Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-12-11-Speech-1-095"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20061211.14.1-095"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the image of a mountain has been used many times today. All I can say in that regard is: the mountain laboured and brought forth a mouse. This is a shaky compromise – no amount of glossing over can hide that fact. Looking at the starting position at first reading, Parliament has quite clearly given way.
This compromise is a Christmas gift to the European chemicals industry, and the imprint of the German chemicals-industry lobby is clearly visible. The European public is not being told why Parliament has given up the substitution requirement. REACH will offer no incentives for replacing chemicals of particular concern with safer alternatives. The heart of substitution has been sacrificed on the altar of the chemicals industry.
This is indeed shameful, because human beings, nature and animals will continue to be test subjects in a large-scale experiment in future. It is particularly shameful because chemicals do not even need to be replaced when there are feasible alternatives. Not even catch phrases such as ‘substitution plan’ or ‘appropriate controls’ can hide this fact. This is a will-o’—the-wisp, an eyewash, as European industrial toxins are turning up where they have no business being, namely in the blood of babies and adults, in mothers’ milk, in drinking water and in the fatty tissue of polar bears.
We are also deceiving ourselves if, like one of the previous speakers, we believe that research is being carried out into the very neurotoxic substances that feature in the alarming brain study to which she refers. Nor will there be any compulsory testing in this connection. These substances will continue to circulate on the market, therefore, even where there are feasible alternatives; that is what is really shameful.
This compromise also makes a mockery of transparency. The fact that members of the European Chemicals Agency can keep their names and financial interests secret is not only absurd but also signifies the disempowerment of consumers, who will continue to grope around in the dark. Not only are they exposed to the risks, they cannot protect themselves from them either. There is only a very small number of chemicals about which consumers can find out information – and only after going through a lengthy individual process. This is the age of the Internet, yet we have not managed to allow consumers to access this information online. We are talking about substances causing neurological and hepatic disorders, of all things, and they are not allowed to know anything. REACH is a sham, therefore. Parliament started out a tiger, but ended up a bedside rug."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples