Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-01-10-Speech-1-082"
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"en.20050110.13.1-082"2
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".
Mr President, I should like to welcome Commissioner McCreevy on this, his first appearance in this Chamber in response to a debate on the internal market. I am sure my colleagues very much look forward to further encounters. If he adopts the constructive approach he has this evening in response to our amendments, then I believe we shall get on very well together and do a lot of successful work.
I should like to make a few introductory remarks before moving on to the substance of the second reading. Given that it is quite some time since the first reading, it is important to pay tribute to our colleague, Mr Rothley, who retired from Parliament at the last elections but worked on these insurance directives over a long period. I was closely involved in this work from 2001, but am a mere junior given the amount of work he has done. We should put on record, on behalf of Europe's motorists and unfortunate accident victims, our tribute to him for his persistent work in pressing the Commission and the Council to keep improving the motor vehicle insurance regime.
As you said, Commissioner, we are on the fifth directive, but we are already thinking about the sixth directive because this is a complex subject. In many ways it goes to the heart of the mission of those of us who want to see the internal market completed, because it has been very much a policy of continuous improvement. As we have moved forward, so issues have cropped up. We have asked you to tackle them and I am pleased to say that you have.
You identified in your speech, Commissioner, a number of the real benefits to the consumer, which we do not want to become obscured in detailed discussion. For example, in the single market, where people are becoming more mobile and taking their motor vehicle with them, they will be able to take their car with them without insurance problems when they move for temporary stays as students or in their professional lives. We hope there will be a lot more benefits once the Internal Market for Services Directive is approved – as I am sure it will be – because there will be many more people travelling around, delivering services from one country to another.
Similarly, if people want to buy cars during the course of their professional or personal life and bring those back, that will also be made easier. Their rights, when moving from one country to another, in respect of retaining their all-important no claims bonuses or their policy statements, are important details to get right. I believe we have done that.
As shadow rapporteur to my friend and colleague Mr Medina Ortega, I wish to thank him for picking up the reins on this. I see Mrs De Vits is here. She has also been very helpful in our work to move this matter forward.
Commissioner, we look forward to meeting with you and the Council before we vote on Wednesday because, as you said, I am sure we can reach agreement on the substantial points. I warmly welcome your suggestion that the whole issue of trailers should be looked at by you in conjunction with your mid-year communication. That is the right way to treat this subject. We have not had full information. I share your worries that the amendments we tabled actually worsen the position and are rather confusing. So, a time for reflection would be helpful. We should take up the Commission's offer in that respect.
With regard to a number of the other details, we will sit around the table with you tomorrow, and am sure we will be able to deal with these because, above all, we are so close to agreement. Given the lapse of time since the first proposal by Mr Rothley, I want Europe's motorists, Europe's consumers and the unfortunate victims of accidents to have the best possible service.
I hope we will move forward on the database and Internet proposal to make information readily available, but overall I believe that the proposal we have is a good one. I commend it very much to my colleagues and look forward to reaching agreement tomorrow so that we can move this matter forward."@en1
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