Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-10-25-Speech-3-278"
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"en.20001025.11.3-278"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, although the priority in the Union’s policy on climate must be a sustainable environmental policy, in taking decisions we must also pay attention to the importance of the international competitiveness of industry and the undisturbed workings of the Internal Market. Individual countries are responsible for implementing the obligations of the Kyoto Protocol and the obligations related to the Union’s distribution of the burden. Different countries’ scope for implementing action to reduce emissions varies considerably.
If country-based quotas were allocated to different sectors in the EU, as, for example, Mr Blokland suggested when he presented the opinion of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, companies engaged in the same sort of business would end up in totally unequal positions across the different Member States. Although a given sector might be amongst the world’s best in terms of environmental efficiency in one country, and I can say that is true of many sectors of industry in my country, Finland, for example, it might have to agree to a more stringent quota for emissions than its less efficient competitor in another country. This would inevitably lead to distortion of the competition situation and, for that reason, we must not impose binding, quantitative targets on different sectors of industry at Community level. It is essential to promote measures that can be implemented in practice and do not jeopardise the competitiveness of enterprises.
Along with France, my own country, Finland, is at present the only EU country where the building of additional nuclear power stations is being considered. I wholeheartedly support the building of additional nuclear power plants, as it would give our energy-intensive industry a greater competitive advantage both in terms of economy and emissions. For that reason we should not adopt a position in this report either in favour of individual forms of electricity production or specifically in opposition to them: instead, all the various forms of energy production must be at our disposal while we formulate national climate strategies.
I would also like to emphasise the importance of voluntary, negotiated target agreements. In many Member States they have been considered a very effective means of promoting the implementation of climate-related targets. Voluntary agreements could in particular be a good mechanism for use in the enlargement process."@en1
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