Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-07-03-Speech-2-243"
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I am very happy to congratulate firstly the rapporteur, Mrs Rothe, on the excellent work she has done throughout this year and almost two months, very soon after the Commission approved this directive, as well as all the Members who have participated in the work throughout these months of intense discussion and debate. I would once again like to express my respect and admiration for the excellent technical quality and knowledge you have demonstrated in your cooperation, your work and your amendments.
I would once again like to congratulate Mrs Rothe on her excellent work, as well as all the Members and the Swedish presidency on your work on this initiative. I hope that, tomorrow, the vote in this House will allow for the approval of certain consensus amendments which will allow it to be adopted on second reading and prevent any further delay, even to the point of conciliation, in the resolution of this issue.
I hope that the debate today and the vote tomorrow will conclude the discussions on this directive and that we will therefore be able to adopt a text at second reading without the need for a conciliation procedure.
This is an issue on which – as we have demonstrated – we must work together. This proposal forms part of the Commission’s response to two great challenges. The first great challenge is the problem of how the European Union should take its Kyoto commitments seriously, how to genuinely implement measures – undoubtedly at a certain cost – which demonstrate our will to fulfil the commitments made on an international level. That is our first objective, but we must not forget another interesting element of this proposal, which is increasing the European energy supply, that is, increasing the security of our supply, not to mention issues which some speakers have mentioned relating to the technological capacities of industrial development and, therefore, employment and our presence in international markets.
The Commission is pleased to be able to say that we can support all the transactional modifications proposed by Mrs Rothe. Although I am not going to list them, I would like to refer to certain points which have been highlighted during the debate.
Firstly, the issue of biomass. It is a delicate issue and we will have to see whether we can finally include the production of electricity from the incineration of unseparated municipal waste within the scope of the directive. That is to say, including that biodegradable waste. You are aware of the Commission’s initial position but I believe that, for the sake of achieving an initiative, the concession made in this area is warranted in order to achieve this result.
Strictly speaking, this waste is of a renewable origin, and that is why the Council has defended its inclusion. Nevertheless, the Commission had not proposed it within the definition of renewable energy, since this goes against a key point, the objective of reusing and recycling waste, a crucial question in the integral treatment of waste proposed by the Commission within its sustainable development strategies. However, I must stress that the Commission believes that we must reach a compromise, a pragmatic solution in order to prevent a conciliation procedure and a delay.
We therefore accept the proposals put forward by Mrs Rothe; however, we cannot accept Amendments Nos 12, 13 and 14. Furthermore, we believe that the proposals in Amendments Nos 2 and 4 are not necessary and we agree with and support the proposal in Amendment No 11.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am optimistic – some of the speakers such as Mr Turmes have said so – that, over the next few years, the increase in the use of renewable energy is going to lead to a reduction in costs and, therefore, it is going to make it easier to incorporate its use into our energy mix in a clearer and easier way. This is a key pioneering initiative. Some of you – such as Mrs Ayuso, amongst others – have said that today is an historic day. In a year and two months – since the Commission approved its proposal – we are going to have an approved directive. I must stress that the reduction in costs is going to allow for an increase in renewable energy for producing electricity, I stress that this is a truly revolutionary proposal in many respects because, although some have said that the objectives are only indicative, these may become obligatory in relation to certain mechanisms, and this is the first time, in a field such as this, that we have set indicative objectives State by State. This is an extraordinary political burden and, in this respect – I am sorry, Mr Caudron – I cannot agree with your assessment.
In the next few months, I hope to be able to propose an initiative for the extension, the genuine promotion, of the use of biofuels and the acceleration of its incorporation within the European Union."@en1
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