Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-11-22-Speech-1-115"
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"en.20101122.16.1-115"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the introduction of alien species is one of the main factors in the disturbance of ecosystems and one of the main reasons for global biodiversity loss.
As the Commission itself notes, the introduction of alien species into Europe’s coastal seas and inland waters is due in a great many cases to aquaculture and stocking practices. The Commission’s proposed amendment to the regulation concerning the use of alien and locally absent species in aquaculture is based on the results of a research project, the IMPASSE project, which has brought together various European institutions in a concerted action focusing on the environmental impacts of alien species in aquaculture.
This project proposes an operational definition of a closed aquaculture facility, giving greater detail to and expanding the definition currently in use. In line with this definition and according to the conclusions of the project, ‘the degree of risk associated with alien species could be reduced considerably, possibly to an acceptable level, if the potential for escape of target and non-target organisms is addressed during transportation and by well-defined protocols at the receiving facility’.
In view of the results of this project, the Commission is proposing to ease the unnecessary administrative formalities required of operators by proposing to dispense with the permit requirement for introductions and translocations for closed aquaculture facilities. It should be stressed here that, while the risk assessment process is based on scientific and technical analyses, the verdict on the acceptability of risk is the subject of a political decision. We therefore believe that relaxing the introduction procedure for alien species in aquaculture must go hand in hand with the most stringent definition possible of the requirements with which closed aquaculture facilities will have to comply, in keeping with the results of the IMPASSE project.
The need to supervise the facilities must also be established, with the aim of ensuring that all technical requirements put forward by the experts are actually taken into account and complied with during the operation of the facilities. This also applies to the care to be taken in transporting target and non-target species to or from the facilities. These were the main concerns in drawing up the report and the proposed amendments to the Commission’s original proposal.
Allow me to make one further comment: The sustainable development of aquaculture demands substantial support for scientific research and technological development in the area of farming native species, so as to enable production and diversification in the supply of foodstuffs, along with an improvement in quality, while also guaranteeing greater environmental security.
This legislative initiative should therefore be backed up by strong backing for this area. It is necessary to explore the potential of aquaculture, but there is also a need to overcome its limitations in an environmentally sustainable way. Among other things, it will be vital to refocus the priorities of the Framework Research Programme, so as to enable adequate coverage of this important area of research.
It only remains for me to express my gratitude to all the shadow rapporteurs for their help, thanks to which it was possible to complete a fruitful piece of work, and to the services of the Commission and the Council, including the Spanish Presidency and now the Belgian Presidency, for the work that we have carried out over these months."@en1
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