Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-11-03-Speech-3-155"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.19991103.11.3-155"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Mr President, there are many factors which purchasers may wish to take into account when choosing a model of car. When I bought my first car my primary consideration was to be noticed in it by the opposite sex. Now other considerations such as safety and economy are more pertinent.
We welcome this legislation because it is important that the information outlined is made available to those purchasers for whom environmental and economy considerations are paramount.
People in the United Kingdom are particularly interested in fuel economy because of the punitive fuel tax levels set by our Labour Government, which particularly pose problems for people living in rural areas like my own where public transport is often non-existent.
My first reaction when I saw this directive was surprise. Not only have we had such a scheme of publicising fuel economy data for some time in Britain, but most people assume that the existing scheme is the result of a European directive already. In fact only Sweden and the United Kingdom have such a scheme. It is good to see Europe following Britain’s lead. The key to the success of the United Kingdom’s scheme is simplicity. I hope that the directive, as outlined in the common position, does not confuse consumers by going further than our scheme.
My first concern is that there is flexibility for Member States to extend the information available. Whilst I realise that there are subsidiarity implications for this flexibility it is also true that by having different information and different formats in different Member States this could distort the single market and confuse consumers who wish to buy in different states.
Secondly, the directive proposes to compile a top ten list of vehicles according to class. How does one define these classes? If it is based on the footprint of the car then we could see small saloons, four-wheel drive vehicles and two-seater sports cars listed together, clearly a nonsense. It is also possible that a manufacturer could move a model up to a class containing larger vehicles simply by adding 15 cm of plastic to the front. Top ten rankings may also differ in neighbouring countries.
In welcoming this scheme, I hope that when it is reviewed in 2003, if any of the problems I have mentioned have arisen, these can be addressed.
Finally, I congratulate Mr Sterckx on the way he presented this to the committee and for his cooperation."@en1
|
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
"Goodwill (PPE )."1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples