Frihandeln - endast ett spel för galleriet?

Sammanfattning: During the summer of 2005 more than 80 million articles of clothing from China, were being held in European harbours. This was a consequence of a striking increase of imported textile and clothing articles from China since the turn of the year, which was the time when all quantitative restrictions were extincted on these products. To protect its own market, the EU therefore reintroduced import quotes in the beginning of the summer. China’s accession agreement to the WTO comprehends a number of unique provisional regulations which are exceptional for the country and in conjunction with clauses and exceptions within the GATT and WTO these regulations enabled new restrictions on the trade with textiles and clothings. However the new quotes were rapidly filled and ended in an immense “mountain” of clothes by the borders of the EU. But after a settlement between the EU and the Commission on the 14th of September in 2005, the clothes were once again brought into the market.Our purpose of this essay is to illustrate the complex problems of free trade and to investigate if it is possible to, on the one hand favour the domestic production of the EU and on the other hand promote the world trade, on the basis of the mentioned textile problem. We have chosen to use a method of jurisprudence and to delimit the essay to the trading relationship between China and the EU. We have come to the conclusion that the European textile and clothing producers should concentrate on new competition advantages. At the same time the EU has to reabolish the trade limitations against China, or else there will be a risk that China will be defeated. Protectionism leads to unnecessary costs for each party involved, while global free trade in the long run creates a competitive environment for the member states of the EU and better conditions for the developing countries, whereupon the EU’s and the WTO’s interest can act side by side.