China — continuing failure to respect the trade agreements made with the EU
20.6.2007
WRITTEN QUESTION P-3325/07
by José Albino Silva Peneda (PPE‑DE)
to the Commission
Given that:
China continues to fail to respect the trade agreements made with the EU, using unfair trading practices and applying discriminatory measures, as well as tariff and regulatory barriers, to European companies,
- —this situation is confirmed by the unsustainable increase in the EU's trade deficit with China, which is scheduled to reach some EUR 170 000 million in 2007 while, conversely, the Chinese trade surplus, has hit record levels,
- —in 2006, China was the source of 80 % of the counterfeit products seized on Europe's borders,
- —EU companies are losing between EUR 400 and 800 million per annum on the internal market, thanks to counterfeiting, and in Portugal alone prejudice caused the damage suffered was worth over 180 million euros between 2000 and 2006,
- —the prejudice caused to European and Portuguese companies compromises job creation, discourages investment in innovation, research and development, and deprives governments of fiscal revenue,
- —Europe needs to respond to globalisation without abandoning its own interests and the inherent values of its social model, by forcefully stating its position with regard to the need for its international trade agreements to be scrupulously complied with,
- —the opening-up of international trade and the conditions for access to markets need to be global and reciprocal,
- —it is not a question of Europe merely reacting to the phenomenon of globalisation, but demonstrating that it has the key features of the process under control.
1. Can the Commission tell me what kind of specific measures is it going to adopt with regard to the ongoing failure of China to comply with its trade agreements with the EU?
2. How does it intend to handle the issue of the end of the quota arrangements for imports of Chinese textiles after 2007?
3. How does it intend to step up the penalisation of European importers who break the law by being accomplices in introducing counterfeit products on to the European market, above all, textiles products originating in China?
OJ C 45, 16/02/2008