Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-11-15-Speech-2-158"
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"en.20051115.25.2-158"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, while listening to the speeches of the two Commissioners and Lord Bach, who represented the UK Presidency, I was reflecting on the distance we have had to travel in order to arrive at this point.
Mr President, my work comes to an end at this point. I will naturally pay attention to the voting list in the next few hours, but let us say that the greater part of my job is done.
As Lord Bach and Commissioner Verheugen said earlier, we now have to seize the opportunity to speed up the decision-making and legislative process on this matter that has engaged so much of our attention. I said recently that an agreement is like a fruit: if it is not picked at the right time, when it is ripe, it rots and goes bad. Since this morning I have been carrying an apple in my pocket. It is not beautiful; it is small and covered with blemishes, because it was organically grown and contains no fungicides; but I think that it will taste very good and for this reason I shall eat it later.
I accordingly call upon Parliament to pick this fruit; in so doing we shall also help the other institutions, especially the Council, finally to close this file and to send out the message that I spoke of earlier.
You yourself have heard how close together the respective positions of the three institutions now are. I believe I can say that concerning the themes of registration, authorisation and other aspects that have been mentioned, there are no significant differences of opinion on points of principle. It is difficult to summarise this lengthy process in a few minutes, even though this is the longest time limit that I have been given since I became a Member of this Parliament.
I shall therefore devote only a few words to two key concepts: balance and responsibility. These are words that came to my mind this weekend, which I spent almost entirely doing some soul-searching. Particularly in the light of the attacks last week on the compromise that I initialled, I wondered in truth whether I had taken the right decision and whether a balance really had been achieved; in all conscience I had to reply in the affirmative. We have not only safeguarded but also reinforced the balance between those two essential factors that are close to all our hearts: namely protection of human health and the environment on the one hand and the maintenance of industrial competitiveness in Europe on the other.
It is easier to arrive at such a balance when one is approving a political resolution, since in that instance one is working solely with words. To reach a balance in a regulation of such importance, when so many often-conflicting interests are affected, is, in contrast, rather more difficult. In such circumstances, it is in fact also necessary to take account of technical data of considerable weight and importance.
From this perspective I feel that my conscience is clear. As far as human health and the environment are concerned – and I will confine myself to quoting only a few improvements to the Commission’s proposal to which I attach particular importance – we can bring forward the registration of persistent bioaccumulative substances. Subject to Parliament’s approval, of course, we shall also introduce the chemical safety report for the lower tonnage band, if only for the most hazardous substances. If Parliament endorses on Thursday the positions adopted by the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, we shall define an authorisation mechanism for the substitution of the most hazardous substances, very similar to the mechanism that the UK Presidency referred to a short while ago. I am particularly proud of this.
As for enterprises, I shall mention only the most important things that have been done. While maintaining the burden of proof, we have made the registration mechanisms more flexible for the low tonnage bands and have introduced a very important feature for small enterprises: namely data sharing, which has become obligatory apart from certain mechanisms for opting out.
I should also like to recall that, together with Mr Nassauer, we have at the eleventh hour extended the period envisaged for data protection and for research and development. I believe that these are all concrete actions that are moving in the right direction. In this connection, Mr Nassauer, may I say that during my weekend of reflection and soul-searching I was somewhat struck by the fact that, after the compromise we initialled together, you saw fit to table your earlier block of amendments as well. In this connection I must declare that should our compromise unhappily not be approved, I will naturally support the other block (number 2). I am optimistic about this.
I now turn to my second key concept: responsibility, to which I would add the word autonomy. We have been subjected to much pressure, albeit legitimate pressure, concerning the interests that we all have to represent in some way while seeking the best possible compromise that is acceptable to a majority in Parliament. We have come close to this objective; and meanwhile the positions of various institutions, in particular the two legislative ones, namely the Council and Parliament, have moved very close together. I believe that the ball is now in Parliament’s court, so to speak.
We are aware that many aspects of European integration are in difficulty at present. Nevertheless Parliament could today send out a strong, clear message on such an important subject to its citizens, enterprises and trade unions concerning its ability to decide and to reach a compromise that would by definition be as representative as possible of the wishes of all interested parties."@en1
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