Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-05-09-Speech-1-105"
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"en.20050509.16.1-105"2
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"Mr President, Parliament has worked with the Aarhus Convention since 2000, when we received the Commission’s version of the first pillar of the Convention: the right of the citizen to environmental information.
Our policy all along has been ambitious and one that advocates public participation. We start from the position that nothing may restrict the rights of the citizen to access information and to be heard in matters concerning the environment. This is essential in order for democracy to function in a world where environmental issues have an ever more central role. Consequently, as the meeting in Almaty approaches, we will likewise work on the assumption that the matter at hand – the subject of biosafety – will be debated in the same spirit, with a respect for the rights of the citizen. Accordingly, Parliament assumes that its delegation will be properly heard at the talks, as we have something to offer.
We want the decisions taken at the second meeting of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention to promote its implementation and development, and we want multilateral agreements on the environment, such as Kiev or Cartagena, which are important for the Aarhus Convention and the issue itself, to achieve a synergic impact between them. The Kiev Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers plays its part in helping to reduce pollution and promote sustainable development. The purpose of applying the principles of Aarhus is to persuade public authorities and citizens to take individual and collective responsibility for environmental protection and improvement, so that the welfare of present and future generations can be ensured.
The Aarhus Convention is an important element in a functioning democracy. For that reason, my political group does not think it is right that these wide-ranging rights of the citizen should be abused where an appeal is concerned, with the aim of slowing down projects on purpose or providing a forum for fund-raising campaigns organised by NGOs. Neither can we accept that the legislative work done by political decision-makers should collapse amid the endless complaints of these organisations. It is simply not appropriate to keep exercising the right to complain. Such abuses also undermine the rights we set out to defend. This is why we will look carefully in the future at how the Community applies the right to appeal."@en1
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