Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-05-11-Speech-3-481-000"
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"en.20110511.31.3-481-000"2
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"Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we are disappointed that it has not been possible to reach agreement on the Novel Foods Regulation and that therefore, it is not possible to guarantee adequate information for consumers on the foods that we eat or to ensure that Europe has clear, strict rules on foods from cloned animals.
What I have said is not meant to be controversial: it is not Parliament’s fault. If we have been unable to regulate cloning – one of the main sticking points in these negotiations – it is because the governments have not shown enough willingness. However – and I address this point to the governments and the Commission – food safety and information on the products that reach our tables are basic principles of the European Union. Everybody says so, but then we have to act accordingly, or else it becomes a slogan that consumers do not believe.
When these issues are being discussed, Parliament is not prepared to look the other way and content itself with the kind of general reassurances that the Council provided during the negotiations. On such a sensitive and serious food safety issue, it is not acceptable just to dab on a touch of face powder to look good to the consumers. Parliament was calling for a credible solution: the labelling of all foodstuffs derived from cloned animals and their offspring. That really would have been a step in the right direction.
I would like to make another remark on a more general level: the governments continue to think that it is their prerogative to make all decisions. It is still not clear to them that there is an institution – the European Parliament – which
. We are directly elected by the citizens and we are determined to enforce our rights. I invite the governments to read the Treaty of Lisbon carefully, because I am sure they have not paid attention to all parts of it.
I would like now to appeal to the Commission and to Commissioner Dalli, whose conduct during the negotiations was admirable, although perhaps the Commission did not explain his role in conciliating the positions. Commissioner, I invite you to table a proposal on cloning as soon as possible in order to regulate the sector effectively once and for all. That is what the people of Europe are calling for and what Parliament is calling for as well.
I would also like to acknowledge the Hungarian Presidency – which inherited this thorny problem only in the final stage of the procedure – for having made every possible effort to make up for lost time. I thank all the Hungarian Presidency representatives for that. I know they do not deserve any blame at all, which is due instead to the stalemate that occurred within the Council between the different national government positions.
Lastly, I would like to thank the rapporteur, who was magnificent: highly passionate, enthusiastic and competent. She has followed this dossier with a love that really does credit to her, and I believe all of us owe her a huge vote of thanks, as we also do to the whole delegation from Parliament, all our fellow Members, the chair of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, and everyone else.
We all worked together day and night to achieve a goal. We were not successful, but the questions have been raised and I am sure that, if Commissioner Dalli is true to his word, we will be able to find a way again to provide ourselves with good regulations on cloning and novel foods."@en1
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