Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-09-12-Speech-1-073-000"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20110912.21.1-073-000"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, firstly I wish to thank Mr Bütikofer for the text he has drafted, and this is not just a matter of form. I also wish to thank all the Members who have tabled opinions on the report, because the result achieved is an extremely positive one in my view, and is in harmony with the European Commission’s efforts to strategically address the extremely important issue of raw materials.
As regards sustainability, we must pursue our efforts to reconcile extraction activities with high environmental protection requirements. Clearly, in order to reconcile these elements, we need to base our efforts on a research and innovation policy, but success in this area also depends on the way in which we formulate policies on access to earths and on the promotion of environmentally friendly mineral extraction activities. For this reason, I am working extremely closely with Commissioner Potočnik also. This is an area that largely comes under the jurisdiction of the Member States, but the Commission may be able to act as a facilitator. Of course the ultimate responsibility lies, I repeat, with the Member States.
Lastly, next week we shall be adopting the flagship initiative on resource efficiency, in which various practical solutions will be provided, particularly regarding recycling.
The examples that I mentioned concern only a few cases, and I wish to tell Parliament that I am also working hard with the Swedish Government, which held an important meeting on raw materials extraction in the Barents Sea in this very Chamber a few months ago, before the summer recess. I am in contact with Minister Bildt and I will be travelling to Sweden so that we can work together. I also wish to inform Parliament that I have also met with the new prime minister of Greenland, and we are already working on my visit to Greenland to address the issue of raw materials. There is a positive desire on the part of Greenland to work with us to address and explore a raw materials strategy that will apply in the long term also.
That is everything that we are doing, and I shall say it again: I consider this strong relationship with Parliament to be extremely important. It will play a crucial role, especially when it comes to the development of a robust strategy that provides practical solutions for industry without causing environmental damage. I apologise if I have taken longer than planned, but this is such an important issue that it merits an in-depth debate.
Why do I say that this report has convinced me, and why do I say that it is in harmony with the European Commission’s strategy and hence strengthens, politically, the joint action and cooperation between the Commission and Parliament in this extremely important area? Firstly, because the report considers the problems and the opportunities that we may have from every angle; secondly, because it strikes the right balance between the various political options; and thirdly, because it contains practical and extremely interesting suggestions and recommendations that contribute to the development and improvement of a strategy.
I said at the beginning of my speech that I felt that cooperation between Parliament and the Commission was crucial. We have been working for several months now with Mr Bütikofer, and with many other Members, too; I am thinking of the ‘raw materials club’, which was the initiative of Members from various political groups – Mr Rübig, Mr Florenz, Ms Merkies, Mr Bütikofer – and of the recent proposal by the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy to launch a pilot project in 2012 aimed at the creation of a network of experts on rare earths. I think that this proposal could also make an excellent contribution to the future partnership on raw materials.
It is clear why the political involvement of all the institutions has become crucial; your report explains this point very well. One piece of information that I feel is particularly significant and which struck me this morning when I was reading the report on my way from Munich to Strasbourg is the part that helps give us a concrete idea of how the supply of raw materials is hindering the competitiveness of our businesses; it struck me when Mr Bütikofer wrote that raw material cost as a proportion of total production cost is far higher than workers’ payroll cost and that the trend is for an increase in all sectors in the medium term.
I should like to focus now on a few fundamental aspects of this strategy, the three different pillars of which – supply outside the EU, supply within the EU, and resource efficiency, recycling and substitution – are, in my view, vital elements, and I am convinced as well as pleased that Parliament agrees with this.
Innovation is vital in order to make progress in each of the sectors covered by the EU raw materials strategy, which has to include the entire value chain, from prospecting to extraction, processing, recycling and substitution, in order to be complete.
Therefore, the launch of an innovation partnership on raw materials may also act as an important incentive to help ensure that real progress is made. I am even more optimistic than Mr Bütikofer: it seems to me that, more than resistance, the reservations and misgivings of some Member States have now been overcome, not least because the Competitiveness Council has given the green light to this initiative of ours, and so I believe that the important thing now is to focus on how we can work together on this innovation partnership.
The other topic that was addressed in the report, and also in Mr Bütikofer’s speech, concerns raw materials diplomacy: ongoing attention must be paid to these materials in our international relations, both from a trade point of view and from the point of view of other aspects. Together with the United States and Japan, we have taken the first steps towards closer cooperation in this sector. As part of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy and the Joint Africa-EU Action Plan, the African Union and the European Union have pledged to work towards a coherent approach to the development of raw materials extraction activities with the aim of supporting Africa’s capabilities at national, subregional and continental level.
The Africa-EU High Level Conference on Raw Materials, to be held on 1 December, will provide the political impetus needed to take this partnership forward. Russia and Latin America are two other fronts on which we are working – I will be in Moscow at the end of October, and I was in Chile in June. We have signed an agreement with Chile, and I am endeavouring to have it signed by Argentina and Brazil in the next few months, before the end of the year. Let us remember that Chile is one of the main producers of lithium, and very high-quality lithium at that – it is perhaps the best in the world. The country’s relationship with the European Union has been welcomed very enthusiastically, as was also highlighted by a meeting held with the Republic’s president and its entire government, precisely in order to emphasise the importance of the strategic raw materials agreement with the Union."@en1
|
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples