Belgium has paid €251.48 million to the European Commission to compensate for the "underestimation of textiles and shoes from China," reports Tuesday’s edition of L’Echo.
This significant quarter-billion-euro payment was never announced by the Federal Government and attracted no publicity. According to multiple sources within L’Echo, backed up by proof of payment and confirmation by the Ministry of Finance, Belgium made the payment on 27th July 2021, tacitly acknowledging the existence of widespread fraud on its own soil.
The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) sought this large sum in May 2021 as compensation for the "undervaluation" of Chinese-origin textiles and shoes entering Belgium, causing a loss of customs income for the European Union’s budget.
OLAF perceives these underestimations as unfair competition for European textile and footwear manufacturers, who would find it impossible to produce at such low costs.
