Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-02-22-Speech-2-075"
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".
Mr President, honourable Members of the European Parliament, I fully endorse what Mrs Ries said at the end, that the links between the environment and health are a particularly important priority for the European Commission and Europe. That is why I am grateful for your committee's help in drafting the report which we are debating today. I should particularly like to thank Mrs Ries for all her constructive efforts to improve the content of the report, so that the final text constitutes a substantive and useful basis for all further debate.
As regards the ban on substances, an issue on which Mrs Ries spoke earlier, dangerous substances are an issue which particularly concerns the Commission. However, the action plan is not the most suitable framework for debating possible bans. We have already laid down procedures for evaluating and reducing the risk of many of these substances. These procedures which, as I said, already exist, will continue to progress alongside the action plan. The Commission is carefully examining the proposal in the report to increase the number of priorities in the action plan. However, increasing the number of priorities will weaken the focus and results of the action plan, which is why it would be preferable to limit the priorities to those proposed in the action plan, which have been defined in close cooperation with 300 experts and involved agencies. That is why, on the basis of the contribution of these 300 experts, we have not limited the focus to children alone, because there are directly related issues and we therefore also have to examine adults.
To close, I should like to stress that, if the action plan is to be applied effectively, active and close cooperation is needed with all the agencies involved. That is why I should like once again to thank Mrs Ries and the European Parliament for their important contribution in this sector. Our common objective is to promote stronger European measures to improve health and environmental protection for all Europeans, for Europe and for the world.
I should like to start by reiterating the objective of the action plan adopted last June. We should not forget that we are not starting from scratch. Indeed, having recognised for some time that environmental protection helps to improve health, we have already done a great deal of work in this sector. The forthcoming environmental and other legislation, including the REACH proposals and measures which will be taken within the framework of thematic strategies, will be of even greater help in resolving the outstanding problems.
As regards current issues, numerous efforts are being made to reinforce European Union policies designed to improve health and environmental protection and this is something that will certainly continue.
The objective of the action plan is to further promote this work and, at the same time, to determine the agenda for the future. Thus, possible weaknesses will be addressed and a future environmental policy will be laid down which is more efficient, more focused and more cost-effective.
As regards the conclusions of the report, I should like to start by assuring you that the precautionary principle is an important essential element of our policy and we do, of course, intend to continue to apply it in the future.
As far as biomonitoring is concerned, we agree. It can indeed be an essential element in our policy for risk evaluation, as the report suggests. We shall study this view in detail. Nonetheless, the Commission would like first to carefully examine all aspects of the problem, both technical and financial, in the light of experience gained from third countries, such as the United States. The cost, it should be noted, is very high.
We likewise agree on air inside buildings. The possibility of developing a strategy and research agenda on this subject will be examined, so that the relevant problems can be identified and proposals can be made for possible ways of addressing them.
If the measures in the action plan are to be implemented, the question of financing needs to be addressed, as Mrs Ries has quite rightly noted and emphasised. I agree that this is needed in order to safeguard efficient application of the plan. For the period up to 2007, the Commission will finance the budgets of the four Directorates-General involved, of the programme in the public health sector and of the Sixth Research Framework Programme. From 2007 onwards, new headings will be available within the framework of the new financial perspectives. The Commission is engaged in intensive consultations on the detailed arrangements for applying the various measures included in the action plan.
Another particularly important issue which is necessary for the application of the action plan is the regular submission of reports to the European Parliament. Of course, the Commission will report to the relevant parliamentary committee on progress with the action plan as regularly as possible. Of course, progress on certain issues, such as efficiency and the cost-benefit ratio may not be possible in the short term. Within this framework, all the data and information needed simply do not exist. Nonetheless, the possibility for more detailed reports will exist as soon as the integrated information system is up and running."@en1
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