Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-02-15-Speech-2-154"
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"en.20000215.8.2-154"2
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"Ladies and gentlemen, the proposal for a directive does indeed, as many speakers have already said, represent an historic chance to simplify and improve the jumble of piecemeal EU regulations and directives and achieve a high level of environmental protection in Europe. However, I have the impression that the policy in the water framework directive is geared towards deregulation and renationalisation. I also hope that the vote will not be a washout and that will depend on what I see as two quite fundamental points.
First OSPAR. We know that the Commission proposal does not go far enough; unfortunately this also applies to the proposal by the Committee on the Environment. Merely pulling proposals out of the air is not enough. What we need is a completely legally binding objective for OSPAR. Only then will we manage to achieve legal clarity and, more importantly, objectives which are enforceable under the law. Anything else will fall short of the mark and will not help to prevent ecological disasters, such as those which have just come to light in Romania and Hungary, from happening to us.
I find it unfortunate that national governments are not prepared to stand up for legally binding protection, despite having agreed internationally on OSPAR. But I think that this is exactly what we have to make up for here in Parliament, in order to demonstrate that we will not allow the credibility of our policy to be lost or compromised.
It is also important to reinforce the polluter pays principle because prices must speak the ecological truth. We must not bow down before the agricultural or chemical industry lobbyists; on the contrary, we must use our vote to promote and express that fact that we want the polluter pays principle and, hence, cost-covering prices. Water is our most important resource and we must use our vote to ensure that the incentives and pressure are there to really comply with the OSPAR convention. With closed production circuits this is possible; anything else would water down the directive. Let us grab our chance."@en1
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