Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-02-05-Speech-2-305"
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"en.20020205.14.2-305"2
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"Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, first of all, I wish to say that I welcome the European Parliament’s draft resolution on the proposal for a Council decision concerning the conclusion, on behalf of the European Community, of the Kyoto Protocol. I wish first of all to thank Mr Moreira Da Silva for the report and for the fact that it has been possible to resolve this issue of such political importance by means of a vote in Parliament at an early stage.
I also want to take the opportunity to emphasise how much I value the cooperation with the European Parliament concerning the Kyoto Protocol. Your efforts, including visits to the United States and contacts with parliamentarians in different countries, have been extraordinarily important. The cooperation we have had during the negotiations, especially under Mr Moreira Da Silva’s leadership, has contributed to our having come as far as this on our home ground. I also wish to say that I consider it self-evident and very important that Parliament should be fully involved in the work we are now doing on the European Climate Change Programme and on the proposal concerning emissions trading.
For some years, the EU has of course advocated that the Kyoto Protocol should come into force at the World Summit on Sustainable Development to be held in Johannesburg in September of this year. If it is to be possible to achieve this objective, the EU should set a good example. Mr Liese and Mr Linkohr are right: even though we can quarrel about the distribution of the burden, this is just a first step if we want to take the climate experts seriously. It can only be seen as a first cautious step along the road.
I am particularly pleased about Parliament’s support for the proposal’s being adopted as soon as possible so that we can ratify the whole proposal by no later than 1 June, when the Member States have concluded their own national procedures.
I want to comment briefly on what is termed the Danish problem, which is to be regarded as a technical complication. It is also in terms of a technical problem that we are trying to solve the issue. At the Council meeting in December, the Environment Ministers agreed that we should try to find such a technical solution and that a decision should be taken during the Council meeting on 4 March. I hope that this will be possible. If this decision is adopted at the Environment Council meeting in March, this would be a clear signal that the EU is determined to comply with the Kyoto Protocol, a move that would strengthen the EU’s credibility and leadership role in the matter of combating climate change. It would also increase the pressure on other parties, for example Japan and Russia, to follow our example. The prospects for this are fairly good, given the way things look at present, particularly in Japan. At the same time, we are going to continue the dialogue with the United States and try to convince them to resume the Kyoto negotiations or at least adopt similar measures on a national basis to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.
If we are to be credible, we must put our own house in order first. In plain language, this means that our first priority must be ratification and effective implementation of the Protocol on the part of the EU. Thank you for your views and for this debate."@en1
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