Interviews
EU Commissioner Peter Mandelson presents body's modern social agenda
28 Jun '05
4 min read
On Low Wage Competition:
Low wage competition in China and Asia is a reality. In the last two decades, hundreds of millions of Chinese have been raised out of the dire rural poverty – but there are hundreds of millions more, literally knocking at the gates of the cities and the new industrial regions.
On Protectionist Agenda V/s Fair Trade:
The populist response is to demand protectionism. And this demand is growing. Every week in my office as Trade Commissioner, files claiming unfair dumping land on my desk. And the voices calling for “fair trade” get louder and louder. And I'm afraid that call for “fair trade” is not a call for better access to European markets for farmers and other producers from the world's poorest countries. This sort of “Fair Trade” is a plea for help from European industry that finds it can no longer compete.
On Competition:
Of course, this across-the-board competitive “minus” is at one and the same time for Europe, a business and jobs “plus” – a real opportunity. The emergence of a new educated middle class in Asia creates huge demand to emulate Western tastes and, therefore, for our goods and services. It brings us new markets. It also offers hope of political change and policies that will in time be more compatible with sustainable development.
On EU's Social Agenda:
I have always believed in a social dimension to Europe. My preoccupation has been that the Social Europe we builSocial Agenda:
Low wage competition in China and Asia is a reality. In the last two decades, hundreds of millions of Chinese have been raised out of the dire rural poverty – but there are hundreds of millions more, literally knocking at the gates of the cities and the new industrial regions.
On Protectionist Agenda V/s Fair Trade:
The populist response is to demand protectionism. And this demand is growing. Every week in my office as Trade Commissioner, files claiming unfair dumping land on my desk. And the voices calling for “fair trade” get louder and louder. And I'm afraid that call for “fair trade” is not a call for better access to European markets for farmers and other producers from the world's poorest countries. This sort of “Fair Trade” is a plea for help from European industry that finds it can no longer compete.
On Competition:
Of course, this across-the-board competitive “minus” is at one and the same time for Europe, a business and jobs “plus” – a real opportunity. The emergence of a new educated middle class in Asia creates huge demand to emulate Western tastes and, therefore, for our goods and services. It brings us new markets. It also offers hope of political change and policies that will in time be more compatible with sustainable development.
On EU's Social Agenda:
I have always believed in a social dimension to Europe. My preoccupation has been that the Social Europe we builSocial Agenda:
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