Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-04-02-Speech-1-071"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20010402.6.1-071"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, what are we to do with PVC? Some people are trying to make out that this material is public enemy number one. We find this hard to grasp. The extent to which PVC entails environmental and health risks that do not outweigh the benefits, remains to be seen. This might well be the case. It appears that PVC also has certain advantages as a material. Blood transfusion bags are often cited in this connection.
Politicians need not judge these benefits. What we should do, however, is to ask ourselves how we will deal with PVC if it appears that aspects of its use are unsafe or harmful to the environment. What measures will we be taking? In our opinion, this is where the Green Paper leaves something to be desired, particularly since the alternatives for PVC are kept out of the picture. It is a murky discussion, which is held almost as a religious debate between those for and those against. Like Mr Sacconi, we do not wish to base our choices on myths which are being presented to us by those for and against, and which failed to convince any of us, but rather on proper research and usable comparative materials. As long as we do not have that, we can hardly be expected to move on to the field of legislation.
Meanwhile, we do not wish to place PVC under a ban, but we do want to handle it with care. The precautionary principle requires us to do this. The industry’s initiative to phase out cadmium stabilisers can only be applauded. We believe that similar action should be taken with regard to lead and organotin. In general, we welcome the industry’s voluntary commitments, and believe these should be supported by a legal European framework, thus creating the scope for sanctions whilst adhering to what is possible in terms of content.
The risks at the waste stage are considerable because we cannot dispose of the harmful substances in PVC. One of the few options that are left to us then is reuse, whereby the harmful substances simply remain inside the product. However, the current level of reuse is so modest that it hardly contributes to a solution. In this respect, industry could indeed make an extra effort.
Mr President, I would be exaggerating if I said that we cannot wait for the Commission’s legislative proposals. In this connection, the Green Paper gives in actual fact insufficient cause for this. There is a lot of explaining to be done before that happens."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples