Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-09-29-Speech-4-055"
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"en.20050929.5.4-055"2
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"Mr President, although there is, in Europe, a great deal of fear of China, now is not the time to be passive and cautious. We have to accept at times that jobs will disappear to developing economies. We have to show solidarity with fellow workers throughout the world, for they too are entitled to employment and growing prosperity, but the European social model means that we must offer people who lose their jobs here sufficient scope and assistance in finding new employment, as well as training and retraining. They should not be the victims of these rapid developments.
The European clothes shops and importers whose orders were stuck in warehouses for ages as a result of the temporary import ban also deserve compensation for their financial losses. Meanwhile, the European Union can, and indeed must, exploit the opportunities which prosperous economic growth in other parts of the world creates for us. These opportunities include new consumer markets and good prospects for the tourism industry, including for the less educated. European companies are entitled to have their intellectual property protected in law but certainly also in practice, and are also entitled to access to the Chinese markets.
Rather than putting protectionist measures in place to protect these jobs, the EU must promote the interests of its companies by reminding China of its WTO commitments.
Above all, the EU must come out of its shell and stand up for the standards and values we hold dear, including fair trade, trade union freedom and workers’ rights. Working conditions in China are abysmal; workers are not free to set up trade unions. Trade union activists are rounded up and locked up for years. Tens of thousands of fatal industrial accidents occur every year; they are no exception on the Chinese shop floor. Workers are forced to work many hours’ overtime and child labour is also not uncommon. As one of China’s largest trading partners, the European Union must take responsibility for putting these abuses on the agenda."@en1
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