Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-03-09-Speech-2-363"
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"en.20040309.13.2-363"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner Wallström, rapporteur, ladies and gentlemen, it has been known for many years that what are termed heavy metals and PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) are, to a greater or lesser degree, harmful to the environment and to public health. These substances do not belong in the ambient air. In my opinion, the impact studies do not contribute a great deal in this respect. These studies cost a lot of money and leave us politicians with as much uncertainty. I take the view that we should make every effort to remove those harmful substances from our ambient air as much as possible. The Commission has opted only to monitor pollution. This is, I think, too restricted, and I fundamentally object to this approach. The quality of ambient air is not improved merely by mapping out pollution. As the other daughter directives
include binding limit values, I fail to understand why this was not done in this case.
I also realise, though, that we must have our feet firmly on the ground; it may be that the limit values from the previous daughter directives were too strict. However, this does not mean that we should decide now on non-binding target values. In the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy, I backed the approach taken by the rapporteur, Mr Kronberger. He is currently negotiating with the Council about an agreement at first reading. This is a noble pursuit, in my view. Since the outcome of these negotiations is not yet known, it is impossible for me to take a stand in this. I would, however, like to say to Mr Kronberger that we should obviously not prescribe any binding limit values that fall below background concentration levels.
I am expressly pleading in favour of realistic limit values. It is, for example, known that emissions are, to a large extent, caused by diffuse sources, for example by the heating of houses and transport, which it is extremely difficult to deal with. Results can, however, be achieved in various sectors in industry; the metal industry springs to mind, as do power plants, waste incineration plants and the waste recycling sector. In the case of waste incineration, a considerable amount of heavy metals are released. The exact amount is unknown because the obligations for measuring emissions are very basic. Binding limit values should therefore also be introduced for the benefit of various sectors in industry, as well as the obligation to measure emission levels. I hope that we can reach agreement with the Council on this matter."@en1
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