Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-11-14-Speech-3-353"

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"en.20011114.13.3-353"2
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"Mr President, I would like to thank the Commission for this proposal. The rapporteur gives me no option but to disagree with him. Only yesterday in this House we passed a resolution giving the European Parliament's opinion on the third round of negotiations for the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. This House should never forget that tobacco is the biggest cause of preventable illness and disease across the European Union. It is like no other product. Each year half a million EU citizens die needlessly due to tobacco. In Scotland, which I represent, 13,000 people died last year due to smoking. The Commission proposal will help people to stop smoking. This proposal will introduce a cash minimum amount of cigarette duty. Currently the rule is expressed as a percentage of tax, inclusive of the retail selling price, and therefore has little effect on Member States and applicant countries where retail prices are already low. The more expensive a packet of cigarettes, the bigger the incentive to stop smoking. Some say that the most effective way to help smokers cure their addiction is to make cost the issue. Therefore any measures to reduce smoking are more than welcome and are more important to my mind than any arguments which support the tobacco industry. As regards smuggling, unlike the rapporteur I believe this proposal will prevent smuggling within the EU. Minimum EU rates of duty are sensible and effective in tackling the scourge of smuggling. The Commission's proposal is a good proposal and therefore should be wholeheartedly supported."@en1
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