Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-04-20-Speech-5-086-000"
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"en.20120420.8.5-086-000"2
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"Mr President, Mr Potočnik, ladies and gentlemen, the European Parliament wants to introduce a 7th Environment Action Programme (EAP) in the European Union. It would not make sense for us to give up our efforts to improve the quality of the environment and of health in Europe when the 6th EAP comes to an end in June. However, the 7th EAP must not be a copy of the 6th programme. We have come much further along the road and we are facing much bigger challenges.
We need to take a new approach in the 7th EAP: a horizontal approach covering all other areas of policy. We are exposed to systemic risks. Mr Potočnik, you have just mentioned the fact that climate change, the loss of biodiversity and the shortage of resources are all challenges which cannot be overcome by traditional environmental policy alone. We need to involve all the other portfolios and all the other policy areas in the EU and, in particular, energy and transport policy, agriculture and fisheries policy, cohesion policy and, most importantly, economic and financial policy. I would like to emphasise this point, because this is the most difficult aspect. How can we ensure that the finance and economy ministers treat greening as a central issue within their areas?
Parliament has drafted 80 paragraphs containing proposals for the content and the procedure for a 7th EAP and these include calls for the abolition of subsidies which harm the environment. Following the greening of tax policy, we must incorporate external costs in our prices. The principle that the polluter pays must be applied gradually. As part of our macro-economic controls, we also need to monitor sustainability within the European Semester. We have come up with many other ideas in this area. Europe’s environmental footprint as a whole is far too large. If all the 7 billion people on this planet today and the 9 billion that there will be by the middle of the century were to use as much energy and as many resources as we do, we would need two planets, not just one. We know that there are limits to the resources which our planet can provide. For this reason, we need to make major cuts in our resource consumption. The 7th EAP must open the door to a green economy and to a policy of resource efficiency.
We need to focus, in particular, on urban environments. More and more people are living in large conurbations and in these areas, we can set a good example of resource management and resource efficiency. Green cities are our objective in Europe. There are many good examples and best practices which must be applied everywhere. Of course, protecting the environment should also help us to protect people’s health. We must send out a clear message to the public that protecting the environment and public health form an integral part of the 7th EAP. This will help to ensure that it gains acceptance. There are still a number of difficulties in this area. Air pollution levels are still too high and noise pollution is a huge problem. Noise is an issue that has been neglected and completely underrated in our environmental policy. There are still many toxic chemicals that make their way into the environment and have an impact on health. Nanomaterials and other new materials need careful investigation and also present us with new challenges.
The best legislation and the best programmes are useless if they are not implemented. The 7th EAP must resolve the problem of the implementation deficit. Ultimately, I believe that Europe must send a message to the world that we need sustainable management. Otherwise, the human race will not survive on earth."@en1
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