Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-10-05-Speech-2-019"
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"en.19991005.3.2-019"2
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"Madam President, President Prodi, ladies and gentlemen, after hearing Mr Prodi’s proposals, I am utterly astounded by the position of the PPE and the PSE on food safety. Perhaps they do not feel capable of putting forward concrete proposals today, but we do. That is why we wished to propose a resolution for, throughout Europe, the series of scandals which have occurred means that, today, the citizens and consumers no longer have any confidence in their farmers.
The quibbling involved in stating that the Committee on the Environment has scheduled a hearing on animal feedingstuffs should not be an obstacle to the debate. Of course, one can listen to the experts on a small part of the subject, but the fact remains that we, as Members of Parliament, must take initiatives. It seems to me that what the citizens expect of Parliament and the Commission are initiatives.
Adopting a resolution today would have been a clear sign on this subject. From the recent past and its frenzied emphasis on high productivity, we have inherited a situation which, in the agricultural sector just as – too often – elsewhere, has subordinated policy to the major food-processing groups and major distributors resulting in mad cows, dioxin-contaminated chickens, motor oil in cooking oil, sewage sludge in cattle meal, and who knows what else? There is a long list of scandals which show that, as regards agricultural production, European States have been no more virtuous than their American counterparts, even if they have banned hormones. We should have the courage to say so. The recent attempts by some governments to control these industries are still insufficient. What is more, a good number of European States have not taken any action.
In order to achieve this, we need regulations which prioritise the precautionary principle which the Greens have long cherished. In addition, we must agree on the meaning of this principle. For us it means getting back to the quality of foodstuffs which guarantees the safety of products intended for consumption. We are first of all asking for a list of all the toxic substances which can contaminate our food through pollution, be it of air, water, or soil. We are asking for regular tests in branches of industry where there have been problems with toxicity, and inspections in agricultural areas located in the vicinity of firms creating pollution. We are asking for traceability at all levels, not just in the labelling of the products that go into the housewife’s shopping basket, but also beforehand. We want to ascertain the exact content of products which go into cattle feed. Finally, according to this same principle, it is vital to wait for a period before accepting genetically-modified products whose long-term effects on the resistance of plants unsuitable for cultivation are unknown, as little known as the adaptability of weeds to GMOs.
If the European Union really wishes to show all those who have suffered from past neglect that it wished to draw all the parties involved together and that they can once again have confidence in its policies, it must immediately put forward some very concrete proposals on food safety."@en1
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