Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-11-12-Speech-1-161"
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"en.20071112.20.1-161"2
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"Mr President, Secretary, I should like to start by expressing my sincere congratulations to our rapporteur, Mrs Gutiérrez-Cortines, and by thanking her for her enormous efforts to strike a balance between supporters and opponents of this Directive, in what is after all a very difficult dossier.
Personally, I am firmly convinced that a European Directive on soil protection is necessary, for various reasons. I hope that there is still a chance of my convincing Mrs McGuinness.
Some MEPs reject the framework directive because their country already has far-reaching legislation on soil. My region – Flanders – has also been conducting a progressive soil policy for some years. For example, a system of compulsory soil certificates in the case of property transfers – even now inconceivable in many Member States – has been in place for a long time.
I should like to turn the reasoning of these Members around. This flexible Directive not only provides a framework for those Member States that do not yet have a soil policy but is also clearly capable of preventing the undermining of the competitive position of the countries and regions that are already making an effort. For this reason, it is very important that all Member States take the measures presented in the report.
There is certainly a cross-border impact in a great many places: for example, erosion in Flanders could generate sludge in the Netherlands and vice versa. The Directive also provides a coherent framework for existing legislation on soil protection.
I could give more reasons but, because of time constraints, I shall conclude by saying that the report under discussion today fills all the aforementioned needs much better than the original Commission proposal. I myself have also tabled many amendments and am very pleased with the result.
The proposal provides the Member States with sufficient elbow room, creates no additional administrative burdens or duplication, and also explicitly recognises the role of regional authorities. I therefore hope for strong support from my fellow Members in tomorrow’s vote."@en1
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