Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-04-08-Speech-2-129"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20030408.3.2-129"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I should like to begin by congratulating Mrs Buitenweg and quoting the words of Commissioner Vitorino. He said that Mrs Buitenweg’s report takes a pragmatic approach, and I fully share this view. I have had an absence of approximately three years from this Parliament, and I am extremely surprised at the stormy, heated debates on this report – even within my own group, I have to say in fairness. After all, we are only talking about an evaluation and a reassessment of the agreements made in the past. I cannot imagine, therefore, why we should not be in favour of it. These are all people who consider it perfectly normal to send their car for inspection after a number of years, and they cannot comprehend why an evaluation should take place here after a period of over thirty years, and conclusions be drawn from it.
What is this actually all about, Mr President? It is about us all wanting to curb the production, traffic in and abuse of drugs, in particular the abuse of extremely harmful drugs. No one voting in favour of Mrs Buitenweg’s report is intending to offer up children to any kind of drug abuse. The only question that we must answer together is: what is the best method? I cannot do that. If I could – off the cuff, as it were – as Mr Pirker can, it would be very convenient, and I would probably be very rich, as I would have found a solution to a global problem. I must honestly admit that I cannot. I do think, however, that those who can – who can carry out an evaluation on the basis of global data – should be free to do so.
In this connection, I also wish to argue once more in favour of uniform statistics. Anyone who immerses himself in this problem cannot escape the conclusion that very few statistics exist that are comparable. I am of the opinion that one should only venture to propose changes to the policy on the basis of correct, clear data.
It may well be that an evaluation of the current policy will mean confirming this policy, purely for want of a better solution. I am not advocating this, nor do I expect it, but it is a possible outcome of this report. I do not understand, then, why so many amendments aiming to prevent the evaluation have been tabled. I should like, therefore, to ask those Members calling for others to vote against the Buitenweg report, or in any case the parts of it regarding the evaluation, to have another good think about what is really the best way now to solve the serious drugs problem together. Burying one's head in the sand and pretending the problem does not exist is not the right way. Daring to carry out an evaluation together, on the basis of correct data – that, in my opinion, is the right way."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples