Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-12-10-Speech-1-079"
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"en.20011210.4.1-079"2
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"Madam President, life is one constant risk-benefit analysis – what we do, where we go and what we eat. While the European food chain remains one of the safest in the world, recent scandals have damaged our consumers' confidence in the food we eat and the methods we use to produce it. The public has lost confidence in the national and European food safety systems after the scandals and scares with beef, E.coli, lysteria, salmonella, dioxins, eggs, poultry, milk and hormones. The list goes on. The public wants to be reassured that the road from farm to market, to the supermarket, to the oven, fridge and table is as safe as can be reasonably expected. They want safety assessment that is neither secretive, behind the closed front door of the Commission, nor tainted by producer or pressure-group interest.
Since the beginning of your tenure, Commissioner Byrne, you have responded to the needs of the consumers of Europe by making every effort to improve the safety of the food chain. This proposal is one of key importance for consumer protection in the European Union. The institutions of the Union have come together to set out the principles of food law with a new authority which can safeguard the food we eat and the way it is produced.
I commend the rapporteur, Mr Whitehead, and the shadow rapporteur, Mr Bowis, for a job well done throughout the discussion in the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy. The result of their consensual approach has been to strengthen and unify the voice of the European Parliament on the key issue at stake. I would ask the Commission and the Council to listen to this united voice and to adopt 'European Food Safety Authority' as the title of the institution. Keeping the word 'safety' in the title of the authority will give a clear signal to consumers as to its purpose and goals. I also firmly believe that if the authority is to have the confidence and backing of the people of Europe, it is imperative that it operates and communicates in a wholly transparent and independent manner, dedicated to the assessment of food-safety risk.
Risk communication will also be a key element. One has only to look at the BSE inquiry in the UK and the Philips report which stated that breakdown in risk communication was a major factor in exacerbating the crisis there.
In conclusion, in relation to risk management, the measured and proportionate use of the proportionary principle or the political management ..."@en1
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