Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-11-20-Speech-3-376"
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"en.20021120.12.3-376"2
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"Indeed, Mrs Damião’s report is warmly supported by the Group of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party. There are two points I should like to make.
The climate in the European Union, the business climate, and also ethics and environment. Despite being a key technology, biotechnology is still a poor relation in Europe and also in my own country the Netherlands. I therefore welcome the strategy of the Committee for biotechnology and life sciences, which is contributing to research and development in Europe. Not only for industry, but also with regard to health care and food safety. This does not, however, alter the fact that the committee has been overtaken by events. After all, did we not, in March 2000, adopt the Purvis report whose intention was to improve the business climate in Europe? Did we not also criticise the Member States over the moratorium on the import of genetically modified products? There is still much to be done in Europe in terms of access to launch capital and to patent rights to create a favourable climate. The patent directive for biotechnological inventions is a demonstrable improvement. This directive from 1998, however, has simply been ignored by the majority of Member States. It has only been implemented by four of the 15 Member States. What does the Commissioner intend to do about it?
Another major obstacle to progress and application are the ethical and environmental concerns. It is of course entirely proper that we as legislators do not ignore these concerns of the consumer. The Commission’s action plan, however, already provides for the initiation of a social debate. It does not therefore seem necessary to me to strengthen this report with paragraphs that regulate communication with society in detail. We do not, after all, have to hold the consumer’s hand. The consumer is perfectly capable of making up his own mind if we provide the right information."@en1
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