Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-06-12-Speech-2-052"
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"en.20010612.3.2-052"2
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"Mr President, I should first of all like to congratulate Mr Whitehead warmly on what turned out to be an excellent report. Food must be of a certain quality, but it should first of all be safe. Consumers must be able to rely on the inspections being adequate. These days, confidence has increasingly become a matter of national concern, and that is, in my view, a step backwards. The internal market is a great good, but it can only function on the basis of common standards and rules, and today sees the laying of the foundations for this. Traceability, liability, responsibility, precaution; they are all essential principles. Producers must be responsible for the highest quality at every stage of the food chain. But responsibility should also be clearly defined. The rapid alert system must remain a political instrument. We must guarantee that food imported from third countries is just as safe as food produced over here, but food safety must not be a cover for protectionism. That requires sound and fair inspections, but also a common and global approach. Emotions can run high where food is concerned. Politicians cannot and may not ignore those emotions, but do need to weigh the facts. The European Food Authority must be a beacon of objectivity, and it must join forces with national authorities, that is obvious. But we should not render the European Authority powerless right from the outset. We do not want a stalemate between the national and European authorities. In the event of a difference of opinion with one or more national authorities, the European Authority must still produce unambiguous recommendations on scientific grounds. The general principles of foodstuffs legislation constitute the building blocks for quality, and that is what we will be further developing in the years to come. Animal welfare should also be brought into the equation, and the quality of our production methods must improve. We should have the courage to bring about true reform of our agricultural policy. Quality and food safety must occupy centre stage in that connection."@en1
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