Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-07-05-Speech-3-203"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20000705.6.3-203"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, some speakers in the House today have said somewhat critically that this discussion is dominated by ‘emotions’. I think that it is a healthy sign in the House if it really is emotions that are setting the agenda for the discussion when children’s health is at stake. It is better for it to be emotions that govern this discussion than for it to be industry!
In our private lives, in our own homes, we take all the safety precautions we can in order to take care of our own children. We put safety locks on the doors, we put barriers in front of ovens etc. because we know that it is dangerous to be a child. I think that we should behave in the same way even when we are in this House. We have enough information to make the necessary decisions. It is not the children who must prove that toys are dangerous but the producers who must prove that they are in fact safe. This is a principle which should apply to all consumer protection, but particularly protection in relation to children.
Several speakers here have said that we know that these substances can be hazardous to health. Several Member States have already imposed a ban on phthalates in toys for children under the age of three. The precautionary principle must be applied! Hopefully, more nations and countries may also realise that this is necessary.
The Commission's proposal is neither sensible nor sufficient. I can only imagine a situation at a play school or a nursery school where the nursery teacher has to try to keep a check on which children are under and which are over three years of age as well as which children are allowed to put what in their mouths in accordance with all the experiments the Commission is trying to include. It is, of course, possible for the Commission to issue a special directive concerning what nursery school staff, or other adults, should do when they have more than one child to take care of. The only sensible solution is a ban, a total ban, when it comes to toys for children under three years of age.
Our aim must be to limit the occasions on which we subject ourselves and our children to dangerous chemicals. In this case it is taking an unnecessary risk to permit the use of chemical substances in toys which affect those that are smallest and most vulnerable in society."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples