Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-11-15-Speech-2-161"
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"en.20051115.25.2-161"2
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"Mr President, chemicals are important, indeed vitally so. They are part of our everyday life and basic to much of our modern human activity. At the same time, there is a general unease about chemicals. What are they doing to us and to our environment? A certain concern is justified, and I am therefore pleased that we in Parliament are to vote through new European chemicals legislation whereby we shall get to know which chemicals expose us to high risks and which do not do so. I am also pleased that we shall be able to ban chemicals that we need to get rid of and that we shall be able to keep those that we need.
We have helped make REACH give priority to having more attention given to those substances that constitute a serious threat, and we have obtained exemptions for substances we know are not hazardous, such as wood pulp and iron ore. This means that we shall avoid bureaucracy and unnecessary costs but, above all, it means that we shall use our limited resources to bring about the highest possible level of safety.
In Europe, many goals are set which we do not in actual fact achieve. Decisions in this Chamber often promise more than they can deliver. The old chemicals legislation was an excellent example of this. It was supposed to make us safe but has achieved almost nothing. Sometimes, the failures are merely embarrassing but, in the case of chemicals policy, they may be highly dangerous. That is why we need REACH, but a REACH that manages to deliver what it promises.
The great challenge for REACH is to design a policy that does not create barriers to trade and that does not limit other countries’ ability to sell their products on the European market. For it to do otherwise would be a disservice not only to the world around us but also to European consumers. It would be absurd if we in Parliament were to design legislation that was later declared unlawful by the WTO. I therefore hope that the Chamber will take on board the proposals put forward by the Committee on International Trade for reducing trade barriers.
Quite a few members, including the Swedish Social Democrats, appear inclined to stand aloof from the proposal and to vote against it in its entirety while, in the next breath, they accuse the whole Parliament of not bothering about the environment. The Swedish Social Democrats’ most important newspaper even describes Mr Schulz, the chairman of the political group here in Parliament that it supports, as a defector. I find that accusation cowardly, and it does not help improve the environment. Instead, the Social Democrats should ask themselves why they are standing aloof from the proposal. The overwhelming majority, from the right of centre political groups – the Group of the European People’s Party and European Democrats and the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe – to the Socialist Group in the European Parliament and now the Commission as well are in agreement, and it is we who shall keep the proposal afloat. I am very pleased to have been involved and to assume responsibility for voting new, firm European chemicals legislation into existence."@en1
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