Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-12-16-Speech-4-021"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20041216.5.4-021"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, the problem at issue is of a cross-border nature and cannot be solved by national legislation alone. For this reason, it is a matter for the European Commission and the European Parliament. For years, Parliament has been inundated with petitions from people rightly calling for attention to abuses in animal transport. This applies in particular to horses that come to the end of their useful life in the East but are destined to be slaughtered and eaten in the South. Many animals spend a very long time in transit in lorries, with little to eat or drink, foul themselves, start to panic and suffer injury. The only way to prevent this is to drastically reduce the distance and time permitted for the transport of live animals. At the start of 2004, the dispute in this Parliament was a question of eight hours versus nine hours of continuous transport and of limited, cheap protective measures versus further-reaching, more expensive measures. At that time, Parliament made a very moderate choice, but even that went too far for the governments of a number of Member States. As a result, there is still scope for allowing those abuses to continue.
The key question is whether we accept this unnecessary animal suffering in anticipation of a resulting reduction in the costs of the livestock trade and of road transport companies, or whether we consider this suffering to be completely at variance with our civilisation and our responsibility for the welfare of our fellow creatures. My choice is emphatically in favour of civilisation and responsibility. What the Commissioner is now announcing is the failure of decision making in the European Union. We have shown ourselves to be unable to do what is urgently needed. National economic interests are taking precedence over our shared civilisation and responsibility.
Listening to Commissioner Kyprianou speak, I have no doubt as to his good intentions. I support his announcement of new initiatives by the European Commission. I also agree with his view that it would be better to start quickly on the basis of a woefully inadequate result than of no result at all. Satellite monitoring is cold comfort for the animals. Let us not trust solely in new technologies, but rather build on the political will to genuinely eliminate this abuse. That is what is important. I hope that we are able to achieve real results by the end of the term of office of this Parliament and this Commission, because what is currently taking place is an absolute disgrace."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples