Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-05-13-Speech-2-055"
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"en.20030513.3.2-055"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, I wish first of all to congratulate Mr Sacconi on his excellent report, with which I am in complete agreement. Although in theory, voluntary environmental agreements are to be applauded, reality has shown that, precisely because they are voluntary, many of these agreements are ultimately not observed and, furthermore, have frequently been used as a pretext for not bringing into force more ambitious legally binding initiatives.
We all remember what happened with the emissions trading directive: many people tried to prevent it being adopted because some States had voluntary agreements in place with industry. I therefore believe it is greatly to be welcomed that the Commission has taken the initiative to define clear rules for recognising voluntary agreements at Community level.
I think that there are some rules that must be respected: first of all, the voluntary agreements must be seen only as a complement to environmental policy and not as a basis for it; secondly, they must be used only when they are proven to have advantages over conventional instruments; thirdly, they must be promoted only in cases where they attempt to go further than traditional legislation; fourthly, they must be geared towards technological research and be based on benchmarking criteria: it makes no sense to have voluntary agreements that do not promote the best technologies. Lastly, there must be deadlines, timetables, clearly defined targets and mechanisms for monitoring results and ensuring compliance."@en1
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