Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-07-06-Speech-4-378"

Predicate	Value (sorted: default)
rdf:type	lpv_eu:Speech2
dcterms:Date	"2000-07-06"^^xsd:date2
dcterms:Is Part Of	lp_eu:Short sea shipping2
dcterms:Language	"en"^^xsd:language2
lpv:document identification number	"en.20000706.14.4-378"2
lpv:hasSubsequent	lp_eu:2000-07-06-Speech-4-3792
lpv:speaker	lp:John Purvis2
lpv:spoken text	"Mr President, to visitors from afar, the sea crossing to the Scottish islands is the stuff of romance, and indeed the beauty never fails to move both native and visitor. But for those who live and make their living there, the island shipping services are both an essential lifeline and a costly hurdle to be overcome for their economic and social well-being. The costs that impede are not only the fares, difficult as those often are, but also the inconvenience of pre-booking, of waiting in queues, of fitting in with timetables which provide low and variable frequencies; and then there are the risks of delays and cancellation due to weather or mechanical breakdown, or strikes which hold the islands to ransom from time to time. There is considerable concern on the Scottish islands at the moment that the EU's competition policy, which requires putting these services out to competitive tender, will undermine these lifeline services even at their present level and add a further upward ratchet to the cost of living and of doing business. We need to reassure those who live and work on these vulnerable islands and remote peninsulas that they have nothing to fear from bringing a measure of competition into the process for awarding these contracts. Can I ask the Commission to do what it can to reassure the Scottish islands, the Scottish executive that is struggling with this situation at the moment and the Scottish Parliament, that it stands ready to make sure that this process works well, that it does not undermine but improves the shipping services in the Scottish islands. Perhaps through Commission Verheugen I can pass an invitation to the Transport Commissioner, his colleague, Mrs de Palacio, to accompany me on a romantic trip to the Scottish islands."@en1
lpv:spokenAs	member; EPP-ED (1999-07-20--2004-07-19)3 unknown; Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party (1999-07-20--2004-07-19)3 substitute; Delegation to the EU-Bulgaria Joint Parliamentary Committee (1999-10-08--2002-01-14)3 substitute; ECON (1999-07-21--2002-01-14)3 member; Delegation for relations with the Mashreq countries and the Gulf (1999-10-06--2002-01-14)3 member; Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy (1999-07-21--2002-01-14)3
lpv:unclassifiedMetadata	"Purvis (PPE-DE )."1

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