Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-11-03-Speech-3-160"
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"en.19991103.11.3-160"2
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"Mr President, I want first to address the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection and, of course, Mr Sterckx, and to praise the latter for his work on this recommendation for second reading and, above all, for the fact that it has been shown in this way that work can be done quickly and efficiently.
Mr Goodwill has gone out now. Otherwise, I should have wanted to say that the goal must be for environmentally friendly cars also to be able to impress the opposite sex. We hope that, one day, this will be the case and that there will be good grounds for maintaining that the car concerned is environmentally friendly.
We support the rapporteur’s recommendation to accept the present common position without further changes. It can also be seen from the recommendation for second reading and from Mr Sterckx’s intervention that the common position takes account of many of the European Parliament’s points of view.
We consider that consumers should be informed systematically and without unnecessary delays about the fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions of new private cars. In this way, consumers can be helped to make the right decisions. True, this is not going to change the world but it can be a small move in a larger strategy. Just as Mrs Flemming said, there is certainly a need for further measures in the future.
We followed the discussions in committee very carefully. Even though there were some proposals as to how one might be able to improve the common position, rapid implementation was considered to be the most important thing. We are well aware of the fact that, in its current version, the directive is only the first step on the way towards a situation in which the consumer is better informed. Here are two examples by way of illustration. Firstly, we intend as soon as possible to develop the directive further by applying Article No 9 in connection with the inspection process and Article No 10 in connection with establishing the relevant committee. The Commission’s officials are at present working on the implementation of these articles. In the course of the work, we shall in, all probability, be returning to some of the Committee’s remarks.
Secondly, the Commission also has plans to create an Internet page with information about the fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions of private cars for sale within the European Union. This demonstrates that we want the consumer to have this information as soon as possible.
I want to say to Mr Lange – and this is in fact not the first time we have discussed this – that I take this question extremely seriously. We must look again at the issue of how the European Parliament is to be involved and also kept informed about the work on voluntary agreements. I also want to remind you that the European Parliament, the Council and the Association of European Car Manufacturers all maintained that it was a matter of urgency to reach agreements with car manufacturers which are not members of European associations. But, as I say, I take the European Parliament’s points of view seriously. I also want to say that I have no plans to introduce proposals for further environmental agreements as long as the issue of the European Parliament’s involvement has not been solved.
Finally, I just want to say that the Commission is pleased that the common position received such a warm welcome from the rapporteur and the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection. We hope that, at the plenary part-session, the rapporteur’s recommendations will be complied with."@en1
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