Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-05-16-Speech-2-263"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20000516.10.2-263"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, Commissioner, allow me to start by congratulating Mrs González Álvarez. She really is most persistent, because we had a very good report at second reading as it was, but she was determined to incorporate more proposed amendments and I really must congratulate her on succeeding in doing so. Parliament has asserted itself against the Council once again.
The introduction of this sort of monitoring scheme is just one of the many steps on the path towards compliance with the Kyoto protocol. Reducing greenhouse gases by 8% in comparison with 1990 is therefore the main objective between now and the year 2012. The dramatic change in the climate has been noticeable here in Strasbourg over the past two days and is far greater than we assumed. It will therefore come as no surprise if we adopt this report unanimously tomorrow, as will certainly be the case, and that the Council and Parliament have been able to find a common position so quickly.
This joint monitoring scheme is the first of its kind and I think that its success or failure will decide whether or not we opt to introduce other similar schemes. We have taken recourse to a three-part strategy in order to reduce CO2 emissions and fuel consumption: environmental agreements with the car industry, a system of tax incentives and a system of labelling for fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
But despite all these efforts, directives and joint measuring schemes, we should not delude ourselves: we are unlikely to achieve the target objective of reducing greenhouse gases to 1990 levels. Some experts are advising us to try and stabilise emissions at present levels. That may well be pessimistic but if we consider that the number of cars on the road is continuing to rise in the 14 Member States, oh excuse me, I meant 15; we Austrians often have to stop and ask ourselves if there are 14 or 15 Member States, but there are in fact still 15, and if we consider enlargement to the east and if we consider that people in China and India also want to live as we do, then we should make no mistake: it will be difficult to achieve a reduction in greenhouse gases or CO2 and we should therefore make every effort to stabilise them at the very least.
Despite all the pessimism, introducing a pan-European monitoring system for CO2 emissions will not do any harm. Let us try yet again with one small step at a time and perhaps the House will sit in 2005, when we need to examine the initial results, and complain that perhaps we did not do enough today."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples