Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-03-12-Speech-2-164"
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"en.20020312.8.2-164"2
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"Mr President, the rapporteur has come a long way in recent weeks in terms of dumping some of her more extreme amendments. However, I take little comfort from this. I hope the rapporteur will not take this personally, as I know how much thought and work she has put into the report. However, in my view, the amendments that remain are neither necessary nor helpful. This is not just my own view. I am delighted to see the extent to which Mrs Lynne echoed this view so powerfully a few moments ago.
In the words of the UK Health and Safety Executive, the body set up to give the UK Government the expert and impartial scientific advice so necessary when dealing with such issues, these amendments provide "no benefit for health and safety and their sole effect will be to place unnecessary and unwelcome burdens on industry, particularly on small firms". The Executive advises us to oppose most of the Socialist amendments. Independently, UK Conservative MEPs had come to the identical conclusion. One of these is Amendment No 18, which I see the trade unions are supporting, while curiously claiming that many employers support it, too. I have not come across a single employer who supports this. It will be interesting to see whether UK Labour MEPs vote as their government has advised or their trade unions have instructed. I suspect the answer will be no surprise.
We shall be supporting the amendment to exempt music from the directive, an amendment originally conceived by my colleague Mr Pronk. However, that still leaves us with the problems facing industry if other amendments also pass. It is very telling that in the week EU leaders are in Barcelona, calling for EU businesses to become more competitive, and on the very day that the UK Prime Minister, Mr Blair, is spinning the line that he is so much against red tape, his Socialist MEPs continue to pursue the same old agenda, regardless of the impact on jobs.
I urge them, even at this late stage, to vote against these amendments, to vote for jobs, to vote for reform and to vote for Barcelona."@en1
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