Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-05-04-Speech-1-163"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20090504.21.1-163"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Madam President, we have a compromise; we possibly have before us tomorrow a first-reading agreement. For my part, as rapporteur in this Parliament, I would say that this has been a very difficult file, a very difficult journey.
However, we have arrived at a position where, I hope, we will respect the wishes of those Members of Parliament who signed the written declaration on this subject and we will have respected the wishes of many citizens in many of our countries across the EU who tell us that they do not like what they see of the commercial seal hunt and that they wish to have no association with the trade that results from that hunt. We have respected that wish; we have dealt solely with what we can deal with within the confines of Europe’s internal market: the circulation of goods in the market that arise from the commercial hunt. Following this piece of legislation – if it goes through tomorrow – our consumers should be assured that nothing from the commercial hunt will be sold on Europe’s market.
But, of course, there are exceptions. Seals are very beautiful marine animals – in fact, I have realised during this process that they have great PR – but to some they are the rats of the sea. That is how they are perceived by many fishermen: an adult seal gets through an enormous amount of fish on a daily basis. Therefore, there will remain the need for seals to be hunted to ensure the sustainability of fisheries in some area.
But what we have not done here is to regulate hunting. If people in any of our Member States wish to hunt, they can still continue to hunt. What they cannot do is take commercial gain from the results of that hunt. But it should be the case that the results of the hunt can be used, and I hope particularly that those parts of seals that can be used by the medical community will be able to be used.
The most difficult aspect of all of this has been the place in it of the Arctic traditional communities – the indigenous people of the Arctic. We say we have an exception for them, but how will being associated with a banned product actually affect their lifestyle and their economy? The Arctic is not some sort of theme park or museum: it is a living, breathing community with its own modern economy and at the heart of that is what is taken from the seas. I hope that those communities will be able to continue to exist in the way that they always have. But I have my doubts, and I know that those doubts were behind the decision of the Arctic Council last week to refuse to give the EU permanent observer status.
This file has been, for me, a conundrum. I have wrestled with the clash of liberties, I have respected the vote in committee and I have tried to respect the views of those I represent at home. But I share only this with you today: I had a delegation from the Nunavut community come to see me. After our exchange of views, we were all in tears. I hope the derogation works. I will support this package tomorrow but I hope it will turn out to have been the right thing to do."@en1
|
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata | |
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples