Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-05-20-Speech-2-501"
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"en.20080520.35.2-501"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the Spanish Socialists are going to vote in solidarity and coherence with the district of Almadén, Spain, which is going to be seriously affected by the text that we are discussing and that we are to vote on tomorrow.
The district of Almadén and its people, my compatriots, have lived for centuries from the mercury that was extracted from their mines, which are the largest for this metal in Europe and the world. Over recent years they have suffered a considerable economic and social recession, as for various reasons, mercury mining has been gradually limited. We are now deciding to ban its export.
Not only have we not opposed this whole process, but, as we understand the health reasons behind it, we have focused our efforts on the one hand on raising the awareness of the population regarding the need to take on board the new situation and, on the other hand, on developing mechanisms to enable Almadén and its surrounding area to move forward by restructuring its activities based on the experience and working capacities of its people and taking advantage of an exceptional natural environment.
In Almadén we have been talking about the European Union as a context of solidarity. We have explained to the people that the Community institutions would continue to look after them, that they would receive help to continue with the efforts that they are leading with the help of the Spanish Government, the Regional Government of Castile-La Mancha and Ciudad Real Provincial Council; and this commitment has been confirmed by all the pronouncements made by Parliament.
Firstly, it has always been recommended that resources and mechanisms should be made available by the European Union and its Commission to support Almadén in restructuring its activity, so that the people will not suffer as a result of the closure of their traditional mining industry. Secondly, it has been recommended that, when considering a location for the mercury storage provided for in the Directive for all the metal that has or will appear in Europe, Almadén should be considered as a priority.
The logic was based on both the experience that has been accumulated here in handling mercury and on the fundamental fact that the majority of the mercury in Europe is already entirely safely stored in Almadén. This is something that was decided at the time and will not in any way be altered by what we adopt tomorrow, but rather, without naming Almadén, the consensus amendment that the parliamentary groups reached, which also appears to have the support of the Council and the Commission, means that the previous commitments remain fully in force. Although we would have preferred it to have been cited more expressly, and we will therefore vote for the amendments that do so, we understand that the text that will be adopted is sufficiently committed and will continue to support the interpretation of that text which will enable the district of Almadén to consolidate the socio-economic recovery that is already underway."@en1
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