Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-11-18-Speech-2-400"
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"en.20081118.31.2-400"2
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"Mr President, firstly I wish to congratulate Mrs Kauppi, the rapporteur, on her excellent work as, thanks to her, the Committee on Legal Affairs has found a compromise which was, I recall, Commissioner, adopted unanimously. This is, then, a clear signal. It will reconcile the need of companies, especially SMEs, for administrative simplicity and the citizen’s right to information, whilst leaving Member States the option of retaining publication requirements, if they so wish.
I am convinced that the European Parliament will follow the lead from the Committee on Legal Affairs. The 27 Member States have their traditions. Some advocate the Internet exclusively. Others still use more traditional paper methods of communication. These traditions have to be respected. Let us not forget that 50% of Europe’s citizens have no Internet access. If the information were only available on a single electronic platform, those unable to access the Internet, or who prefer to use paper, would be unable to receive information about companies in their region.
I believe that the European Parliament well understands that simply abolishing the publication of judicial and legal announcements in regional newspapers, for example, would have disastrous consequences. As a result, the Member States must be able to organise the distribution of information via complementary channels, under specific conditions.
Commissioner, this is not an ideological debate. Do you not think, in the current circumstances, that you have other things to do instead of hindering something which is working well in the Member States?
In seeking always to simplify, there is sometimes the risk of making things more complicated. Reducing costs? Yes, but at what price? Easing the restrictions to increase competitiveness? Yes, but what happens to competitiveness when the simplification risks severely damaging the economy of an entire sector? There is a strong desire for the Commission to take notice of the fact that we support solutions which will allow the printed press to overcome the difficulties it currently faces.
Commissioner, you should not be impervious to the traditions of the Member States. By acting in this way, you are responsible for risking redundancies for a certain number of journalists and a lack of information for a large part of the population.
We are looking for a balanced directive incorporating the electronic platform and the single fee. We are convinced that we have achieved this solution, and you must respect the European Parliament’s vote."@en1
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