Anti-dumping cases - state of play and prospects

29.9.2010

Question for oral answer O-0132/2010
to the Commission
Rule 115
Daniel Caspary, Cristiana Muscardini, Tokia Saïfi, Georgios Papastamkos
on behalf of the PPE Group
Kader Arif, Bernd Lange, Gianluca Susta
on behalf of the S&D Group
Metin Kazak, Niccolò Rinaldi, Marielle De Sarnez
on behalf of the ALDE Group
Yannick Jadot
on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group
Helmut Scholz
on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group
Robert Sturdy, Syed Kamall, Jan Zahradil
on behalf of the ECR Group

The European Parliament shares the European Commission's view that, in the context of the liberalisation of international trade, the defence of European production against international trade distortions such as dumping should be considered as a component of an open and fair trade strategy.

Can the Commission give the EP a general outlook, and comment on the ongoing cases? Can the Commission ensure that the final decision will always be founded on technical and factual elements? How does the Commission propose to counteract any undue pressure from stakeholders during trade defence instrument investigation? Is the Commission aware of third countries trying to influence Member States concerning their position in the anti-dumping committee?

Having regard to the current WTO and EU rules, how can the Commission ensure that the trade defence instrument of anti-dumping will always be an efficient and appropriate tool to react to the distortions of the market and will always match the concerns of EU industry on unfair competition? How can the EU ensure that access to TDIs is guaranteed to SMEs, on an equal footing with bigger companies? What is its impact on competition in the EU, and how does it affect SMEs?

How does the Commission intend to involve, and provide full information to, the EP in anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations in the light of the Lisbon Treaty? When and how does the Commission intend to put forward relevant regulations in line with the Treaty and the new powers granted to the EP in the area of autonomous trade measures?

The instrument is used more and more by our major and minor commercial partners against EU exports. Will the Commission express its opinion on this specific matter and point out how it intends to tackle such actions, should they breach WTO rules?

Tabled: 29.9.2010

Forwarded: 1.10.2010

Deadline for reply: 8.10.2010