Socialists and Democrats express their support for the thousands of workers and union representatives who demonstrated in Brussels today against dumping and for the protection of industry jobs in the European Union.
They also criticise the measures proposed today by the European Commission because they will fail to reduce the threat of unfairly traded imports, particularly from China. They stressed that stronger trade defence instruments (TDIs) are urgently needed.
S&D spokesperson on trade defence mechanisms, Alessia Mosca MEP, said:
“Serious trade distortions are affecting many EU industries, such as steel and aluminium, with a huge impact on employment. In the steel sector alone, up to 40,000 workers in Europe have lost their jobs since 2007.
“The Commission has had years in order to tackle this situation, but the proposal presented today does not properly address the requests expressed by our group and it barely touches upon the most important topics of concern.
“The introduction of the concept of significant distortions - not defined in WTO law -, the discretion left to the Commission services in the preparation of a report describing the situation in a certain country or sector, and the reversal of the burden of proof, which following the proposal will shift to the complainant, are the most problematic issues.
“We will keep insisting on a re-industrialisation strategy, which must include modern TDIs to reinforce the global level playing field without any further concessions on social and environmental dumping.”
S&D spokesperson on international trade, David Martin, said:
“Half of the world’s steel is produced by China at rock-bottom prices. We cannot and do not want to compete with them, because this low price often comes at the expense of workers’ health, labour rights and environmental degradation.
“Today’s proposal will not stem the tide of unfair Chinese imports. EU industry needs an anti-dumping methodology which properly reflects the levels of state interference and subsidies in the Chinese economy.
“The EU must avoid granting China market-economy status at all costs, because this would mean accepting unfair competition for our workers.”
