Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-03-30-Speech-2-021"
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"en.20040330.2.2-021"2
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".
Mr President, may I first express my thanks for all the hard work done by members of the committees concerned with the proposals on food hygiene. Almost four years have gone by since the Commission presented this package. I would therefore like to remind you of the objectives that were envisaged when we put forward this recast of the hygiene rules.
In summary, we are pursuing four objectives. The first objective is to adapt hygiene legislation to the general principles of food law set out in the White Paper on food safety. The second objective is to make the existing rules more science- and risk-based. The third objective is to define the role of the competent authorities; and the fourth objective is to consolidate and simplify the regulatory environment.
The discussions on the package have taken a long time, both in Council and in Parliament. This is not surprising, taking into account the wide interests covered by the proposals and their highly technical nature. This long period gave ample time to reflect on the proposals and the time is now ripe to conclude the debate and adopt the legislation.
The Council's common position is, in the Commission's view, a fair compromise that clearly reflects the views of Parliament. I was pleased to hear that the rapporteur and shadow rapporteurs have recognised this fact. Nevertheless, a number of amendments were tabled for the second reading. With a view to addressing the points set out in these amendments, the Commission has contributed to the establishment of a compromise between the Council's position and that of Parliament. Discussions on such a compromise were successfully completed and Coreper has already endorsed it. Amendments reflecting this compromise package have also been tabled for the vote later today.
I am concerned, however, lest there be a desire to cherry-pick the compromise negotiated with the Council. A compromise requires that all parties make concessions. This relates in particular to the involvement of slaughterhouse staff in meat inspection for veal and pigs. The common position, approved unanimously by the Council, foresees the possibility of slaughterhouse staff carrying out some inspection tasks. The Commission believes this is appropriate. It is not, as some say, a privatisation of meat inspection. It only allows the slaughterhouse staff to assist the official veterinarian. There is no general authorisation for involving slaughterhouse staff in meat inspection. Subsidiarity is the guiding principle here. The decision as to whether to apply the system will be taken by the Member States on a case-by-case basis.
Moreover, the proposed regulation contains a number of very strict rules that guarantee the independence of the controls. These include in particular that the slaughterhouse staff involved in meat inspection must be independent from production staff and must report directly to the official veterinarian. Slaughterhouses that wish to involve their staff in meat inspection must be specifically authorised for that purpose by the competent authority. I would like to stress that the system has already functioned satisfactorily for more than ten years for poultry meat and rabbit meat in most Member States. No complaints have been registered and no misuse has been reported on this. Taking account of these elements, the proposal to extend the system to veal and fattening pigs is proportionate and fully in line with the objectives of the proposed legislation I outlined to you a couple of minutes ago.
The Commission is willing to go along with the compromise proposal put forward by the Council that would defer the entry into force of the system for another three years. This is reflected in Amendment No 21 to the proposal on official controls. The Commission cannot, however, support Amendments Nos 9 and 14, which the rapporteur is recommending that Parliament support. Should these amendments be adopted, conciliation would appear inevitable. This would be a pity, particularly having regard to the length of time – since July 2000 – that these proposals have been under consideration.
To conclude, I would like to reiterate my gratitude to all those who have contributed to reaching this stage. The Commission can accept all amendments to the common position that are part of the compromise package negotiated with the Council. The Commission cannot support amendments falling outside this package. A full listing setting out the details on this will be made available to Parliament's secretariat."@en1
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