Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-12-11-Speech-1-133"
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"en.20061211.14.1-133"2
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"The negotiated compromise is neither a disaster for European industry, nor a wasted opportunity to improve healthcare for half a billion Europeans. It is indicative of the desire among MEPs and the EU-25 to find balanced solutions that represent ways forward, rather than barriers, and for this they deserve plaudits, not criticism. The regulation, in this administratively streamlined version, will undoubtedly bring fresh bureaucracy, for which the Union will be criticised. This is a clear levy that Europeans will have to pay for getting what they want, namely more detailed information on chemicals in products. We shall see how this influences consumer behaviour.
I am certain that such information, which costs a great deal of money, will provide fresh impetus for European research into developing useful substitutes and, where the regulation does not provide for substitutes, will safeguard the gradual, natural elimination of various harmful substances from products. Doctors will continue to carry out strict checks on dangerous substances and rightly so. Nothing comes for free, however, and industry is therefore right to defend itself against higher costs. We still cannot overlook the influence on competitiveness and unemployment in the Union for which politicians such as ourselves – and not doctors or industry – are responsible.
One serious shortcoming that I should once again like to highlight is the fact that the new system is solely European, and not global. Accordingly, despite its undoubted benefits, REACH will place the tightly regulated European economy at a disadvantage in the context of liberalised world trade. Indeed for this very reason, it offers consumers no protection from the dangers concealed in products from third countries, especially given that the unemployed will buy cheap products, legally or otherwise.
I therefore call on the Commission and the 27 Member States to ensure that European regulations match our ambitions on the world stage, because this is our political responsibility. It is our duty to try and raise environmental, safety and social standards in manufacturing, both in the Union and in third countries."@en1
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