Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-11-16-Speech-2-120"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20041116.11.2-120"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Mr President, I have been provoked by several speakers but I will not be deterred from what I have to say.
The key to achieving our ambitions in the area of the recycling and recovery of packaging waste is setting attainable targets based on realistic expectations. There is no point in setting a deadline that cannot be achieved and triggering the inevitable infringement procedures. As Mrs Corbey rightly points out in her report – and I thank her for her work – it is only fair and equitable that the same approach be taken with regard to our colleagues in the new Member States, as was indicted to them during the accession negotiations.
Shifting the finishing line and imposing onerous time constraints at this stage would display a lack of good faith on our part as it unscrambles the hard-won result of the final trialogue on the revised directive earlier this year, as outlined in recital 6 to that directive, which I understood to list, for each new Member State, the date relating to the derogation.
Our debate should focus not on argument about timetables, but on the reduction of the overall level of packaging and packaging waste through recycling and recovery. I would like to emphasise that the derogations in question are from the timetable and not from the substantive targets. This is an important distinction which demonstrates that we are not supporting a shirking of responsibilities.
In advance of the Commission's report on the implementation of the original directive next June, I can report that a sensible policy of realistic derogation has already proved a success in my own country, and I hope Mrs Jackson will take note of what I am about to say. We have a specific problem of demographics, geography and lack of infrastructure, and no indigenous packaging industry, with 80% of our packaged goods being imported. Ireland has no energy recovery or incineration facilities so all our targets have to be met through recycling alone. However, we have seen the rate of recycling of packaging waste increase steadily from 93 000 tonnes in 1998 to just over 414 000 tonnes in 2003. This represents over 45% of the packaging waste on the Irish market, all of which would previously have gone to landfill. We have achieved our 2001 target of recycling 25% of packaging and we are well on our way to achieving the 2005 target of a 50% recycling rate thanks to proper, sensible timelines and derogations.
There has been a clear shift in the public mindset in relation to recycling in Ireland. 61% of adults visit their local Bring Centre at least once a month, as opposed to only 25% in 1998. Bringing about this change has taken – and will continue to take – time, effort and investment, a fact that is reflected in the 2011-2012 timetable set in the revised packaging directive for Greece, Portugal and Ireland. I was the author of that particular amendment and I thank my colleagues for their support. The same type of derogation and the same argument should apply to our colleagues in the new Member States.
Our quest for better regulation as a Parliament must start with enforceable legislation. If we are to set unreasonable objectives for recycling and recovery of packaging waste which take no account of capacity constraints, we might just as well get it over with now, book our slot in advance at the ECJ for non-implementation and spare the Commission a waste of envelopes on letters of formal notice and reasoned opinions under the infringement procedure laid down in Article 226 of the Treaty.
I would like to put on record my disappointment at Mr Allister's comment on Mrs de Brún speaking a language 'no one cares to understand'. It may well not be the time or place to speak in Irish, but I do not think that derogatory and disparaging remarks about anyone's language, albeit a minority language, have any place in this House and I take exception to them."@en1
|
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples