Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-05-13-Speech-2-013"
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"en.20030513.2.2-013"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, tomorrow we will be voting here in Parliament on the environmental liability directive, thus bringing to an end what has been a long and, as you know, very controversial debate. Allow me first to express very special thanks to our rapporteur, Toine Manders, who has worked tirelessly for many months to produce his report. He really has endeavoured to take account of the views of all of those concerned and has constantly sought to compromise. Once again I would express my sincere thanks for the constructive dialogue that we have enjoyed.
Before I go any further, allow me also to say very clearly, ladies and gentlemen, that the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats supports both this directive and the Commission proposal. We want stricter rules on environmental liability. Those who cause environmental damage in the course of their occupational activities must also be answerable for that. Compensation should also be paid for damage caused to biological diversity, that is, for what is termed ecological damage. As such provisions do not yet exist in the Member States, we are entering new territory here. But I think that it is good that we are entering new territory and my group supports liability for ecological damage, even though we are all aware that it will be difficult to put actual figures on this in practice.
I do understand that it is not always possible to reach a broad consensus where environmental liability is concerned. However, that is precisely why I am particularly advocating the adoption of the report of the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market today, because the Legal Affairs Committee has issued a clear, moderate and practicable opinion. The report represents a major step forward towards improved environmental protection and therefore also deserves to receive strong support in tomorrow's vote in the plenary.
It begins, ladies and gentlemen, even with the numerous definitions that are placed at the start of the directive and delineate its scope, for example the definition of biological diversity. Here, as I have already said, we are entering new territory. It makes sense, in my opinion, to base the rules on habitats and species that are already protected by European law. Furthermore, the Member States should be free to designate additional national protection areas, but it would breach the boundaries of the directive in every respect if we went any further than this.
A further example is the directive's scope. I think that here too we found a compromise in the Legal Affairs Committee that refers to the system of international conventions and makes the relationship with them clear. The idea is that for those areas in which international systems of establishing liability are effectively in force the environmental liability directive should not apply in the first instance. I believe that the compromise that has been found here is a sensible one.
Finally, my group also firmly supports the exemptions from liability that are named in the Commission draft. There are two points at issue here: firstly, permit defence and secondly ‘state of the art’ defence. We think it is right for these liability privileges to be listed in the directive. We also think it is right that those who work their land in accordance with good farming practice should receive a liability privilege.
May I say in conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, that we reached a good compromise in the Legal Affairs Committee and I would ask that this compromise also be supported here tomorrow by a majority of this House."@en1
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