Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-04-22-Speech-2-311"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20080422.50.2-311"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Mr President, let us be honest. The EU satellite radio navigation programmes are an unmitigated disaster. The private sector has been quick to spot the pig in a poke and has shown Galileo a clean pair of heels. But is the EU prepared to accept the obvious and abandon the project? No, far from it. Instead, we have this report, which advocates not only that the project should go charging ahead, but that the European taxpayer should pick up the entire cost. It asks for, in this case, a massive increase in the budget, from GBP 120 million to GBP 715 million. In other words, we are seeing the beginning of an open-cheque-book situation for this shameful project.
The United States has its own satellite system, GPS, and therefore the EU must have one as well; this is the guiding principle behind Galileo. It is kindergarten policy-making which defies common sense, has no credible economic justification and is morally and environmentally corrupt.
This institution spends a great deal of time discussing the environment and bringing forward hair-shirt measures designed to force people living in Europe into a kind of permanent guilt-ridden existence over their carbon footprint. Yet here we are pushing forward a project whose impact on the environment will be almost beyond calculation. Has anyone stopped to consider the carbon footprint of launching into orbit the 30 satellites required by the Galileo system, which will require the burning of massive amounts of rocket engine propellant? The EU’s environmental credentials are already highly questionable, because of the depredations of the CFP and the CAP, not to mention the unnecessary provisions of Parliament’s two buildings, here and in Brussels.
I call upon all Members here today, especially those who see themselves as environmental warriors, to examine their conscience and to oppose this colossal white elephant. We do not need to duplicate facilities already available from the American GPS, and we certainly should not inflict so much unnecessary carbon pollutant upon this environment."@en1
|
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples