Parliament supports measures to stop social and environmental dumping

The European Parliament’s International Trade committee has today adopted a new methodology for calculating anti-dumping duties. The agreement would make it possible to protect against dumping of goods from countries that are not market economies, including China. The revisions come in response to changes in WTO rules (see background).

Greens/EFA trade spokesperson Heidi Hautala comments:

"The European Union has been slow to react to unfair competition from certain countries, including China, so it is welcome that steps are now being taken. We want open trade, but we do not want trade that undermines social or environmental standards. This is not about protectionism, but about protecting workers' rights and our environment.

“The EU is now increasingly recognizing the problems of social and environmental dumping. The proposals agreed today would go some way to countering this and we call on the EU Member States to match the level of ambition set out by the parliament during the upcoming trilogue negotiations.”

Background

Last November, the European Commission adopted a legislative proposal to reform the EU Anti-Dumping and Anti-Subsidy Regulation, focusing on the methodology used to calculate anti-dumping duties. These reforms relate to the expiry of parts of Section 15 of the Accession Protocol of China to the WTO and the possible granting of Market Economy Status to China. This revised legislation would enable the EU to protect its industries from aggressive business practices by countries that are not market economies or that do not comply with international labour or environmental standards by imposing anti-dumping duties. Trilogue negotiations with the European Commission and European Council are expected to start in July.