Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-06-13-Speech-2-119"
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". – I am very pleased to note the continued wide support in Parliament for this legislative initiative which builds on three existing directives dating from the late 1980s. The Valverde Lopez report which Parliament adopted in 1997 called on the Commission to bring forward this proposal as a matter of urgency – a call which has been repeated by the Health Council.
The accepted amendments include the proposal to increase the size of labels. However, we need to be very careful not to stray from consumer information to the area of consumer harassment which would be counterproductive.
Banning certain additives is premature until further information on their use and effects is available. The industry has not in fact provided the relevant information to Member States and it is my belief that the establishment of a law to enable Member States to request the tobacco industry and individual companies to provide this information is the first necessary step. This would lead to the situation which people have called for this morning with a positive list being established, but first we must get the accurate information to enable us to do so.
In this connection the cooperation of the tobacco industry will be essential. We need to bring their experience and knowledge of the tobacco products sector into the process of regulation and revision.
Dealing with the common agricultural policy is also inappropriate in an internal market text, as is mentioning warnings on vending machines which are not covered in this proposal. All in all, therefore, the majority of the amendments which the Commission has accepted will make this a much improved text, whilst several of those rejected can also be taken into account outside this text but within the framework of other initiatives.
I should now like to turn to the other 71 amendments submitted last Thursday. Of these the Commission can accept a further 34 – either totally or in part. However, the Commission considers that Amendment Nos 49 and 50, 52, 54, 56, 59 to 61, 64, 65, 68 to 73, 77, 79, 80, 82 to 85, 89, 93, 94, 96, 99, 101, 104 to 106, 110 to 112, 114 and 117 are not compatible with the proposal's scope, intention and legal basis and should not be accepted.
In particular, I would mention that this proposal is a recasting of three existing internal market directives. Amendments undermining that legal basis, which has been considered valid for over ten years, would not be considered constructive and would ignore the advice of the legal services of all three of the legislative institutions of the European Union, namely the Commission, the Council and indeed the European Parliament itself.
Similarly, amendments which would seek to totally exclude exports from the scope of the directive are not considered acceptable since we need to cover all products manufactured in the Union in order to ensure that products finally consumed here respect the rules. However, a transition period for exports can be justified in order to allow firms to change brand formulae as appropriate and to modify their marketing strategies.
This extension must also be viewed in conjunction with the upcoming WHO negotiations of a Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. This convention aims to put in place worldwide tobacco product standards. If we succeed in this respect, there will be no need to distinguish between tobacco products for domestic consumption and those for export.
On the issue of additives, the Commission will report under Article 10 of the Proposal concerning the use of additives in tobacco products, a subject of great concern to consumers. Unfortunately, it is not possible to introduce immediate harmonisation of additives as some in Parliament would like.
In order to ensure a full and detailed report, the proposal envisages a declaration of these additives by the manufacturers and importers. This is a necessary first step before we can go any further. It would be premature at this stage to introduce bans on particular substances. I would hope that a constructive dialogue can be built with industry experts in order to develop Community legislation in full knowledge of technical data.
The proposal consolidates the existing internal market rules on product regulation, including tar content of cigarettes and the use of health warning labels. It proposes reducing the level of tar in cigarettes, their main carcinogenic component. It also proposes increasing substantially the size of the health warnings and bringing them up-to-date in line with scientific advice. It introduces harmonising rules for nicotine, the addictive agent in cigarettes, and for carbon monoxide, the agent associated with cardiovascular disease.
The Commission recognises the complex issues covered in this proposed directive; particularly, the need to ensure that in drawing up the reports provided for in Article 10 and any accompanying proposals, full scientific, technical and other data are taken into account. In order to provide advice on a long-term basis, the Commission intends to create a Multidisciplinary Tobacco Group, the first meeting of which will take place before the end of this year.
Finally, the Commission does not consider that cigars and pipe tobacco should be treated as if they were made of something other than tobacco. Consumers of all tobacco products, regardless of their age or social class, must be informed on an appropriate basis.
I would like to thank Members for their positive contributions and the rapporteur, Mr Maaten, for his excellent work and note that this is yet another example of our two institutions working closely together to good effect.
It also limits the use of misleading descriptions which could lead people to assume that light cigarettes are safer, while the opposite seems to be the case.
I am aware that some in Parliament would prefer to ban such descriptions immediately. However, I do not consider that this is appropriate. Instead, in future, these terms would have to be subject to Member States authorisation and the Commission could act to rectify any internal market distortions.
The proposal imposes an obligation to declare additives in tobacco products which results in making the products easier to smoke or perhaps reinforce the impact of the nicotine by increasing addiction.
The Commission has decided in this proposal, as was the case with the existing directives from 1989, 1990 and 1992, that the correct legal basis for action is Article 95 of the Treaty. This is clearly so because the differences in national rules between the Member States on a product so widely traded as tobacco can lead to very real problems in the internal market and public health protection is potentially put at risk.
Even if the national rules were fully applied this would lead to unequal treatment of economic operators as the content of present national laws is very different. By adopting Community-level rules, as has been done since the late 1980s, we ensure that certain basic standards are set and respected for all European citizens.
I should now like to refer to the report presented on behalf of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy. The amendments proposed in this report are of a very high quality. I should like to congratulate the rapporteur, Mr Maaten, for the contribution he has made in preparing these amendments in such a positive and constructive manner. I should now like to set out the Commission's position on the amendments proposed.
A total of 48 amendments have been proposed in this report. Of these, I am pleased to inform you, the Commission can accept 38, either totally or partially. It cannot, however, accept Amendments Nos 9, 17, 20, 21, 34, 36, 37, 40, 42 or 46."@en1
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