Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-11-16-Speech-3-294"
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"en.20051116.20.3-294"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I shall try to encapsulate much in a short space of time. Hundreds and thousands of animals are caught in traps all over the European Union, and the practice is primarily used to manage animals living in the wild and, in particular, to combat pests, of which muskrats are but one example.
It was in 1998 that the EU, together with Canada, Russia and the USA, concluded the agreement on international humane trapping standards. These countries are the principal exporters of furs and pelts, and the EU, in two decisions, rightly justified this by reference to its competence in general economic policy and, in particular, in policy affecting the internal market. The present proposal for legislation constitutes an attempt at transposing this agreement into EU law; the substance of it is that the Commission is arguing for a balance – which certainly stands in need of further discussion – between the need for the avoidable suffering on the part of animals to be limited and the need for trapping as a means of catching them.
It has to be said, though, that the proposal takes environmental policy as its primary basis, but the EU is responsible for the well-being of animals only in conjunction with other policy areas, such as agriculture, transport, the single market or research. It follows that it possesses no general competence with regard to the well-being of animals in the wild. This House, of course, is – as of course, am I – all in favour of safeguarding the well-being of animals in the wild, but that, as a subject for legislation, is a matter for the Member States. It is because the European Parliament, as the European legislature, must respect the Member States’ rights under subsidiarity that it must reject this proposal for legislation irrespective of the good intentions it contains.
I have to tell the Commissioner that the enactment of relevant regulations by the Member States will discharge the European Union’s obligations."@en1
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