Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-10-11-Speech-3-138"
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"en.20061011.16.3-138"2
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".
Mr President, may I first of all associate myself with the comments of complaint that were raised by Mr Barón Crespo.
Commissioner, the EU’s move last week to slap duties on the imports of shoes from China and Vietnam not only went against the will of the majority of Europe – a number of Member States have clearly undertaken horse-trading and have now abandoned their declared positions – it has also raised the possibility of the EU being reprimanded before the WTO as many question the factual and legal basis of the Commission’s investigation.
Protectionism was the fuel behind this short-sighted, sticking-plaster measure. Duties are quick fixes which only hurt those EU industries that have actually adapted to the global economy. Britain’s Clarks Shoes, for example, has first of all shown foresight, in relocating production of shoes to China and Vietnam; responsibility, in diversifying into retail outlets in the UK, where they now employ more people than they ever employed in shoemaking; and, not least, understanding, in recognising the Commission’s difficulties and trying to work with you and not against you. Yet, because of last week’s ill-thought-out measures, Clarks is now being penalised for all three, as European retailers and consumers are now expected to foot the bill for an ailing Italian manufacturing industry.
It is short-sighted, too, for whilst Commissioner Mandelson is rolling out his plans for stronger bilateral links with emerging economies in Asia, it has incensed the Chinese, cut across EU-sponsored poverty reduction and hunger eradication programmes in Vietnam and shown an EU protectionist red flag to the region.
I fear that Commissioner Mandelson’s review of the EU’s anti-dumping rules comes a year too late. The naming and shaming of retailers who do not forward the benefit of cheap imports to the consumer is a smokescreen for the Commission’s poor management of the challenges of globalisation. On this one, the Commission has failed miserably."@en1
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