Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-12-04-Speech-3-092"
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"en.20021204.5.3-092"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, I was going to talk about the reports presented to Parliament and congratulate the rapporteurs, since they have all done an excellent job, but you chose to refer to the disaster that is destroying Galicia.
In Galicia we all know that we have two ears, one on either side of our heads, but what we did not know is that as well as two ears, we were going to have sixty thousand tonnes of oil on our beaches, and that today, in Parliament, we were going to be talking about what to restrict or deciding to prevent fishermen from continuing to deplete the sea’s natural resources.
All this, Commissioner, is Galician black humour, but it is also tragi-comedy. That is all I have to say.
For the first time, you have recognised that your staff can do something for my region. I hope that your task force has informed you that Galicia, has not only oysters, but also mussels and turbot, which make Europe the main world producer of these two species, thanks to modern, vigorous aquaculture companies, which have lost everything in the past twenty days.
I hope they have told you that our coastline is incredibly rich in biodiversity and that this biodiversity is not Galician, Commissioner, but European. We are now rich in oil and the lack of action by our leaders has struck a glancing blow to what we love most, our way of living.
The twenty thousand people who live from fishing in Galicia do not understand you very well. I have tried extremely hard to explain your proposals, trying to find common ground between you and my fellow countrymen. Since we have been told about this task force, who have not informed the Galician fishermen of any plans to visit, I would like them to present their conclusions to Parliament, here and now.
We have listened to the Commissioner for Transport, who, in the face of the total lack of activity by the Spanish and Galician Governments, has drawn up practical proposals in order to table them at the Council, so that we might address this disaster and prevent a reoccurrence. We have also heard measures proposed by Commissioner Barnier, who has shown himself to be sensitive and receptive and has agreed to appear shortly before the Committee on Regional Policy in order to explain to us how the Solidarity Fund can be mobilised.
Now it is your turn, Mr Fischler. Is it not time, Mr Fischler, for European fishermen in Galicia to hear more than just bad news from their Commissioner? So far, Galician fishermen associate your name – and this must be said – with the non-agreement with Morocco, fleet scrapping and a whole series of measures that might turn out to be good or they might not.
The Socialist Group has made a huge effort and has even held a hearing to discuss CFP reform, has published a leaflet and listened to the sector but, to say the very least, the measures are not explained well enough. All this, Commissioner, and this is my criticism of you, translates into a loss of European credibility, because your fellow Austrian citizens, as well as the Germans, will still remember the European response to the disaster you suffered due to floods, and I include myself in this European response, Commissioner.
The European citizens of Galicia would like to receive exactly the same treatment. I cannot believe that, after a month of disaster, all you can say to us is that you have sent a task force. I believe it is now up to you, Mr Fischler, to tell your fishermen – because they are your fishermen, not mine; they are mine, but also yours, you are responsible for them – what they can expect from their Commissioner.
I am not going to suggest visits, although I do not think it would do any harm if you were to go to Galicia. Tour operators are starting to think, as a way out, of offering disaster tourism, as we in Galicia are very fond of black humour. However, Mr Fischler, do you not believe it is now time to explain, in this House, in Parliament, here and now, what the European fishermen, the Galicians, can expect from their Commissioner at this time of disaster?"@en1
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