Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-07-02-Speech-1-130-000"
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"en.20120702.20.1-130-000"2
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"Mr President, I should like to start by thanking Mr Seeber for the good work he has done and for cooperating so well with the shadow rapporteur. The problem of water shortages and droughts is nothing new, but it has got worse. In the last 30 years, the number of areas and people affected has risen by almost 20%. The total cost of droughts over the last 30 years is around EUR 100 billion. In 2003 alone, drought affected more than 10 million people and one third of EU territory, costing the European economy EUR 8.7 million.
Water shortages no longer just affect the countries of southern Europe and the trend is towards the situation being made worse by climate change, threatening important sectors of the economy, such as the energy and farming sectors. It is estimated that climate change will have a negative impact on precipitation levels and water cycles, with very significant effects on the quantity and quality of water. For example, in my country, Portugal, around 70% of the land was suffering severe drought at the end of February. The proposal of creating a European Drought Observatory therefore makes perfect sense.
European policy should thus focus on savings and efficiency. We need to reuse and recycle waste water. Water is a public good that is scarce, not a commodity. We must all contribute to its being a resource that is preserved."@en1
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