As we have been pointing out all year, the so-called 'memorandum of understanding' on Chinese exports of certain textile and clothing products to the EU Member States - concluded on 10 June 2005 and comprising ten of the approximately 35 categories of products imported from China - will expire on 31 December 2007.

This agreement introduces, even if in limited fashion, specific safeguard measures for Chinese exports, and does not concern imports into the EU from other third countries.

An increasing number of organisations in the sector have issued warnings regarding the need for measures to limit the exponential growth of textile and clothing imports into the EU - thus avoiding a repetition of the events of 2005 - such as extending the restrictions currently in force and applying them to new categories, in line with the agreements concluded with China and the US.

What measures are being decided - with reference also to limiting imports - with a view to protecting production capacity and jobs in the textile and clothing industry, a sector which is of major social and economic importance in the EU, especially in the less-favoured regions where it is concentrated?