Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-06-14-Speech-3-144"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20000614.6.3-144"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
".
Smoking kills: it causes 500 000 deaths every year in the European Union, which is 1400 a day or almost one a minute. One smoker in two will die, sooner or later, from a smoking-related disease. These figures speak for themselves and are terrifying.
Surely we need no further reason to support the proposed directive in its current form, quite rightly amended by our rapporteur, Mr Maaten, whom I must congratulate on his remarkable work, the broad outlines of which I have supported.
Tobacco is not just like any other product. It requires specific regulation and it is most apt, in light of recent studies, that the Commission has proposed a revision of the legislative texts in this field.
Although it may seem naïve to try to eradicate smoking, I think that we can certainly reduce it considerably by providing the consumer with better information. We have just declared ourselves in favour, much to my satisfaction, of warnings that will cover 35% of the front and 45% of the back of the cigarette packet. Personally, I am sorry that most of my colleagues could not be convinced of the impact that photographs on these surfaces would have had.
I supported Amendment No 75 on banning the sale of tobacco products to anyone under the age of 16. To the anti-prohibitionists, who feel that this ban would, on the contrary, make cigarettes more attractive to young people, I would answer with an ethical argument. Our society has the duty, in certain areas, to set strict moral limits. It is the whole issue of human behaviour that is at stake here. This also raises the whole issue of education and of health education in particular. Such education must be started at the earliest possible age, and I think that adolescence is an appropriate stage to instil in young people the limits that they must not transgress.
On the basis of ethical considerations, too, I feel it is reasonable to ban exports of products that we consider to be harmful to our own citizens to countries outside the Union. I voted in the strongest possible terms against Amendment No 54. Europe has other assets and other creative ways of finding export markets.
During yesterday’s debate, some Members raised the point that smoking kills more people than tuberculosis, Aids or other infectious diseases. This factor alone is sufficient reason for us to grasp this problem with both hands. Mr Maaten’s report is a step in the right direction, but is only one step, because the fight for life, for health, is an ongoing struggle that should engage us all."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples