Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-11-15-Speech-2-177"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20051115.25.2-177"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, I speak on behalf of the overwhelming majority in my political group. The Left in the EU want to see REACH couched in strong terms. We want to see a REACH whereby we are told about the effects of chemicals, including those manufactured in smaller volumes. We want to see a chemicals policy that makes it compulsory to phase out and ban the most hazardous chemicals of all. We want companies to have clear responsibility for their products. This is in the interests both of public health and of employees’ safety. Every serious analysis shows that the benefits of an efficient chemicals policy greatly exceed the often hugely exaggerated costs of chemicals policies in general. It should be self-evident that REACH is a good thing. Companies need to know what they are doing and to accept responsibility for what they do.
In the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, we arrived at what in the main was a constructive compromise. I deeply regret the fact that socialists and liberals have run away from that compromise and chosen instead to reach a settlement with the Right. The Nassauer/Sacconi compromise drastically weakens what we aspired to achieve in terms of an efficient REACH. It means that we shall not learn about the effects of chemicals. A full 90% of low volume chemicals may be exempted, and chemicals within the higher volume band are also exempt from proper tests. This means that we shall not be able to obtain the knowledge required for an efficient chemicals policy.
We believe that this is wholly unacceptable. Our political group will never be able to agree to chemicals policy being weakened in such a way. We have therefore chosen to join with the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance in putting forward the alternative proposal.
Many Members of this Parliament have in practice acted as mouthpieces for the chemical industry’s lobbyists. I think that this has sometimes been depressing to see.
To Mrs Ek I should like to say the following: you talk about the environment but, at every possible opportunity, you have consistently made efforts to weaken and impair this draft legislation. This is the most important proposal on environmental issues that we have dealt with for many years in the EU system. What you are advocating is not an environmental policy.
To the European Commission I should like to say the following. You have lost credibility on environmental issues. You are running away from your own proposal. You are not even standing up and defending what you yourselves proposed as recently as a few years ago. That is weakness, in my view. You no longer have any credibility on environmental policy.
Finally, Sacconi’s apple. If you have been given this apple by Mr Nassauer, then I would look out. It is probably chock-full of dangerous chemicals and insecticides and presumably rotten inside."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples