Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-04-14-Speech-5-070"
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"en.20000414.4.5-070"2
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"Mr President, noise pollution caused by aircraft is a very topical issue. We talked about hushkits not so long ago. I understand from the observations made by the Commissioner that the regulation as it has been laid down will enter into force on 4 May next.
Mr President, it is not only hushkits which are causing us considerable concern. In broader terms too, we have to establish that, on account of the increase in air traffic, noise pollution is growing at an alarming rate, especially for citizens who live near busy airports. At night time, in particular, this level of pollution is out of all proportion. The number of night flights should therefore be significantly reduced. But what is meant by night? At Düsseldorf airport, night falls at 10 p.m., according to Mr Florenz. We in the Netherlands are far more flexible in this respect. Night does not set in until 1.00 a.m. and we do not actually term it night, we refer to it as the brink of night. Mr President, whatever time we are talking about, it means that we need a coherent approach to noise pollution caused by the transport of civilians and freight by air, as the individual Member States are applying very different rules. These lead to the direct and undesired effect that airports start to compete with each other. They reason that as long as they are flexible enough, they will get a lot of freight traffic. But, at the end of the day, it is the people living near airports who suffer.
Mr President, so what needs to happen? First of all, all noise pollution, including pollution generated by aircraft, must be tackled at source. This means thorough research into low-noise engines. This means bans and international standards. But it also means that we need European framework legislation which ensures that measurements are taken, standards set, zonal structures put in place in the same way for all European airports. What we are asking for – not for the first time, in fact, we did this two and a half years ago in connection with the report on noise pollution which was supported by the late Mrs Carmen Diez de Riviera – is this legislation. Commissioner and Mrs Reding – you are representing Mrs de Palacio at the moment – you are saying that this is extremely difficult, but I am not asking you for a ban, or even a night ban. What I do want is to keep the discussion around this issue going and to continue where Parliament left off before. It was our own amendment, tabled on behalf of the European People’s Party. Let us thus fight for a European directive which, thanks to Mrs Loyola de Palacio’s new impetus, ensures that we – at long last – can give our citizens what is theirs. That is peace and quiet at night, but this also implies a proper zonal structure, insulation and sound legislation in Europe."@en1
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