologies, relations with major distribution networks, permanent vocational training, and support for SMEs, which still make up the majority of companies in the sector.
I call on the Commission to accept that that is the path for the future of the textile industry in Europe."@en1
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