Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-10-06-Speech-3-085"

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"Madam President, honourable Members, representative of the Presidency of the Council, I would like to express my thanks for your committed, factual and very numerous contributions regarding the consequences and the measures to be taken. That applies to your many parliamentary questions in recent weeks that we have had to answer, as well as to today’s debate, which we have followed attentively and will evaluate and take into account in our communication that will follow within the next two weeks. I agree with many of the suggestions made and add my support to them. For example, we are having intense dialogue with BP to ensure – and there is a good chance of doing so – that BP not only accepts the highest security standards, higher than those at present, in European waters, but also exports these standards, if I may put it like that. BP will be prepared to apply the same standards to similar drilling and rigs off the coast of Libya as in the North Sea, even though, under Libyan law, this may not be necessary in order to obtain authorisation and may not be laid down in legislation. Then we must tackle the issue of where we only want to make proposals for standards to be observed in national law and where we want to create European law. This will be more limited in the case of oil vessels than in the case of mobile transport, but does not exist at all at present in respect of stationary rigs. Some have called for us to move out of oil and into renewable energy instead. We support this too. Let us not be under any illusions, however. Our European economy and society will continue to require large volumes of oil for transport for the coming 20 to 30 years at least. There is no prospect of the aircraft taking you home from Brussels to your home countries – to Madrid, Lisbon, Sofia, Riga or Munich – managing without oil in the next 20 to 30 years. As members of a mobile community who take flights, we all need oil if Europe is not to come to a standstill. The same applies to long-distance coaches and buses; the same applies to transport by heavy goods vehicle; and, despite the development of electric cars, it will still be true for individual transport, for cars, for a long time to come. At present, there are just over 200 million cars registered in the countries of the European Union. If Poland and the new Member States achieve the same density as currently exists in France and Germany, then in 15 years’ time, there will be 300 million cars. While they may be energy efficient, the vast majority of these will nonetheless run on oil. In other words, moving away from oil and into renewable energy is a long-term policy, but over the coming 10 to 30 years, demand for oil in Europe will not decline. Given the need for the vehicle density of some states to catch up, it will instead tend to increase slightly – however efficient we make it. This is even more true at a global level. This is why we need the highest level of security possible: for the required extraction of oil for our economy and society, as I have outlined. We will come back to you on this and I am counting on your support. I would also like to thank the Member States, who have been very constructive in this area. Nonetheless, I would urge you to work on your national governments with the same intensity as you have demonstrated here today, so that the Council may also be prepared to pass such legislation on higher standards either unanimously or with a clear majority. I am not yet convinced that all the Member States are currently prepared for European standards to be passed by you and the Council following proposals by the Commission."@en1
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