Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-06-16-Speech-1-111"
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"en.20080616.20.1-111"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, ‘Water is life’ or ‘Water – valuable as diamonds’: those were the headlines and the motivation when we launched the Water Framework Directive in the year 2000. The directive on environmental quality standards in the field of water policy is now the last major daughter instrument to the Water Framework Directive. Its purpose is to set environmental quality standards for priority substances and priority hazardous substances so as to ensure that our water, the source of life, receives a high level of protection from risks, by which I mean the highest possible level of protection – the protection that is necessary and possible on the basis of the latest scientific knowledge.
In my view, however, this also means that the protection of water is a permanent task. We shall have to keep a constant political eye on scientific studies and findings with a view to assimilating new discoveries and guaranteeing the protection of water at all times and in all circumstances in accordance with the latest science and technology. It must never happen again that – as in the present case – the Commission does not fulfil its mandate and allows time to elapse without acting. The list of priority hazardous substances must be constantly reviewed and checked without delay. The Commission’s failure to act prompted us in Parliament to take action and propose a second list – a list containing substances that require checking on the basis of the latest findings. This list must not pre-classify or prejudge substances. It should also provide an opportunity to clear substances of suspicion. Substances must not, of course, be included in such a list on a mere whim. The PPE-DE Group has called for a faster and more prioritised treatment of the substances on which data are already available that indicate high risk levels. Six months will suffice, in our view.
I do very much hope, Commissioner, that full use will not be made of the 24-month period which is currently prescribed, for it must always be possible to act on safety findings without delay. We shall support
the compromise worked out by Mrs Laperrouze."@en1
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