Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-02-19-Speech-2-040"
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"en.20080219.5.2-040"2
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"Madam President, with all due respect to Mr Bloom, who has since fled the Chamber, I should like to add my voice to the chorus of praise for our three co-rapporteurs, to thank them for the time they put in and for their perseverance in achieving what is a fair compromise and a win-win solution for European manufacturing and for consumer safety.
Given that I have only two minutes and that I am speaking as a member of the Environment Committee, you will forgive me for focusing on key points, and particularly on the question of the CE marking system. Seven months after the Mattel incident and the withdrawal from the market – as we have already heard – of more than 20 million Chinese-made toys that were CE marked, the Union has been under more pressure than ever to improve the marking system. In recent years it had advocated a flexible, voluntary system based on the New Approach – a method which undoubtedly has its advantages but which, used in isolation, may be less than fully effective if certain manufacturers affix the CE mark in disregard of the rules, thus placing consumers at an obvious risk in terms of safety.
That is why this package of measures is essential for giving the authorities that deal with the problem – namely approval and certification bodies and customs services – the weaponry they need to combat abuses of the CE marking system.
It is no coincidence that the European Parliament has already spoken out on more than one occasion – most recently in the resolution on toy safety of September 2007 – in favour of tougher market surveillance. Our rapporteur, Mr Brie, placed considerable emphasis on that point.
As long ago as January 2004, with the support of Peter Liese, Karin Scheele and also Claude Turmes, my report on the Eco-design of Energy-using Products Directive deplored the obvious safety failings of very many products and the unreliability of certain labelling systems both compulsory and voluntary. Four years on, it would seem we have made little progress, and I must say – speaking on behalf of the very many professionals who have approached us on the subject – that is a matter of regret.
All measures that make for greater legal certainty and give additional assistance to industrialists and SMEs are, of course, welcome. I am thinking here of the local product contact system announced in the report, as well as Alexander Stubb’s announcement this morning of his own personal info point. I don’t know whether or not he’s planning to call it
but I wish him every success with it and I must say that I share my colleagues’ caution, as expressed in the oral question, on the subject of additional marking and its compatibility with the existing system.
I fully support the concern voiced by Arlene McCarthy, with her instructive example of the kettle this morning, and I am grateful to the Commissioner for indicating significant movement on that question.
In conclusion, Madam President, I would point out that the rules we are laying down here will be worthwhile only if they are observed, as they obviously should be, by European manufacturers and distributors and also – crucially, as Mia De Vits has just noted – by economic operators from third countries, especially importers."@en1
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"Stubb/SMEs.com"1
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