Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-11-13-Speech-2-364"
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"en.20011113.14.2-364"2
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"Mr President, as my fellow Members have stated, water is a limited natural resource that citizens have a fundamental right to access and use. We cannot, therefore, support the amendments that talk of water as being a commodity or those which talk about the private management of water. And we will be voting against these amendments. However, I do believe that the rational use of water is an absolute necessity, as stated in Mrs Flemming’s report, and also a moral responsibility for Europeans with regard to those populations that have an enormous water deficit.
Article 9 of the framework directive which, as the Commissioner knows very well, required a great deal of time and discussion time to complete, provides for the recovery of costs. The same directive, however, and the report by Mrs Flemming, as other speakers have mentioned, state that different regional, social and climatological situations should be taken into account, which leads on to the need to adopt water-saving measures in order to prevent leaks from water production and distribution systems, and to ensure the maximum re-usage of purified water, as well as the improvement of irrigation techniques.
In order to achieve this, the public, and those who work in the three sectors affected: domestic, agricultural and industrial, need to be informed. The quality and purity of water must also be improved. Commissioner, there is still a high level of nitrates in water and this should be addressed, as we have always said in the European Parliament.
I would like to finish, Mr President, by saying that it is hardly surprising that, in the context in which we are speaking, there should be clear opposition to the Spanish National Hydrological Plan, approved, it is true, by a majority in the Spanish Parliament, for it is based principally on the use of reservoirs and the transfer of water in rivers such as the Ebro that could have a disastrous effect on an ecosystem that is unique in Europe. Furthermore, the planned reservoirs are located in Special Protection Areas. For this reason, it must be said, Commissioner, that, without wishing to condemn my own country in particular, we must pay more attention to how European funds are used."@en1
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