Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-10-04-Speech-1-018"
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"en.19991004.4.1-018"2
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"Ladies and gentlemen, those of you who have been Members of this Parliament in previous years know that there are very few people in this House who have concerned themselves so labour- intensively and, one might almost say, as enthusiastically with the question of the safety of meat, particularly British beef, as I did when I was the chair of the last BSE Committee. A report once said that I ought to know every single cow in Great Britain by name. That is not the case. Herr Schmid thinks I know every other cow by name, well that is not true either, but I do know at least some of them.
I am the last person who wants to see unsafe meat anywhere in the European Union. This Parliament saw to it that the Committee of Enquiry was set up. We took care to ensure that, within the scope of the BSE debate, loopholes which still existed in many areas of legislation on foodstuffs were eliminated. Parliament can be proud, on the whole, of what it has achieved in the last five years. But we achieved it by working seriously and rationally. That means, among other things, doing one thing at a time and in a well-founded way. I am full of sympathy for fellow Members when they complain that one Member State is not complying with Union legislation. Indeed, I am thankful that my own country, Germany, was not criticised some time ago for a similar attempt.
Madam President, on your interesting initiative, we will have a comprehensive debate on food safety tomorrow, that is to say, on food safety as a whole. There is so much more to it than meat; there is so much more to it than dioxins or sludge or swine fever. It is a debate on the safety and quality of foodstuffs. This is why we also wish, at some time in the future, to discuss food safety in the European Union with the President of the Commission himself, Mr Prodi.
If we wish to take away the comprehensive nature of the debate, if we wish to change this debate, then the easiest way to do so would be to add the British beef issue to the proceedings. Then tomorrow, we will have yet another debate on BSE. I would happily run such a debate! I have no problem with that. I even believe I know the many files almost off by heart. I could do it. But I do not think that we should do that. I believe for a quite different reason that we should not do that.
Two days ago, the French food agency expressed doubts regarding the safety of British beef. I have not yet read any document on the subject. I have not yet seen anything in writing on the subject. The appropriate committees on agriculture or the environment have not yet had time to look into the matter. I would like to have a serious debate on the matter. I therefore request, Madam President, that we do not debate the question tomorrow but rather in two weeks time, if it is still necessary, so that the appropriate committees can look into the matter, and that tomorrow we should debate the topic on the agenda, i.e. foodstuffs ..."@en1
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