Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-09-25-Speech-1-097"
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"Mr President, thank you for giving me the opportunity to participate in this evening's debate on the thematic strategy on the urban environment, which the European Parliament has been waiting for from the Commission with particular interest.
Some people have called for more legislation and targets which will bring about improvements. I can understand that from a theoretical point of view and agree in principle. I wish that it were in fact possible for us to proceed in this manner.
Unfortunately, this is not useful or feasible and there are basic reasons why the strategy is not in favour of introducing new legislation. To be specific, the reason is that solutions must comply with the principle of subsidiarity and our cities are so different from each other that there is no common solution for them all.
We already have legislative acts which would have positive results on the urban environment if they were properly applied. We already have legislation which has a positive impact on the environment and the quality of life in cities. Just think, for example, of all the legislation we have on ambient air quality, noise, waste and water, to mention just a few of the issues covered.
Nonetheless, this legislation must be applied better. Instead of legislative solutions, the strategy proposes guidance on how to improve the management of urban areas in an integrated manner and increase sustainability in the transport which will be included in the Green Paper on urban transport which is expected to be approved in 2007.
This will lead to better compliance with current environmental legislation and to improved cohesion between the various political and the various administrative levels. This is the approach which all the interested parties which we consulted clearly and repeatedly stated they preferred. This approach will be supplemented by other support measures, such as creating suitable structures, exchanging best practices and setting up incentives under the Community Structural Funds.
The Member States should include urban environmental issues in national programmes for funding under the Community cohesion policy, so that regional and local authorities can benefit from the funding opportunities available.
I should like to start by thanking and congratulating the rapporteur, Mr Hegyi, and the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety for the full and ambitious report being examined today.
I also welcome the contribution by Mr Ó Neachtain and the Committee on Transport and Tourism and by Mrs Kallenbach and the Committee on Regional Development.
Before I continue, I should like to share with you the welcome news that the Commissioners approved the seventh and final thematic strategy on soil last Friday. The preparation of these strategies was difficult and time-consuming. However, a clear way forward has now been identified for topical environmental issues, which include the policy on the urban environment.
The urban environment is an important issue for us all. With the Sixth Environmental Action Programme, the Commission recognised the role which the urban environment plays in the lives of so many European citizens and undertook to take action in this sector.
The urban environment directly affects the way of life of millions of European citizens and also has important repercussions on the environment in general. European cities must be viable, sustainable and offer high quality of life, so that citizens will want to live and work there and companies will invest.
Nonetheless, a great deal of effort still needs to be made in this respect. Clearly urban areas promote economic growth and have high levels of supply of and access to public services, such as education, health and transport.
The reverse side of the coin, however, is the myriad problems relating to life in the city, such as the deterioration in the environment, traffic congestion, economic and social exclusion, crime and alienation. The purpose of the strategy in question is to promote and facilitate sustainable urban growth, focusing on environmental issues such as air pollution, external noise, high levels of traffic, emissions of greenhouse gases, chaotic building development, water consumption and waste generation.
The problems were easy to identify, but finding solutions to them was very difficult. This mainly applies when the objective is to find solutions which can be tried and are viable and suitable for the plethora and variety of conditions and problems in the various cities of the European Union. That is why, despite the fact that the European Commission and the Committee on the Environment agree in substance, they disagree on the way forward."@en1
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