Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-11-13-Speech-2-410"
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"en.20071113.36.2-410"2
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"Madam President, I would like to thank all the speakers in this very interesting debate for their positive contributions. I agree with most of the speakers, especially Ms McGuinness, Mr Tomaszewska and Mr Matsakis, who said that this committee is one of the most important committees and that it connects European citizens with the European Union’s institutions. I fully agree and I am willing to cooperate as much as possible in order to respond to the concerns of European citizens.
I would like to answer two main questions: how to conciliate the precautionary principle with the need to have evidence before attacking a Member State. I am aware of the issues raised by Mr Hammerstein and I would like to say that legal enforcement action can only challenge decisions formally taken by Member States in breach of European Union law. The Commission cannot initiate legal proceedings on a judgment of intent. Therefore, until a decision is formally taken, there is no room for legal action.
Regarding the issue of the speed of action, the Commission needs to respect the procedural requirements of the Treaty and to make sure that it has developed the right arguments and compiled the necessary evidence where court action is needed. This can take time. Nevertheless, in December 2006, the Commission – myself, actually – for the first time obtained an interim order from the European Court of Justice in the environment domain, suspending illegal hunting rules in Italy before the main legal action was heard. On 18 April 2007, we obtained our first interim order in relation to an infrastructural project.
Each case needs to be evaluated on its own merits, even if recent initiatives from the Commission, supported by the European Parliament, such as those relating to illegal hunting in Italy, which I have previously referred to, or to the Rospuda Valley, illustrate the interest of using this procedure in order to protect the environment. It should not be used as a routine mechanism. This mechanism should only be used for high-profile cases where the adoption of interim measures can have a pedagogical effect.
In conclusion, I would like to thank the rapporteur once again for his very informative report, which I sincerely hope will contribute to raising the visibility of the work of the Committee on Petitions, and I assure you, once again, of the Commission’s firm commitment to collaboration with you all."@en1
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