16. Stresses the need to foster innovation and technological development in micro-enterprises and SMEs so that they may more effectively market their products and promote destinations; urges the Commission to create an ‘ICT and Tourism’ platform, launching a specific pilot project by the end of 2011 to boost the participation of micro-enterprises and SMEs in the digital supply chain, following on from the experience of other sectors such as textiles, transpor ...[+++]t and logistics and the automobile industry; calls for initiatives designed to promote e-commerce in the industry and eliminate remaining barriers to the development thereof within the internal market; calls on the Member States, moreover, to develop high-speed internet throughout their territory in order to enable advanced services to be developed and operators to become interoperable;

However, I would point out that the compromise reached with the insertion of the review clause and the joint statement by Parliament and the Council on origin marking – the political significance of which is not lost on me – could set a precedent and compromise the outcome of the difficult negotiations between the Commission, Parliament and the Council on the complex issue of origin marking for non-EU products, which Parliament approved at first reading last October and which concerns non-textile products also.

That is why the European Union must develop the structural policies and Structural Funds for the textile industry, develop the Seventh Framework Programme for research and development, create a specific Community programme for the development of the textile and clothing sectors, dynamically develop the institutional possibilities offered by the WTO to overturn China's social and environmental dumping and combat the problem of child labour by taking, where necessary, specific defensive trade measures, by safeguarding and defending free ...[+++] and equal access to third country markets and pure competition for European products, by defending consumer rights, by combating piracy and imitations and protecting intellectual property rights and by taking initiatives for a new integrated cooperation agreement with China to replace the 1985 cooperation agreement, which has basically been overtaken by international developments.

5. Hopes, further, that it will be possible to establish a Community programme – involving the adoption of measures backed by the necessary resources – for the textile and clothing industry, and especially for the less-favoured regions – urban or rural – which are dependent on it, including those which will be affected by the statistical effect, and encompassing support for research and innovation (in accordance with the 7th framework programme), restructuring, vocational training, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), whilst respecting the Santa Maria da Feira Charter, together with Community initiatives to encourage the develo ...[+++]pment of brands and promotion of the industry’s products abroad, in particular at trade shows and international trade fairs, and to step up the fight against counterfeiting at European level;

In response to these recommendations, the Government of Canada has committed to the following: first, continuing to work toward an integrated North American market for Canadian apparel and textile products and to consider any proposals made jointly by the apparel and textile industries for new market development through an outward processing initiative; second, continuing to protect against illegal trans-shipment of imported apparel and textile products and to use existing tools, as appropriate, to respond to industry complaints regarding injurious import surges; third, wor ...[+++]king through the employment insurance program to continue to meet the needs of workers adjusting to changes in the industry and to ensure, through ongoing support for human resource sector councils, that employees obtain the skills they need to respond to the challenges of a rapidly changing labour market; fourth, identifying and reducing tariffs on imported textile inputs used by the Canadian apparel industry so as to improve the industry's cost competitiveness; and, fifth, continuing to work through the national initiatives component of the Canadian apparel and textile industries program to address the technology support, branding, trade development and e-commerce needs of the apparel and textile industries.

When we heard about the study on forestry, we heard of some ability to take the cellulose produced through the pulp process and use that not just for energy, but for other by-products that simulate textiles and stuff that looks like plastic and is actually cellulose.