Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-02-15-Speech-2-147"
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"en.20000215.8.2-147"2
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"Mr President, every satellite photo proves that we do indeed live on the blue planet, yet the abundance of water is an illusion.
The recent disaster on the Danube serves as a reminder that our rivers are the lifelines of our planet and that pollution does not respect borders. Water is a renewable but limited natural resource. It becomes scarcer when it is mismanaged and when the geographical and climatic conditions are unfavourable.
In the EU, this is a crucial issue in the Mediterranean region and also in other European countries where we are witnessing the gradual drying of wet areas. The increase in vulnerable areas, both wet and dry, inequalities between countries, inequalities between different regions within countries and unusual climatic, economic, geographical and geological events are all the evidence we need. However, these must not lead to competition distortions within the Community. We have therefore tabled amendments to highlight the importance of the special relationship between agriculture and water, given that water is an essential factor in the occupation and development of the land.
Agricultural needs are clearly much greater in the south and this specific point must be taken into account in the framework directive. It is not only in the Member States that solutions to these problems are being sought. Last October in Turin, the countries in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership bluntly demanded a Marshall plan for water for the south coast of the Mediterranean. We are not, fortunately, at this point.
However, we are in Europe experiencing droughts and desertification in certain regions and also floods, which the directive underlines. For example, France, the Rhine valley and central Europe recently suffered flooding. We need this framework directive as an essential element of a sustainable development policy which must make the various uses of water compatible with each other. Yet we also need to integrate the protection and conservation of biodiversity into this new management of water. The water issue will definitely not be settled today. In fact, the problems of enlargement and climate change will offer new prospects."@en1
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