WRITTEN QUESTION E-0563/02 by Concepció Ferrer (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Study on the consequences of China's accession to the WTO for the European textile industry.
Date: 2002-02-28
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: China, European undertaking, World Trade Organisation, accession to an agreement, economic consequence, export policy, import policy, international trade, textile industry

C 229 E/106

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

26.9.2002

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(19 March 2002)

The Commission will participate in a European Union Troika mission to Burma/Myanmar which is
currently under preparation.

On this occasion the Troika will have the opportunity to raise questions of concern, including human
rights issues and individual cases, with the Burmese Government.

(2002/C 229 E/121)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0563/02

by Concepció Ferrer (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(28 February 2002)

Subject: Study on the consequences of China’s accession to the WTO for the European textile industry

China’s accession to the WTO will provide a boost to the world economy. The Chinese Government
recently launched a trade offensive for South-East Asia aimed at reaping the full benefits from its
membership of the World Trade Organisation. Only a fortnight ago, China and India sought to establish
closer ties and explore possibilities for cooperation through a free-trade agreement. Talks have also begun
with Hong Kong with the same aim in mind.

Has the Commission carried out, or will it carry out, a study on the consequences of China’s accession to
the WTO for European undertakings, with particular reference to the textile industry?

Answer given by Mr Lamy on behalf of the Commission

(12 April 2002)

Quantifying precisely the overall impact of China’s accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on
the Community is extremely difficult because of the scope of the commitments made by China in the
context of her accession and the systemic changes that the accession will trigger within this country.

Chinese commitments constitute a very substantial market-opening package, covering both specific trade
barriers and systemic issues and ranging from tariff reductions, quotas phasing out, to the opening of the
services sector or the elimination of restrictions on foreign investment. It is in particular worth noting that
China’s trade regime will be significantly more liberal than most existing WTO members of a comparable
level of development.

China’s accession will therefore offer increased opportunities to Community firms in terms of both exports
and investment, and the package of Chinese commitments incorporate to a large extent the priorities of
the Community industry. General studies show that the overall gains are positive for the Community
[example: Ianchovichina, Elena, and Will Martin, Trade Liberalization in China’s Accession to the World
Trade Organization, Washington: World Bank, June 2001].

The actual
implementation by China of her WTO commitments will be closely monitored by the
Commission, in co-operation with all concerned actors on the European side. Implementation issues will
be raised both in bilateral contacts with the Chinese administration and in the framework of
the
‘Transitional Review Mechanism’ which has been specifically established in the WTO to monitor the first
ten years of China’s WTO membership.

One of the objectives of the Commission in the context of the WTO accession negotiations was also to
foster the integration of China within the global economy and within the region, in order to promote its
stability and its development. The Commission therefore is closely monitoring the current debate in Asia
regarding free trade area initiatives, which are referred to in the question of the Honourable Member, and
their adherence to the criteria set by WTO.

26.9.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 229 E/107

On the other hand, China’s accession does not mean substantially new commitments for the Community,
except the phasing out of specific quantitative restrictions applied to China by 2005 (which will take place
in parallel to the phasing out of China’s own quota). This applies to the three industrial products for which
the Community still maintains quotas: footwear, ceramic tableware and porcelain tableware, and to the
Community’s remaining textile quotas, which must be dismantled since China fell under the normal rules
of the Agreement on textiles and clothing (ATC), implying an elimination of quotas by the end of 2004.
Immediately upon accession, the Community has granted China integration under phase 2 and 3 under the
ATC, thus liberalising some restrictions and granting the corresponding increased growth rates for the
quotas remaining. As from 2002 restrictions are in force for a total of 39 textile and clothing products.

In the period until the end of 2004 the impact of China’s accession on its exports to the Community will
be modest as the growth rates of the quotas are low, and will only marginally increase during this period.
Beyond 2005, and on the basis of China’s past performance characterized by a very high utilization of
quotas, it is possible, however, that Chinese operators may be able to draw substantial commercial benefit
from increased export possibilities to the Community market, either directly or by substituting other
countries’ exports. In the latter case the impact on the Community market should of course be less harshly
felt.

The Commission will be launching shortly a study on the policy implications of
liberalisation on the Community Textile and Clothing sector and trade, where the impact of
elimination of textile and clothing quotas vis-à-vis China will be examined.

the 2005 trade
the

(2002/C 229 E/122)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0572/02

by Carlo Fatuzzo (PPE-DE) to the Council

(4 March 2002)

Subject: The plight of dogs in Bucharest

Romania has applied for membership of the European Community, which is based on law and the civic
sense of the population.

Stray dogs are being treated in a barbaric way in Bucharest, in that they are rounded up and transported C
if they survive the journey C to large-scale municipal kennels, where they are brutally killed by an
injection of magnesium sulphate.

The method adopted by the Basescu city council to eliminate the stray dogs living in the city by catching
them and killing them, after abandoning the previous policy of sterilisation, is ineffective, since it does not
tackle the root causes of the problem. Mass sterilisation could remedy or at least contain the problem.

The Basescu administration is not infringing any Romanian law, but has adopted an ethically unacceptable
approach, since Romania,
in the context of its accession to the EC, should comply with Community
legislation on the protection of animals.

Does the European Community not intend to ascertain whether the behaviour of the Bucharest city
council and Romanian law are in line with the ‘acquis communautaire’, to which Romania will soon have
to adhere as a candidate for accession to the European Union?