Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-10-29-Speech-5-038"

Predicate	Value (sorted: default)
rdf:type	lpv_eu:Speech2
dcterms:Date	"1999-10-29"^^xsd:date2
dcterms:Is Part Of	lp_eu:British beef and veal2
dcterms:Language	"de"^^xsd:language2
lpv:document identification number	"en.19991029.3.5-038"2
lpv:hasSubsequent	lp_eu:1999-10-29-Speech-5-0392
lpv:speaker	lp:Hedwig Keppelhoff-wiechert2
lpv:spokenAs	member; Members from the European Parliament to the Joint Parliamentary Assembly of the Agreement between the African, Caribbean and Pacific States and the European Union (ACP-EU) (1999-09-14--2002-01-14)3 unknown; Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands (1999-07-20--2004-07-19)3 member; AGRI (1999-07-21--2002-01-14)3 substitute; Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy (1999-07-21--2002-01-14)3 member; EPP-ED (1999-07-20--2004-07-19)3
lpv:translated text	"Mr President, Commissioner, scientific checks in France have allegedly brought new findings to the subject of BSE. Allegedly! I am not a scientist, I am a farmer, a consumer, a politician, but I say to you quite candidly that I am not always ready to trust science for it is all too often the case that scientific findings come out in favour of the parties who commissioned the inquiry. There are countless examples of this in everyday life. I will give you one such example. We are currently awaiting the findings of the Scientific Committee with some trepidation and I believe that we will be continuing this discussion this evening and next week in Brussels. We all know the expression, “two lawyers, three opinions”. Where I come from, it goes, “two scientists, two opinions”. And for why? We once had a case of trying to find a location for a waste disposal site, the application for which had been turned down. The assessment of the district scientists was that the subsoil was watertight, while the local authority scientists maintained that the subsoil was as watertight as a bathtub without a plug! I admit that this topic is now actually far too serious. We can have a very emotional discussion here this morning on this subject of BSE, but this does nothing to help either British farmers or European consumers. It is also of little help when we, as European MEPs, refer to current contraventions of internal market regulations. An infringement of the Treaty is an important topic for all of us involved in European politics but, as an MEP in my constituency, I cannot use this at the moment as an argument to circumvent a political discussion on this topic. While we sit here and discuss this issue, we are driving more and more consumers away from the meat counter. As recently as the last plenary part-session, we made a renewed call for more stringent food safety and improved consumer protection. Commission President Romano Prodi made it clear during the debate that he would make the safety of foodstuffs his priority and the Commission wants to, and must, set up a new chapter in consumer policy. The most recent developments in the BSE crisis, in the “beef war”, involving not only France and Great Britain but Germany as well, where the federal are currently adopting a very negative attitude, clearly demonstrate, Mr Fischler and Mr Byrne, too, the difficult task that we are faced with and the enormous challenge we have before us of creating a responsible and transparent consumer policy. Economic interests represent one side of the coin, consumer protection the other. I nevertheless believe, as I also said at the beginning, as a practical person I have a great deal of trouble with the results, that we should take the objections of the authorities very seriously. I eagerly await the outcome of this evening."@en1
lpv:unclassifiedMetadata	"Länder"1

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