Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-03-13-Speech-1-156"
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"en.20060313.21.1-156"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I should like to start by expressing my appreciation for the very good job done in the report we are debating today. In particular, I should like to thank Mr Matsakis for his exceptionally constructive and substantial contribution to it.
I should like to comment briefly on the basic purpose and the objectives of the strategy concerning mercury. The basic purpose of the strategy is to reduce mercury levels in the environment and man's exposure to mercury, especially methylmercury contained in fish. Mercury and its compounds are highly toxic to man, ecosystems and wild birds. High doses can prove to be fatal to man and, even in relatively limited doses, may have serious repercussions on human health.
The strategy has the following six objectives: to reduce mercury emissions, to reduce the available quantities of mercury by cutting the relative supply and demand, to resolve the long-term problem of limiting surpluses and stocks of mercury in products which are still in use or have been stored in recent years, to protect against mercury exposure, to improve understanding of the problems caused by mercury and its unavoidable uses and to support and promote international action to address the question of mercury.
Over recent decades, numerous actions have been taken at Community level to address the problem of mercury and reduce emissions and uses of and exposure to it. At the same time, this and everything we have done to date is not enough. A great deal more needs to be done. At the strategy preparation stage, the Commission paid particular attention to identifying the most important aspects of the mercury problem which continue to exist and the sectors in which it would be possible for further action to be taken on the part of the European Union.
The main sectors examined and for which action is proposed in the short term are as follows: the supply of mercury to the market and mercury exports, mercury surpluses from the chlor-alkali industry, the use of mercury in measuring and control equipment and mercury emissions from coal burning. We should not forget that it will take decades to completely wipe out the problem of mercury. Today's levels are due to past mercury emissions and it will take time for these levels to stabilise, even if there are no new mercury emissions.
I should also like to emphasise the importance which joint international action has, of course, with the initiatives being taken at European Union level. Mercury is a global pollutant and the Commission intends to organise an international conference in Brussels on 26 and 27 October of this year in order to strengthen the momentum which exists on the international field as regards addressing this issue.
To close, I would like to thank Mr Matsakis and Parliament as a whole once again for their work and to repeat my promise to help shape even stricter European Union policies for better protection of health and the environment."@en1
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