Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-06-13-Speech-2-067"
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"en.20000613.8.2-067"2
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"Mr President, I too have only two minutes to present the position adopted by my committee. Firstly, I have little to add to the points Mr Lechner made about the legal basis. Had the legal basis been correct then it would have been for the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market to handle this directive. The Commission has made no reference to this effect. The two obstacles to the internal market, i.e. different levels of taxation and derogations, in the case of Greece for example, remain unchanged.
My sixth point concerns the uniform measuring procedure, or rather, the Commission’s demand that comprehensive data be exacted from the companies themselves. In this connection, we recommend that a scientific committee, in conjunction with the ISO, develop uniform measuring and testing procedures to be introduced on a pan-European basis. It makes more sense to go down this route – even if industry has its doubts – than to go for the comprehensive compulsory registration proposed by the Commission.
We are aware that opinions will differ on this subject. I would advocate that we keep our heads and a sense of perspective on this issue, at first reading, so as not to jeopardise the jobs we so badly need in Europe.
Secondly, the draft directive proposes a restriction on exports. As regards ingredients, the same values are to apply to exports from Europe to third countries as well. We consider that to be wrong and excessive and believe that this proposal should be dropped.
Thirdly, the following wording has been proposed for the health warnings: ‘smoking kills’. ‘Smoking can kill’. My committee takes the view that not only are such warnings misleading, they also discriminate against those who manufacture the legal luxury item or trade in it, particularly in view of the European Union’s highly ambivalent attitude in this respect. Total tax revenue from tobacco is EUR 70 billion in the Member States and tobacco cultivation is subsidised to the tune of EUR 1 billion – none of this adds up.
Fourthly, as far as the size of the health warnings is concerned, we believe that the decisions taken by the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection are completely immoderate and so we reject them.
My fifth point relates to the designations ‘mild’ and ‘light’ which we believe are used predominantly to describe taste and colour alone, and should stay that way. Accordingly we propose that these designations continue to be modified."@en1
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